[Closed] 26" front tyre options...

Purgatory better on the back imho.
Butcher on the front.
I use that combo all year round.

A Bontrager XR4 is my choice.

I have a 26" purgatory on the hardtail up front.

I have a butcher up front on the 29r.

I would probably have the Butcher of the two up front at new tyre time.

I recently put a magic Mary on the front to replace a minion. Prefer it to the purgatory on the other bike.
[url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/schwalbe-magic-mary-evo-mtb-tyre-snakeskin/rp-prod118254 ]Bit more than £20 though [/url]

Butcher upfront. Run them on all our bikes

Chunky monkey a better tyre up front than both the purg or butcher imo. Purg grid is a cracking rear.

I've got a load of front 26" tyres mate. Get in touch and I'll do you a deal so you can try a few different ones if you like. Definitely got Muddy Mary and some minions.

Nowt wrong with the OO chunky monkey, it's a great tough tyre for rocky trails, not great in mud though. Butcher is a better all rounder but not as tough. Depends on what you prioritise, you haven't really told us much about where you ride and your riding style.

For "general" trail riding the Purgatory makes a decent choice (within your £20 budget here [url= https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Specialized/Purgatory-Control-2Bliss-Ready-MTB-Tyre/1Q5A ]https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Specialized/Purgatory-Control-2Bliss-Ready-MTB-Tyre/1Q5A[/url] but if you want pure confidence-inspiring grip then the Butcher outclasses it. The Butcher is point-and-go at the expense of rolling resistance; the Purg is faster but requires a bit more thought on steep and technical stuff. I've ran a Purg up front many times and I find that the tyre needs leaning over hard on loose stuff.

If you're doing XC miles (long road linkages between trails, easy bridleways etc) on your hardtail then the Purgatory is the better of the two, perhaps even a Ground Control.

Thing is the Purgatory is barely any faster rolling but it's a bit worse at everything else and the edge grip is a lot worse.

Only go for GRID in Purgatory is my experience. Still not ideal though. Butcher better by far, Magic Mary is even better.

Butcher, as others have said. I wouldn't go with a Chunky Monkey if my requirements were square-ish profile and cornering grip. It's pretty round with very short, and oddly shaped, shoulder nobs. It's alright on wet rock and roots, but there are plenty of tyres that are at least as good there and better everywhere else (the Butcher for example, or any other Minion-esque tyre).

Maxxis Minion DHF in 2.35 or 2.5. It's The best tyre out there.

Tom Kp

I've got a mint 2.35 Minion DHF Supertacky you can have.
200 miles on the front, very silly amount of grip.

Bought as a spare but a bit tight on clearance and way too gnar for me.

Swap you for something a bit more mincecore?

Butcher 2.3 grid casing, or Minon DHF supertacky.
Cant go wrong with either of those for grip.

So the overwhelming response here seems to be, spend a bit more on a Butcher or Minion DHF basically.

Thanks for the offers of used tyres, TBH I fancy a nice new bit of rubber, so I might be taking a trip to my LBS on Friday to pick up a 2.3" Butcher Grid I think...

Cheers all, very useful, I'll probably beback asking about rear tyres in a couple of weeks 🙄

On the flip side I also fancy trying some new tyres in 26" flavour so if anyone has any they want rid of (front / rear / probably more interested in gnarrish) then give me a shout!

Just to be perverse, I actually think that the Minion DHR2 Supertacky is a better front tyre than the DHF - all depends how and what you ride, of course.
I like the CM well enough on dry rocks too.

Where are you? I have some hans dampf's super grippy and nearly as grippy and 2.4 chunky monkeys in both grip levels, near Reading. mail if near, interested, bored etc I might have a smorgasbord in grippy too.

I'm up in 'Ull and won't be heading down south for a while I'm afraid!

Hmmmm, having said I wanted new rubber, but this seems to have become a bit of a tyre exchange thread

So here's what I have to share:

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L->R

-2 off used Maxxis swampthings 26X2.2" dual ply "slowreezay", dual ply wire bead

-2 off unused Schwalbe Wicked will, one 26x2.5" one 26x2.3" both wire bead.

-1 off used schwalbe Muddy Mary, 26X2.5" wire bead.

-1 off used wicked will 26X2.3" wire bead

-1 off used specialized captain control, 26X2.1", folding bead, folding bead, 2bliss, I think this one may have stuffed a cut ~6mm, not sure if I repaired it..

-2 off used specialized Eskar control 26X2.3", folding bead (I have a third on an old wheel in the garage too).

I am in Reading too, anyone fancy any swapsies then?