I’ve been considering tyres recently as I had to buy a tyre in Finale in Sept after mine ripped and ended up with one (Maxxis Double Down WT Aggressor) which was idea for there but isn’t ideal for back home now the weather is turning. However I’m really surprised at how good it has been as it is very different to my usual rear tyre (Conti Der Baron Projekt). Heavier but faster rolling – weird combo.

It’s got me thinking as there are a whole range out there to be considered, especially some of the new ones from Vee, WTB, Michelin and Goodyear. I’d love to try them but the cost puts me off.

Do you have usual tyres you buy? If you stray from the safe options (whatever they are) how do you decide which is right or do you just take the plunge?

Are there tyres you’d love to try but haven’t, perhaps due to cost or other factors?

WTB Trail Boss…. They just work for me…

If going XC i choose something Maxxis, at the moment it’s their Crossmark IIs… Again, they just work….

But TBH i’m not fast or Gnar enough for anything better really.

My default is generally Maxxis. DHF/DHR2 & Shorty’s.

I’ve tried Schwalbe, and been endlessly dissapointed, so refuse to try them any more. That said the only good tyre they have is the Magic Mary.

Specialized are actually pretty decent, but I would always pick a Maxxis over the equivalent.

I won some Vee Tyres at a race. I never bothered to claim them, as they look a bit rubbish.

I’m mildly curious over the new Goodyear & Michelin options though.

My tyres of choice are Bontrager XR. XR4/XR3 combo for winter and either 3/2 or 2/1 for summer or long distance XC. Dead easy to set up tubeless. Not cheap at around £40 but I’ll get a couple of years out of them (and that’s doing a lot of riding).

I’ve had a Der Baron on for a few weeks. Always been tempted, got rave reviews regarding compound etc. So far its been great to ride but it is loose on the bead and just not as reliable tubeless as Maxxis. The Agressor was a decent tyre through the spring/summer though!

Tyres aren’t too expensive if you buy when there is a promo on- you start to learn what you like shape wise etc but I think it’s always good to try something different. The Butcher for example may be a Minion copy but its a better tyre than the 60a Maxxis compound and arguably a better value offering than the 42a Maxxis for many who aren’t truely pushing the limits of the tyre.

Yeah, the Der Baron has rubbish sidewalls but otherwise is an excellent tyre – a little draggy on the rear though.

“Heavier but faster rolling – weird combo.”

I realise that most people think that heavy tyres are slow rolling tyres but they’re two separate and only very loosely linked characteristics.

Magic Mary Ultra Soft – end of thread.

So, I suppose going back to my earlier question – what stops you trying other tyres? For me it’s the cost primarily. I’d love to try the Goodyear Newton but at £60 its a lot to lay down for something which may or may not be good.

Does anyone know of any shops let you try before you buy?

Agressor on EXO on the back for me with a minion up front. Basically I try and avoid slop so it’s been a great all rounder, picked up after trying it on a demo bike.

Front – Shorty 2.5 for sloppy conditions, Mary for mixed, HR2 for dry-to-mixed, DHF for dry.

Rear – DHR2 for mixed, Aggressor for dry.

I’ve dabbled with other brands and often resort to WTB or Schwalbe rear tyres for their tough casings, but can’t wholeheartedly recommend any right now. New Hans Dampf looks good though, will be riding it soon.

Was a Maxxis fan (DHF/DHR2/Shorty) for a long time but they had issues when they changed distributor and stock was non-existent so gave WTB (Convict/Vig) a go but wasn’t overly impressed so looked to go back to Maxxis.

But CRC had an offer on the new Michelin Wild Enduro and a took a punt.

Completely worth it. I’m a changed man and now have a Mich on the back too which is equally impressive.

Will need to look for a slightly better winter tyre for the back but the front is amazing and will be staying on for the foreseeable.

I like Maxxis and Schwalbe. Maxxis are a bit like RS they have a tyre for every day of the year whereas Schwalbe are more Fox-like in that you have to choose carefully and the cheap ones are crap. I’ve also dabbled with Onza, WTB, Spesh and Michelin and sometimes I have DIFFERENT BRANDS ON THE SAME BIKE wohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The only brand that consistently disappoints is Conti. Don’t know what it is about them but even their inner tubes are underwhelming

Pick a good tyre combo that suits your riding style and stick with it for the rest of your life (or until the manufacturer discontinues them*). ride them whatever the conditions or terrain knowing you’ll know their limits incredibly well.**

*in which case shock TFU when they discount them.

** Unless you’re racing and it actually matters to have the correct tyres for the conditions

I realise that most people think that heavy tyres are slow rolling tyres but they’re two separate and only very loosely linked characteristics.

When in actual fact, heavy tyres are slower accelerating, less nimble, harder to slow down but hold more momentum/inertia and are more stable on the ground and in the air.

