Have them on my Covert and they fit fine and I like them, used them in Alps this year in all conditions. If you’ve not thrown the boxes away you could try and send them back. I could make you an offer but I have a bit of a pile of 26 tyres already. If you do want to sell drop me an email.

You’ve dodged a bullet in my opinion. I’ve torn the side lugs off two sets of Hans dampfs this sumer. Minion DHF

Dampfs have their limitations. They were never designed for mud. It’s pretty obvious if you look at the tread that they aren’t going to clear well, and they don’t

Dissing a tyre for not performing outside its design envelope sends a bit weird.

Mine have been brilliant apart from the mud issues.

Love mine and never lost a knob…but then I run Pacestars, thought it was the Trailstar folk who were knob droppers

Dissing a tyre for not performing outside its design envelope sends a bit weird.

A little mud should be within the capabilities of any knobbly tyre- it is for all of the competition. And for dry riding you’re better with something faster.

Just started running them on my five and although they are different ( very round) to my trail kings I’m impressed

Yes, and IME they do handle a bit of mud, just not the thick sticky variety, where there tread is a bit busy to leave clearance channels. There are plenty of tyres in the same boat really, when it comes to clay.

They are certainly better on a wider rim though, but what isn’t?

Nothing wrong with the Hans Dampf tyre IMO for most of the year. In TS form it’s a great front tyre. It doesn’t fit on the rear of a Five though (too wide) but fits fine on the rear of an Alpine. My rims are 24 and 25.5 internal.

In really thick mud they do clog. In icy conditions they were excellent last year where other tyres had failed miserably (High Roller II).

The side knobs can be damaged on extremely rocky trails but if your riding is mixed the life is as good as any other soft compound tyre and I’ve seen 3C ones go the same way just as quickly.

I change tyres quite a lot. Hans Dampf were my last year’s favourite. I’ve now moved on to a Magic Mary up front and a Minion DHR II at the rear. Both of those are much better at clearing mud but we’ve not had any ice yet (I think they’ll be ok though).

I’ve not had a sidewall split on a Hans Dampf. I did burp one once. I’ve only had sidewall problems with two tyres so far. A Maxxis AdVantage LUST (after 650 miles) and a Maxxis DHR II TR EXO (after 450 miles).

The Hans Dampf TS SS is a good front tyre IMO. Quite cheap too. £27 from Germany.

I’m a big fan of the Hans Dampf – for me they pretty much do what they say on the tin and work well in most conditions. They’re a piece of cake to set up tubeless, mine had lasted pretty well although once the tread strats to tear the performance drops off quickly. I found a trail star front and pace star rear worked well. I’ve only had one tear riding carelessley at Kirroughtree. But they’re sured BPW, CYB, the Peaks etc.

I’m now running Trail Kings on my Switchback for more clearance. They seem to suffer from tread teraing too.

I’ve experienced the squirmy rear end on the Hans Dampf too. It can feel like you’ve got a puncture. I’ve experienced the exact same feeling on the DHRII though but under different trail conditions.

It is true that once the outer knobs do tear on the inside the performance does begin to degrade faster. Most noticeable when used as a rear.

I also found that the Hans Dampf works best in full dry or full wet. It doesn’t really like the in between condition when it’s just a little wet after dry for instance. I had a few odd front slide moments on innocent looking flat rocks mid-summer (when it had rained before my ride or though dark damp wooded areas that never died) due to this. Upgrading to the Magic Mary TS up front seems to have solved the issue at race pace and added other benefits too. It could have been rider error too. I’m still learning how to go quicker.