Big Betty or Minion DHR?

Ben reviewed the Magic Mary earlier this year saying it was his new favourite all year front tyre (I like it too) which he pairs with the Maxxis Minion DHR and he was going to give the Big Betty a go at some point.

I’m going up a wheel size and Merlin have the Big Betty on sale at a good price much cheaper than I can find a Minion for.

Anyone have any love for Betty? How does it compare to a Minion?

BB on the hardtail, like it, clears mud better than the minion, slightly less braking grip. if the price is right give it a go.

Mixing brands ruins a bike’s handling – fact.

DHR2 is my favourite rear tbh, if you can find it in the size and carcass and compound you want, but that’s not so easy- you can tell Maxxis haven’t revised the range for a long time. Just get rid of those 2.3s guys and fatten out the 2.4 range, it’s 2023! Also, they can be pretty expensive. But they have good performance in all conditions, they roll OK, and even in the harder compounds they have just peerless predictability and edge-of-grip manners. If everything’s going well I’m happy with anything half decent on the back but if I’m going to screw up and slide halfway down something orrible, or get in deeper trouble than I meant to, give me a dhr2 to do it with.

BB is probaly the best schwalbe rear other’n the rockrazor, and I found it really good most of the time, it grips really well for its speed in most conditions and has excellent balance, I like that a lot… but but when it slides it’s pretty wild, nothing like as managable or usable as the dhr2, too on/off, and that I do not like.

(TLDR I think rears that slide nicely are just better rears, every back tyre I’ve ever liked is like that. I can forgive a lack of grip more easily than a lack of manners, it’s why I love schwalbe’s rockrazor. I can’t get anywhere close to 100% from a tyre that bites you if you use 101%, and a moderately grippy tyre you can use 100% of is just better than a really grippy tyre you can use 70% of)

Also, I think schwalbe have the balance of their carcasses a bit wrong, the sidewalls and beads are ime really good but the supertrail is still weak in the middle, the marketing fluff suggests it’s literally the old snakeskin in the middle and that feels like it might be true. I’ve just not had any other modern tyres in that weight class that have punctured or cut in the centre in normal riding, I don’t think it’s even as tough as an exo in that regard. Like having armoured walls and a wooden roof.

So I went up to supergravity this time and that’s worked really well for me but then, it’s a 1300g tyre, basically dh weight- I’m a 60kg midrangey rider, I just shouldn’t need that for normal riding. This doubly bugs me because the original supergravity was so fantastic- really well balanced, good protection all over…

You might want to consider the krpyotal as another option, very good indeed.

WTB Judge for a curveball

Just get rid of those 2.3s guys and fatten out the 2.4 range, it’s 2023!

Please keep the 2.3’s – they fit nicely with plenty mud clearance in the back of our 8 year old bikes.

if I’m going to screw up and slide halfway down something orrible, or get in deeper trouble than I meant to, give me a dhr2 to do it with.

This is the way. I’d rather have a predictable DHR2 than something with theoretically more grip but less ability to actually use it.

I’ve not tried the BB but they’re pretty heavy and I’ve heard they’re a big draggy.

DHR2 is generally excellent all round. I like the 2.3 as an all year sort of tyre – the 2.4 has more outright grip in mud but you feel the extra drag.

Cureently got a Kryptotal Re on the back wheel and I think it’s better than the 2.3 dhr2 but less draggy than the 2.4 dhr2. Really happy with Conti tyres at the moment. Enduro / soft front and trail / endurance rear.

I picked up one of the Merlin BBs, but I ly been out on it once. Liked it on the downhills, it felt hard work on flats, but it was awful muddy.

Seemed harder to pedal than the DHR2 on my hard tail, but there are other variables – such as different bike, different conditions….

Er…glad I could help

Betty is pretty good, bit more draggy than dhr2 IME but works as well descending.

I prefer the wild enduro rear to both, £30 at Merlin if still in stock 

Blisterreview is good for comparisons between different tyres – https://blisterreview.com/gear-101/mountain-bike-tires-a-guide-comparisons

Compared to the DHR II, the Betty rolls slightly faster, but gives up a little bit of braking and cornering traction, especially on softer, looser surfaces. The Big Betty also requires notably less commitment to get over onto the side knobs than the DHR II, and riders who have found the wide channel on the Minions to be disconcerting should give the Betty a look.

Both the center and side knobs on the Big Betty are tighter spaced than those on the DHR II. While this is likely a big part of why the Betty rolls faster, it does also mean that it doesn’t clear mud as well.

I have run a couple of SG Betty softs on the back of my ebike, I like them but do find they wear pretty quickly. the ebike does batter rears though.

Found a DHR2 DD MaxxTerra (bloody hen’s teeth) for £45 on a German site, only a few rides in but very good so far. I’ve had them before though so a known quantity

Tempted by the Contis next. Might even be matching then – my new bike has the DHR on the back and a Mary on the front. Even worse it’s X2 rear and Zebs on the front, the horror!

Thanks for the feedback all.

I don’t think I can go far wrong for the price. Even if it’s not brilliant or as good as the DHR, it just needs to get the bike on the road or off road on the cheap. I’ve got two builds to consider and Xmas is coming up.

I’ll give the Contis a try later in the year though.

I’ve been running Bettys to test for a while on the back and I like them as much if not more than the DHR. They seem to have more immediate edge grip to them and Ive found they’re staying viable longer. I would imagine though haven’t tried, they would work less well on the front than a DHR.

With regards to Northwinds comments above I don’t find the cap any more prone to punctures than Exo or Exo+, but the sidewall is definitely less prone on the Schwalbes. Ive even been able to use Super Ground tyres without issue but I generally run Trails. I do however think they could be improved with more balanced cap to sidewall as the sidewalls are definitely stronger, and so make for a slightly stiff tyre that will need you to drop a few PSI to get it feeling nice vs a DHR.

BB are fine for me. EEB and non eeb. Super gravity on the rear. i dont like the squirm of a lighter carcass when cornering hard and protection from bad line choice. i always reverted to a DH casing on the rear in my maxxis days too.

cheap and sticky is good enough for me. the soft has lasted ok on the eeb.

i also love a semi slick like northwind.

I don’t think I can go far wrong for the price.

I don’t think you can go wrong full stop, Even if I prefer the DHR, if some-one put a BB on it, and forced me to ride it, it wouldn’t bother me, they’re good tyres by any measurement.

If anyone can find a Mary/Betty combo in stock in 29er tanwall with a tough casing I’m all ears.

@Sharkattack Super trail softs are available if you want some. PM me

I used to run dual Mary’s front and rear for grip and braking, chucked a BB on the rear and it rolled a lot better but was as good at braking and grip IMO. Its my all year round tyre combo in super trail for enduro style winch and plummet stuff. 

I’ve been running Bettys to test for a while on the back and I like them as much if not more than the DHR. They seem to have more immediate edge grip to them and Ive found they’re staying viable longer. I would imagine though haven’t tried, they would work less well on the front than a DHR.

Ben, I saw cathro ran the BB on the front since it was launched, I slid into his DM’s asking about it and he said it was fine, I am planning to give it a go next Spring myself. 

Ben, I saw cathro ran the BB on the front since it was launched, I slid into his DM’s asking about it and he said it was fine, I am planning to give it a go next Spring myself.

Bear in mind that what a Pro judges to be fine can be very different from what a punter gets on with. He’s probably running 30+ PSi too for good measure

Have been running a BB on both my bikes for a while and really get on with, offers plenty of grip and don’t find it too draggy.