Good Afternoon Folks,
Just finished a custom Orange Crush 29er build and struggling to decide on tyres. I ran the DHR2/DHF combo on my P7 and they are too heavy and slow rolling for my intended used on the Crush.
My intention is to use it for short local rides, mix of road, fire road, natural woodland singletrack (for that think a bed of pine needles and peat...) and also use it for longer trips into the mountains. Not using it as a hard core hard tail but going out, putting miles on it on estate tracks etc in the hills around Aberdeenshire.
I have the following in the shed that I could put on:
R: Specialised Slaughter 2.3
F: WTB Trail Boss 2.4
I really like the Slaughter, like a cheaper Minion SS, on the rear, wonder how it would fare on the front? The WTB Trail boss is a real low volume tyre for a 2.4 and the subsequent higher pressure tends to lead to the trail "buzz" causing some discomfort in my hands on longer days.
What are you running on your P7/Crush 29/2.75 bikes?
Would be good to hear what you have, what you ride etc.
Cheers
Dave
Your front tyre doesn't contribute to rolling resistance as much as the rear, and there's no way I'd put a semislick up front for any sort of off road.
I think your need for a high volume, low pressure tyre isn't all that compatible with the need for super low rolling resistance either. Something like a Rekon might work, for high volume with a bit of grip
Vigilante f and trail boss rear here on my p7. I'm a bit more wannaby hardcore than you though by the sounds of it 🙂
Slaughter on the rear is great, **** having it on the front though, Trail boss ain't a bad rear either, but not bitey enough up front for me. I usually run a 2.6 Mary up front with Slaughter or DHF rear, but I'm trying a 2.6 Butcher black diamond at the moment, which I'm quite impressed with, but it'll be back to the Mary in winter.
Some of my local riding has a good 10-12 road miles to get to as well, even the Mary isn't bad on that, rear tyre has lots more influence over rolling speed in my experience.
Thanks for the replies fellas.
I have a FS for the more hardcore duties, I am just too broken to ride hard tails on gnarly trails these days, but I still love them! They have their place in the fleet! The FS runs a DHR2 on the rear and a DHF in the summer and an Assegai in the winter.
Interesting what you say about front not contributing as much drag as the rear. How does that work? They both have a similar contact area so rolling resistance must be almost the same? Obviously the difference is in the rear being a driving wheel so rather than being rolling resistance its forward motion resistance?
2.6 Mary does sound like a good shout. I can get over my tyre mis match OCD by pairing with Rock Razor...
Lol I have inverse tyre OCD, couldn't have matching brands!
I'm running 2.4 trail boss on my scandal for exactly what you are using it for. Some road between bridleways and single-track, so far they are pretty good. Roll well and plenty of grip, plus got some cheap from crc I think.
In that case, I will try the 2.4 trail boss up front and the spec slaughter on the rear for a start at least. Will try and park my OCD!!!
Thinking of doing something with it this weekend once the heli tape has arrived and will report back!
Thanks again for the help!
Mostly because when in the saddle your weight is more on the rear
DHF front and Crossmark on the rear is my favoured HT combo.
mix of road, fire road, natural woodland singletrack
People seem to be suggesting some seriously hard hitting tyres for this type of thing. for this i suggest something like a 2.3 high roller at most.
I had a semi slick front and rear years ago.
First damp grassy downhill had me clenching and swearing to never again have a semi at the front.
If I was happy a slick road/ touring tyre would be ok, I'd go for that. If not, I'd run something with knobs on.
I run 2.3 butcher and 2.3 slaughter F&R on my hardtail. It mostly gets used on sandy local stuff with odd trips to rockier bits. I am happy in the peaks in the summer with the combo.
High Roller 2 front, Rekon rear both in 3C with a trail casing.
I've been using Maxxis Ardents on the rear. They're not slick, but they're not terrible on the road, and they have enough grip for most things.
If you run out of grip, you can always put more weight on the rear. And if that means you lose the front end, slide out, crash and die, then that's all part of the joy of mountain biking.
People seem to be suggesting some seriously hard hitting tyres for this type of thing. for this i suggest something like a 2.3 high roller at most.
I wasn't suggesting for a minute that the OP uses a Mary for their riding, just offering that just because the riding is fairly tame, I still want a tyre that grips in fast, flat manky corners, and that that type of tyre isn't that bad on even tarmac.
Slaughter isn’t a bloody Semislick! what nonsense. Centre knobs are big enough and grippy enough for the dry.
Dry as anything out there at the mo and it’s sorted for the front and back. Proper fun, fast combo.
That's definitely a semi slick...
If you look up the Slaughter on Google, all of the reviews and product details describe it as a semi slick. Of course, if you want to play Humpty Dumpty and make words mean what you want them to then feel free to do so.
JP
I'd suggest having a look at the Bontrager XR4 2.4in team issue for the front.
I got one "free" with some used wheels and popped it on the front in lockdown when I was riding 40 minutes on the flat to the trails.
Really impressed me: rolled well, light-ish, good volume and nice edge bite.
Perfect for XC with a bit of gnar.
Looks at the Slaughter on the front, shudders!
Not really, you clearly have better skills than me! I have just been out for a ride and hit a massive patch of mud I didn't see. The butcher on the front was fine-ish. The slaughter on the back was "interesting" 🙂
“Slaughter isn’t a bloody Semislick! what nonsense. Centre knobs are big enough and grippy enough for the dry.”
Go on, take it down some properly steep loose and dry stuff, and tell us how rad your crash was! 😉
It's very definitely a semi slick.
massive patch of mud
Oh yeah, tons of those around at the mo! 😂 "...for the dry" was obviously foreign language.
Oh yeah, tons of those around at the mo! 😂 “…for the dry” was obviously foreign language.
Ive got a knobblier tyre on the front of my gravel bike!
We've always called this type of tyre a semi slick
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slaughter is vaguely similar yeah, but not what I'd call semi-slick.
And ffs any of those tread patterns would be just fine [i]in the current conditions[/i]!
Well, that escalated quickly 🙂
Specialised do suggest that the Slaughter is a rear tyre. I think if I lived somewhere with a more agreeable climate than the north of Scotland, I may consider one on the front too and just be mindful of its limitations in certain conditions.
Off for a ride at the weekend on the Slaughter / Trail Boss combo and will revert back
massive patch of mud
Oh yeah, tons of those around at the mo! 😂 “…for the dry” was obviously foreign language.
It caught me by surprise too!
Most of that ride is sandy and fast draining apart from some bits, under trees where it’s steep with yesterday’s fun mud : )
Those panaracer match are the ones i went touring on with a mix of road gravel. Great for that. Not great for wet grass in the pentlands! I’ve never locked the front wheel withany other mbt tyre -and kept accelerating! Not for long, there was a nice ditch to land in : )
Hans dampf?
