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Hardtail: Ardent/Beaver or Ardent/Crossmark
Full Suss: Hans Dampf/Beaver or Ikon/Crossmark
Cross: 35c CX-Kings or 40c Gravel Roads
Road: 32c Gravel Kings or 32c Ultrasports
29" Bontrager XR4/XR3 team issue for rough stuff
29" Bontrager XR2/XR1 team issue for fast rolling XC stuff
WTB Bridger 3.0/WTB Trailblazer 2.8 for the B+ wheelset.
Fat bike: 45Nrth Husker Dus for summer, 45Nrth Vanhelgas for winter.
soul26 here mostly, although I have recently built up a steel 29er. My choice is purg/purg - this was intially down to cost as they are usually a bit cheaper than most other tyres BUT I find them really good, plenty of grip and great rolling resistance on roads and hardpack. They are mostly useless in gopping wet mud though, so just pedal pedal pedal slip slide wooeeeee.
Currently racing ralphs, but after mondays spin and slide fest will be changing before my next ride, either to rocket rons, or going whole hog and putting beavers on as its bound to bucket down for the next few months.
Front: Minion DHF 3C EXO TR
Rear: High Roller II EXO TR
Magic Mary front
Hans Dampf rear
Butcher front
Purgatory rear
HT Vigilante 26x2.3 / Purgatory 26x2.3
Small FS Butcher 27.5x2.3 / Purgatory 27.5x2.3
Big FS DHF 3C EXO 27.5x2.3 / DHR2 3C EXO 27.5x2.3
?iainc - Member
Those using Butcher up front, do you find them draggy ?
27.5 Minion DHF 3C EXO TR 2.3 front and rear
Before running the Butcher/Purgatory I had Purgatory/Ground Control on during the early summer. That was a less draggy combo, though how much that was down to the Butcher on the front or the change in rear tyre I can't say, as I swapped them both at the same time. For the riding I do I prefer the extra grip/confidence of the Butcher/Purgatory for little extra drag. For long XC type rides the Purgatory/Purgatory or Purgatory/Ground Control would be a bit faster rolling.
The Minions on the new big FS are certainly more draggy, but at that is probably mostly down to the DHR2 3C on the rear.
TL:DR Yeh a little more than the Purgatory, but not massively so, but don't think I'm overly sensitive to drag on a front tyre.
iainc - Member
Those using Butcher up front, do you find them draggy ?
TBH I found them a bit lacking in grip for front use, rather than draggy, I'd like a softer compound. They're fast rolling for what they are, faster than obvious comparison the Minion frinstance, so draggy or not'll mostly depend on what you want them to do.
I used the Control as a rear for years and never considered it draggy.
Maxis FBF / FBR
Surley Nates front and rear
Full suss: Nobbiy nicks and Hans Damf both ends
Tranny's are both Racing Ralph
depends
HR2 somethingorother F/R on the Rocket
HR2 or Nobby Nics F/R on the Soul depending on which wheelset
ContiCX on the CX bike
all tubed
by rights I should have had 1000000 punctures by now and the NN's looking like a 100 year old frayed ragdoll
not used the NN/RR F/R combo for a while since that went out of fashion
27.5x2.4 3C HRII F&R on the Nomad, tubeless
27.5x2.35 3C HRII F, 2.25 Ardent R on the 5010, tubeless
27.5x3 purgatory control F Ground control control R on the levo FSR, tubeless
26x4.6 Ground control F&R on the fatboy, tubed.
25mm GP4000s on road bikes x2
29ers
Full suss - E13 TRS Race front / TRS+ rear
Hardtail - Bonty SE4 Team Issues f/r
29'ers:
Short travel FS - work my way down this order swapping front for rear depending on conditions and what I'm riding:
Shorty 2.3, Forekaster 2.35, Ikon 2.35, Ikon 2.2, Ikon 2.2
HT - my race bike, so:
Beaver 2.0 F&R, Rons F&R 2.0, Ikon 2.2 F&R
EDIT - Also have a pair of Trail Kings which I throw into the mix occasionally.
Orange Crush - 650b 2.3 HR2 front, Minion 2.3 DHR2 rear
Capra - 650b 2.3 Shorty front, Minion 2.3 DHR2 rear
Sometimes pop a Mavic Charge on the front of the Capra.
Front: DHF EXO 2.5, Rear: Ardent EXO 2.25 or DHF EXO 2.5.
Minion DHF 3C Exo TR 2.8 front and Rekon Exo TR 2.8 Rear on the HT
2.5 3c WT DHF or Shorty front, 3c DHR2 or Silkworm SS rear on the full suss, and a DD Aggressor on the spare wheel for uplift days
Shorty 2.3 3c 650b front and DHR2 3c rear,will swap out the shorty and try a Vigilante my mate gave me once the weather drys out,so probably get a week on it before I'm back on the Shorty
High Roller II 3C Exo 2.35 on the front
Ardent 3C Exo 2.4 on the back
Might put the HRII on the back and a Minion DHR on the front.
