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Sorry, I love a good tyre thread and nothing has jumped out at me searching on these 2 tyres.
Bit early to be thinking about this for winter (although the rain is biblical at the moment), but which tyre is better for a mixture of trail centre riding and a bit of natural stuff when it’s wet?
I’ve got a dhr2 2.3 exo 3c which has been my winter the last few years but I’ve now got 2 bikes and I’m missing a winter tyre.
I’ve got a dhf on the front of my fs bike and the dhr2 plays nicely with that. My hardtail will have a magic Mary on the front so looking for a rear tyre to pair with that. I don’t mind mixing brands front to back but it would be nice if they were the same brand - I’m thinking the Hans Dampf is the natural option in schwalbe for the back - unless the Nobby Nic is a better option?
The hardtail doesn’t see anything majorly rocky - so it’ll be either exo (and probably dual compound) or snakeskin (guessing with addix soft?).
Well like you I run the same combo normally in WT maxxis flavour.
But just built up a new 29er full sus and was looking at what tyres to get and went mainly with weight to start with so and with around 180grams lighter went 2.35 Mary front and Hans rear in orange compound.
So nice tyres roll well and grip well but 3rd ride out have all ready torn a hole in the hans plugged it on the trail and is holding up ok.
Main point really is there good tyres but a weak rubber as I’ve never done more than pin hole maxxis tyres to date, and I’m an average rider so if a hard hitter I’d go maxxis still.
And my be go for the Wide trail versions.
So those must be the new version of the hand Dampf if they are in Orange addix compound I guess? Doesn’t bode well that you holed them already - I’ve recently used a dhr2 / aggressor / smorgasbord on the rear and never holed them.
Edit - I tried a 2.4wt version of the dhr2 and didn’t like it. Loads of grip but I felt like it sucked the life out of the bike as it was so draggy. Will be going for the 2.3 if that’s the tyre I go for. Not sure if 3c or dial compound though. Cost will come into it a bit I guess.
Have a vague recollection of reading about DHF making a faster rolling rear tyre if that is what you're after? For me I'm on MM front and DHR rear for winter, already sat awaiting (Even more) rain.
James
I had a speed grip rock razor on the back until last Saturday when I got a tare in the casing at the base of one of the side knobs. When looking over the tyre a lot ok the side knobs we’re coming away.
Obviously this isn’t a winter Tyre or a Hans Dampf, but I believe it has the same casing. It certainly feels the same in the hand. I wouldn’t recommend getting one. It was a half dozen rides old.
Do what I wish I’d done and buy Maxxis.
Schwalbe not looking like a great option so far!
Any other makes out there comparable to a dhr2?
I find it grips pretty well in mud, doesn’t roll too slow (in a 2.3” anyway - 2.4wt isn’t an option) brakes well and isn’t too heavy in exo casing. Also not holed it or lost any knobs in 2.5 years (although only used in the winter).
I asked a similar question a couple of months ago. I wanted all round all year tyre in 2.6 for my hardtail. Afteramy different recommendations i got magic Mary snakeskin addix orange on the front and hansdamf snakeskin addix blue on the back. Very happy with them so far, haven't had any issues with grip and no punctures. I'm not a particularly aggressive rider but I am fairly big. Run them at about 27psi front and 29 rear.
I should mention I swapped out two nobyniks because I kept having front end slides on mud. A problem they have in the wider widths.
As above with lat is was one of the inner knobbles that had torn! And I’m talking southdowns trail here so mostly dirt track with a few stone and gully’s to track through at moderate speed! Gonna run it till it’s holed again then swap it out.
Yeah I know what you mean about the WT tyres they are a heavy draggy tyre! But then I like to fit and forget and they serve this purpose nicely
Have you looked at Bonty XR4 team issue. About 150g lighter than Maxxis in similar sizes. I’d never really gave them a thought until I rode a demo bike with them on. The bike ended up being naff but the tyres really impressed me. Run them front and rear now. XR would be Exo equivalent and SE compares to Dual (I think). I’ve never torn a sidewall yet anyway and ride mainly chalky/rocky/rooty year round.
I have completely ruined an addix soft Hans Dampf (new style) in a couple of months. Side knobs ripped off, through to canvas. My friend got a month longer but had the same issue. Schwalbe won’t release the tyre in a slightly harder compound in 2.35 for some reason. It’s a shame as it’s a good back tyre and far superior to the old version. Sadly the soft compound is woeful on a the rear in my experience. It’s like they have taken a step backward to Schwalbe of old!!! I have Michellin Enduros fitted but switched out to a Mary 2.6 soft and Super Gravity (trail star - took some searching) Razor as a rear for summer duties as they role so much faster than Michelin’s. I don’t like mixing tyre brands. Much prefer the Mary to the Michellin front tyre. It’s more forgiving and predictive I find. Ideal setup would probably be Mary front DHR rear. If I could just get over my OCD
Bonty SE5 if you want a faster rolling minion type tyre.
I would go SE rather than XR for the rear as well.
I’ve have a look at the Bonty’s - I’ve never really tried to workout what the difference is in the various letters / names of those.
I hasn’t given a lot of thought to Michelin’s - I know the Wild Enduros get some good reviews but not sure if they might be draggy vs a dhr2 2.3?
SE is the enduro casing, XR is a slightly tougher normal casing. I holed an XR3 early and having never done it before, I'd stick with the SE on the back. They aren't that heavy anyway.
I've heard the Wild Enduro are a bit of the draggy side but couldn't compare to the DHR2.
I've just put the Michelin wild enduros on after religiously running a mix of DHR/DHF's. Sometimes 2 DHRs sometimes 2 DHFs or sometimes as they 'should' be run front and rear. I am loving the front Michelin, huge side lugs just dig in but as you asked about the rear I'll say this, I find the Michelin rear to roll quicker than a DHR2 but doesn't brake near as well. It seems to lose traction in corners earlier but predictably so not just dissapearing and putting you on your bum. I think for steep/loose/wet conditions I'll put the DHR2 on rear. Everything else the Michelin. I should put a caveat that I have only used the tyres for a week on trails new to me, Fort Bill Top Chief, High Burnside and Ballater. So I wasn't pushing too hard as I was riding blind. Kinda went off Schwalbe tyres as they have all punctured, got cut sidewalls or degraded far to fast. This was over 5 years ago so maybe new ones are better.
Speaking of Bontrager, I have a pair of SE4 I was given by a friend who found them too draggy. They aren’t the fastest tyre, but I have no issue with them.
They are much sturdier than the snake skin, but a lot less sturdy and a lot lighter than Schwalbe super gravity. I would rather the SE than a snakeskin