If you’re a sprinty poppy rider heavy tyres are tiring AF to ride. This is why most fatbikers never notice the downside of their super heavy tyres/rims

Enduro came with the new butchers, they were ok in the dry, but once winter set in, they just didn’t work. Swapped back to the Short/DHR2 combo, night and day difference. Wont be changing off maxxis anytime soon!

Have given up on WTB tyres after riding them all year, they’ve just lost all their grip on rocks now the temperature’s dropped.  Deciding right now whether to go back to the safe option of a DHF/DHRII combo or risk it going for a Conti Der Baron Projekt in 2.6″ flavour.  Loved the Trail Kings previously in UST flavour but the issues with sidewalls twisting (had them put me on the floor twice when they deformed) put me off them for a long time.  Would just order the Maxxis but they’re proving hard to track down hence looking at alternatives.

Really interesting reading this. Some great options and opinions on tyres and experiences when trying them out, including some tyres I’m tempted to try out. It’s not surprising that we seem to stick to what we know works.

A mate had the Michelin Wild Enduro tyres in Finale and they looked impressive – partly as I had no chance to keep up with him! How are they in the slop?

Milky – I love my Der Baron’s in 2.4 (Not tried the 2.6) but the sidewalls aren’t great when compared to Maxxis or Schwable. I do think the Der Baron’s are slightly thicker than the Trail King/Mountain kings though. I certainly had problems running a mountain king on the rear noticeably deforming when landing drops and jumps.

It does however depend on the terrain you are running them on. I’ve found that round my way they are great on the Cotswold rock and roots, but not how how they are on others areas such as Chalk or Slate based terrain.

The 2.6 are a shallower tread design compared to the 2.4’s, struggling to find a review of them!!  If the sidewalls are a bit thinner than the Maxxis Exo I might give them a miss as my riding areas tend to eat weak sidewalls regularly.  Never had an issue with Maxxis Exo or Schwalbe Evo Snakeskin so might go safe and stay with known quantities.

Personal preference is for Bonty se5 front and SE3 rear for summer duties.  Much as I love Maxxis the South Downs flints have a habit of eating they’re sidewalls.

Winter time Michelin wild mud Reinforced casing.  Heavy but do they grip and clear.  I’ve had them for three winters and really rate them.  Backs about kaput now so I need a new one and only one puncture that didn’t seal which was from fence wire and that’s despite running at 18psi

I’m also a big Maxxis fan. I’ve had the Ikons on this year and they have been great. For winter I’ve got a Specialized Butcher up front and a Maxxis Ardent on the back. Works for me as the back always breaks away before the front so you know how far to push it in the slop. I used to use Schwalbe tyres but found that out of the box they performed great but then would drop off sharply after only a few weeks. Something to do with the performance rubber mix being only a thin outer layer on their tyres.

Yes wtb tough for finale for sure. Actually wtb are my goto tyre for the enduro bike, breakout or trailboss for the rear in tough and vigilante for the front. I ride the tough regardless as I dont like the way these superlight sidewall tyres feel like they are coming off the rim in fast berms. Breakouts are hard to come by now, especially at the price I want to pay for them.

Mary vertstar wired on the dh bike, seeing as crc had them on special for £22 the other week.

Being super tight fisted about £40 is my limit to spend on a tyre, so I was all over the £10 trailboss deal from planetx.

I dont ride in winter so Im not concerned about grip in sloppy mud.

If you’re feeling drifty then you could always go the Thunderburt route 👍🤣

Been impressed with the Maxxis Forekasters that came on the bike – coped well with every condition thrown at them so far.  Closest I’ve come to an actual ‘all-rounder’ that works, kinda like a much grippier but slightly slower Ikon.

Thanks for everyone’s replys, I’m thinking from this that some riders just ride what they’ve got – would some people say this is true? i.e. dont worry so much about what rubber you’ve got?

I ride what was in the sale….!

I prefer XR4’s as my all round tyres.

I’m impressed by the much cheapness Vittoria Goma and Saguaro’s – Goma rides like an Ardent, fast, grippy enough, supple, not quite enough tread when it’s properly muddy and lack of edge when really pushed.

Hans Dampf and Mary’s are like by two other oab’s, and we all like Butchers and HR2’s when they pop up second hand.

We don’t get on with NobbyNics and Smorgasbord and Chunkymonkey leave us ‘meh’.

Michelin’s are not to be sniffed at. The new Enduro, Wild AM and Rock’r2 Advanced are decent.

Hutchinson Toro and Squale combi is not bad either.

I’m currently running an orange soft compound 2.4 Majic Mary front and 2.35 Michelin Wild AM rear, which is not dissimler to an SE4.