650b
Been running Conti Projekt Der Barons since June and have been amazing especizlly in wet rooty conditions
Was previously running butchers and mountain kings
High Roller II 3C Exo 2.35 on the front
This doesn't actually exist - but magazine make the same mistake! 😉
The old High Roller came in 2.35 (and 2.1 and 2.5 and 2.7).
The High Roller 2 comes in 2.3 and 2.4 - the latter has much bigger knobs, the carcass isn't much bigger - and is a much overlooked front tyre because most only use the 2.3 which isn't half as grippy.
Front: Minion DHF 2.5WT EXO
Rear: Ardent Race 2.35 EXO
Dhf front and Nobby Nic on the back of the big FS at the moment.
HT has a pair of geax aka which I really need to change as they are shit in the mud. Will change to HR's, super tacky front and some other HR on the back, as it's what I have in the garage.
Conti cx speed on the gnarmac bike.
Hans dampf trailstar front pacestar rear
Racing Ralph pacestar pair
Maxxis dy-no-mite eXCeption series pair
Maxxis high roller eXCeption type-R pair
Also have a pair of tioga blue dragon and a pair of specialised enduro sat in the shed doing nothing for now.
Right now - ss with a 2.3 ground control front and 2.2 saguaro rear.
This time of year, a pair of Vigilantes- tough grippy one on the front and tough fast one out back.
Less sloppy weather, tough fast Trailboss out back.
Fatty is running a pair of Nates...
Trying a Magic Mary/Hans Damph on the Fuel EX when in 29er form, currently just have the stock 2.8 Chupacabras on the B+ wheels, though on the look out for something a bit more winter friendly!
Hardtail is currently on XR3 front and rear, though may swap them soon. Not sure if I will just recycle something I have (Mountain Kings, Nobby Nics or Chunky/Smorg) or get something new!
Maxxis FBF, FBR 🙂
I was running a Specialized Butcher front and Slaughter rear but found them to be a false economy as they buckle too easily and often just taking them on and off for repairs. Great performance though especially the Butcher. I did find the Slaughter spinning out on wet steps etc during the winter.
Now running Mavic Charge and Quest XL pro at 2.4 wide. The Quest is great as a rear tyre, a lot like the Slaughter but with the extra grip down the middle to stop it spinning out. I am finding they wear out quickly. The Charge is OK but not as good as the Butcher and needs to be run at lower PSi's otherwise it's too narrow on it's grip and can slip from under you.
The Butcher up front and the Quest at the rear would be a great combo, but without the false economy and wear issues.
Looking at the Maxxis Aggressor next as a rear tyre. Mate has it and it looks like it might fit the bill.
On the jeffsy - trailstar magic mary front, pacestar nobby nic rear.
Stick another mary in the back for uplifts.
Stick a rock razor in the back when it dries up.
At the moment I've got Maxxis Ardent on the front and their Ikon on the rear. Both in skinwall 8)
Considering using the race versions of these in summer as I've been impressed with them so far.
Front Nobby Nic rear Specialized Fastrek or Captain
Magic Mary front and Nobby Nic rear (on the bike when I bought it) both trailstar compound.
Front: 2.4 Chunky Monkey dual compound
Rear: 2.25 Maxxis Ardent EXO
Hardtail
Front: Conti Trail King 2.4
Rear: WTB Breakout 2.5
FS
Front: Magic Mary 2.35 Trailstar
Rear: Hans Dampf 2.35 Pacestar or Spesh Slaughter Grid for summer
On my Spitfire (27.5)
WTB Vigilante 2.3 tough fast rolling / 2.3 tough high grip (although I currently have high grip front & back).
On theTransAM (27.5)
Usually WTB Trail Boss 2.25 light fast rolling / Vigilante 2.3 light fast rolling, but currently trying out Hans Dampf 2.35 pacestar.
Chunky monkey front 27.5 x 2.4
Specialized purgatory rear 27.5 x 2.3
on my Trek fuel ex9
Bontrager ex3 front and rear on my 29er
Xr4 Team 2.3 front.
Enduro 2.2 rear (rather worn and exciting)
Those of you running Magic mary's on the front is this all year round or just in the winter slop?
Hardtail:
Minion DHF 2.3 3C Maxx Tera
Minion DHR II 2.3 Dual Exo (winter)
Minion semi slick for summer
DH Bike
Minion DHF 2.5 dual ply, super tacky
Minion DHR II 2.5 dual ply, super tacky
Both bikes are run as tubeless.
AM/Enduro wheels-
Muddy Mary 2.35 front
Hans Dampf 2.35 rear
DH wheels-
Magic Mary 2.35 front
Hans Dampf 2.35 rear
FS. Butcher front and Purgatory rear
Something a bit quicker on the rear soon when its drier.