My new 29er Soda is harder work than my Nomad at the moment (first world problems, I know).

It’s my fault – I whacked a 2.5″ WT DHF Minion up front and a 2.4″ WT DHR II out back.  I wanted a largish volume tyre to smooth out the trails a little.  I guess they wouldn’t have been much of a problem really but for Maxxis being out of stock of the 3C Exo MaxxTrail rubber – so I thought ‘eff it, how much different can the MaxxGrip compound be?’

Turns out that it can be very different.  Like riding tyres that are made of slightly warm blu-tac.   They’ve added 10 minutes to a ride I used to finish in 23 minutes (when I was a little fitter, but…).

Given how expensive these things are I don’t want to keep spunking money on tyres to try ’em out.  So I’m seeking the advice of any 29″ hardtail owners out there 🙂

Parameters are:

30mm internal width rims.

Big-ish volume

Ridden in the peaks so I don’t want slicks but also ridden long distance so not so damn MaxxGrip 😉

Please pity this poor fool and provide options below!

I like the Bontrager XR3 team issue for a good balance of grip, toughness, weight and price

You’ve got the MaxxGrip compound on the rear?

Just change that one for something harder in the first instance. The Chunky Monkey “enduro” 50a version would be a cheap fix…

https://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYOOCM29X24/on-one-chunky-monkey-29×24-tyre

Or the dual compound version of the WT DHR2…

https://www.sprocketscycles.com/maxxis-minion-dhr-ii-29-widetrail-60tpi-exo-tubeless-ready-tyre

Or did you need a tougher carcass than Exo?

You think just changing the rear will do the trick?

Guess I could try, but there’s another thread where the sticky front tyre is killing the ride…

Draggy feeling will be 70% or more the rear, IME.

Worth trying that first anyway, surely?

Yeah. Definitely will be trying rear first.  Just not sure whether to go with a DHR or something like the Ardent.

Unusual recc. but I’m liking Mavic’s tyres – Quest rear, Charge front. Not hugely voluminous ( I switch to B+ for that), but really good quality and just right for me on sticky:rolling ratio. Riding in the Lakes, so not too different.

They will certainly grip well when the trails turn but it’s still ok out there so those tyres will feel draggy for sure

Given the peaks impending weather I’d leave the frt and swap out the rear

A DHR2 out back is a exellent choice and my go to tyres frt and rear but given the long summer we had I still wanted more speed and required less grip so went for a wtb trail boss outback in tough fast rolling flavour and it’s fast .

Only the last decent of the 4 passes in the lakes could kill it but that was more my end of day lazy riding that put a big hole in it that would only just seal but considering I thought the lakes would spit this tyre out (I took the end with me) but it’s still on .sure it doesn’t have the anchor like stopping power of the dhr but it’s great otherwise and fifteen pounds at planet X and seal up tubeless easy .

There also big volume a 2.4 trail boss is as wide on a 30mm rim as a dhr 2.4 wt

I’m reluctant to go with the trail boss simply because my vanity says “Cotic specced them, shoulda listened” 😉

Is it the tyres as such, or the wide, heavy rims …..

Just swap the MaxxGrip DHR2 on the back for either the MaxxTerra version or preferably the Dual Compound version. And then when the DHF MaxxGrip wears out you can put the DHR2 MaxxGrip up front.

Then again do you need such a knobbly rear tyre in The Peak? It’s all rocks and very little dirt. Trail Boss is a good idea. Minion SS is a bit summery. Aggressor is a good halfway house between DHR2 and Minion SS.

Unusual recc. but I’m liking Mavic’s tyres – Quest rear, Charge front.

A mate of ours had a set of Mavic tyres.  Can’t remember which ones, fairly XC oriented.  But he’s an ex semi-pro road cyclist and weighs about 3kgs with all his riding gear on 🙂

He became a standing joke in the following months because he literally never ever went riding and didn’t get a puncture.  Yes, the sealant did a reasonable job on most of them but they were comically fragile.

This was a couple of years ago so maybe they’ve improved.

One other thing – MaxxGrip is a full on DH tyre, the DHF 2.5 MaxxGrip is 1335 g compared to  1015 g for the DHF MaxxTerra – so there’s three quarters of a pound of extra rotating weight in each wheel to go with the ultra sticky rubber.

chiefgrooveguru

Aggressor is a good halfway house between DHR2 and Minion SS.

According to Maxxis’ own catalog, the DHR2 rolls better than an Aggressor

“According to Maxxis’ own catalog, the DHR2 rolls better than an Aggressor”

I don’t trust any of their grip/rolling ratings, based on the Maxxis tyres I’ve used! They think the HR2 rolls fast compared to most Minions, and that’s totally wrong.

Yeah, I know. They don’t ride them, they just make them and then turn them over to marketing who make it all up whie sat in an offce

Still not sure what High Rollers are actually for

I’d just get the DHR2 in the cheaper dual compound, there is dirt and mud in the Peak District over winter (and a lot of the summer) and it is the STW-forum-approved all-rounder rear tyre of choice.

Still not sure what High Rollers are actually for

People who don’t want to change their tyres? And the 2.8in ones are incredible, based on a four-hour demo ride I had.

I’d wager the 2.8 minions are better 🙂

Well I’ve bought the HR2s and I ain’t gonna be changing them year round 😛

HRs have always been a bit better than the DHF for mixed conditions IME, though it’s been superseded by the Mary for me now.

I’ve got a 2.5 DHF for my main bike for when it’s dry again though.

I like the bontrager se4, it’s a decent back tyre. I’d highly recommend it.