I am a sucker for buying tyres when they are in sales. I have an unused tyre mountain growing. So i guess price is my driving factor but reviews/weight influence me too.

In 26″ when i started out, i still have the wired smart sams that came on the bike, changed to nobby nics because of reviews then picked up a pair of smorgasbords when they were a tenner each, hated them so got a dhf/ardent combo due to reviews and wanting to compare maxxis to shwalbe for myself. This bike is now being turned into a bit of a commuter/gravel bike so have 2x Michelle country rock tyres on order for a tenner each.

Then i went 27.5 and got some bontrager xr4/2 as i was watching the pennies and they were again about a tenner each (good tyres btw). I do like the dhf/ardent combo so picked up a pair of these (so i have them to change to) I have nobby nics on my fs bike that it came with. I also got a rock razor to go with the nic in the dry summer we had and saw a ss minion cheap so picked one of those up to pair with the dhf in dryer weather because we all know you must have matching brands front and rear……

I also picked up a pair  shwalbe lite skins to try on my sons bike to shave a bit of weight off for him (they were about £15 each)but these have sat in the box for about a year, still to get round to fitting them.

At a glance i have about 16 tyres not on bikes some new some used…….the famous tyre mountain lots of us have.

– what stops you trying other tyres?

Habit really, I can’t be bothered paying for top notch tyres because I often ride to the trails via roads, which would seem a waste of expensive rubber. The tyres I return to for general use are predictable, I know what they’re going to do in most situations and I have a set (really just a rear) reserved for snow/mud.

I hate shopping so as Geexs says I’d rather have a known brand and stick with them. Schwalbe in this case since I have been very happy with recent Ralph’s and Dampfs. I got the Ralph’s because they were the fastest rolling sensible tyre in that guy’s test, and they turned out to be fast, grippy and very good at lower pressures. So I’ll ride them until they stop making them.

Looking at Rons for my other MTB based on Schwalbe’s description of it and what I want to use it for.

First choose a brand. Love them. Then choose 2 other, largely indistinguishable brands. Hate them. Form some strong opinions based on photos, pinkbike reviews, what Sam Hill says, and one testride on a mate’s bike with random suspension setup and tyre pressures.

Buy some tyres. Now roll 1D6 on the New Tyres Table. Add +1 if the tyre cost over £50 and +1 if they are inexplicably 20% more expensive than another seemingly identical tyre in a slightly different size.

1) Actually they are shit.

2) Doesn’t fit in frame

3) Out of stock forever

4) Actually they are shit but you convince yourself they’re good because they’re expensive

5) love them for 1D6 rides then fall off and blame them

6) love them for no good reason

7) Conti Vert Pro

Molgrips, based on my experience, if you like Ralph’s, Ron’s will work for you too.

Used to use maxxis a lot but now try to get Vittoria whenever possible, both on mtb and cx bikes

DHF/DHR2 EXO are my default though I have tried Contis (a PITA to go tubeless and dodgy on corners) and Schwalbe (Nobby Nics – what was I thinking ?).  I did try an Aggressor earlier this year, but the sidewall split after a puncture.  As this is a tyre thread I’ll leave this extract from the maxxistires.de site here:

“<span> </span>
<span>IMPORTANT</span><span>At low soil temperatures (below 6 ° C) we advise against the use of the mixtures 3C MaxxTerra & 3C MaxxGrip. The soft components in the center and outer cleats tend to harden in the cold. This can result in performance losses in the curve stop, as well as – depending on the duration of application – optical defects such as cracking of the mixing “transition” on the flanks. In the cold, our DualCompound compounds, which are insensitive to temperature and always offer the same performance, whether at -15 ° C or + 20 ° C, perform considerably better.</span>
<div class=”hwr-details hwr-details1″></div>
”

I don’t know why this is not on the UK site and I presume that there will be similar issues with softer compounds from other makes as well.  The 6 degC limit is the same point at which normal car tyres become significantly inferior to all weather or Winter tyres.

Put new tyre on front, put old tyre on back.  Laugh when geex gets a puncture in the car park because his tyre stocks are running low.

Agressor on EXO on the back for me with a minion up front.

That is what’s on my bike. Always seem to come back to Maxxis although I’ve tried Schwalbe, Bontrager and Vee. The Vee Bulldozer was the only plus tyre I didn’t manage to puncture or outright kill. Brilliant monster truck of a tyre.

Magic Mary Ultrasoft on the front. High Roller II DD Maxterra on the rear. Might try a Wild Enduro on the rear next.

JP

That’s really interesting about the maxxis at low temperatures. Was just about to get a maxterra for winter. 😬

Well I’ll be keeping my Shorty on if it snows this winter.

I doubt there’s anything uniquely temperature sensitive about Maxxis compared to other soft compound tyres, that message looks like ass-covering to me.