Equivalent or similar tyres in different brands

Anyone else stick to a tyre brand just because you’re familiar with the models, casings, and compounds? I understand Maxxis, it requires study work to even start considering something else.

Leaving casings and compounds aside for now as that’s a whole can of worms in itself, I looked into putting together a list of tyre models that are equivalent or closely comparable between different brands in terms of design or intended use. So if you want a Maxxis X from Schwalbe you need model Y. My excuse for not being out riding my bike instead of doing this, is that it’s icy.

Does this look about right, any movements or gaps to fill? Or some comparative comments.

Maxxis Dissector, Continental Xynotal, Michelin Force AM2

Maxxis Assegai, Continental Kryptotal Front, Michelin Wild Enduro Front, Michelin Wild Enduro Rear

Maxxis Minion DHR II, Continental Kryptotal Rear, Schwalbe Big Betty

Maxxis Shorty, Continental Argotal, Schwalbe Magic Mary, Michelin Mud Enduro

Maxxis Wetscream, Continental Hydrotal, Schwalbe Dirty Dan

Maxxis Minion SS, Schwalbe Rock Razor

Maxxis Minion DHF, Michelin Wild AM2

This leaves some well-known tyres which I couldn’t say have an equivalent in different brands: Maxxis Aggressor and High Roller II, Schwalbe Hans Dampf andNobby Nic.

No Wtb tyres?

I run Vigilante front and Trail Boss rear.
Vig is similar to DHF, and TB is lie an SS maybe?

This has the potential to turn in to a right good argument.

I would say the Assagai is more grippy and draggy than the Wild Enduros.

Agree that Big Betty is similar to DHRII

I would not equate a Mary and a Shorty. But I don’t think it does match a Maxxis tyre. Maybe to a DHRII or a Shorty II, but I haven’t tried one yet.

My excuse for not being out riding my bike instead of doing this, is that it’s icy.

Schwalbe snow stud or marathon winter for road / gravel / cycle path.
Scwalbe ice spiker for trails.

FTFY 🙂

All I know is that someone needs to start smuggling Maxxis tyres in from wherever they’re made because RRP’s are out of control. £84.99 for a new Shorty according to yesterdays Megasack.

I would not equate a Mary and a Shorty.

This. The MM has a wider application window and is usable all year round (although there are better summer tyres) but ultimately falls short of the Shorty when it gets sloppy.

I like Bonty tyres, not sure the equivalence (did I just make up that word?) of XR4 or XR5
And then there’s Specialized… this could get complicated

£84.99 for a new Shorty according to yesterdays Megasack.

That was for two

No Vittoria’s either? I really rate them. Mazza is a better DHF, Aggaro is a bit like a dissector. Mezcal is an awesome summer tyre – rekon like maybe (never used a rekon)?

That was for two.

🤣🤣🤣

No, it wasn’t…

That was for two.

The RRP is £84.99 each.

50-70 each RRP has been around for some years, its not surprising they are creeping up.

The new continental range generally come in at about £50ea RRP and people are raving about them being a value option.

That was for two.

No. That’s for one!

https://www.freewheel.co.uk/maxxis-shorty-gen-2-tyre-varshortyv2

That was for two.

Nope. 1 tyre. £85.

This leaves some well-known tyres which I couldn’t say have an equivalent in different brands: Maxxis Aggressor and High Roller II, Schwalbe Hans Dampf andNobby Nic.

i would have said the agressor and hans dampf are pretty similar, different ways of alternating the centre knobs but similar size and spacing and squareness. although the nobby nick seems to follow the same idea too. maybe the agressor sits between the two germans there.

If you are looking for a new brand, the GF likes Vitoria. Another load of non-sensical names* but without the subsequent 50 variations of compound, casing etc. to wade through to get what you want

*try bontrager if you want nice boring numbers that follow a logical sequence.

as an aside, a few years ago I ordered from CRC a nice 29er minion for my hardtail, a normal “trail” type (probably exo, maxxterra). what showed up was a 29er, super soft DH casing version. at the time I thought that was useless and sent it back.
About a year later, DH bikes went 29, and enduroists decided they needed DH casing tyres and there was a big shortage.
possibly becasue global supply was sitting in CRC warehouse, mislabeled and being sold for about half price.
Always wondered if some less nerdy people ended up fitting them unknowingly to trail bikes and complaining how slow, draggy and quick to wear they were.

I baulked when I saw the price but sure he said on the clip you got two?! Ok then that’s mental 😂

Maxxis Minion SS > Schwalbe Rock Razor > Spesh Slaughter > Bonty er, XR3 (oh, I wish it was summer)

Just compared the DHR2 and Kryptotal Rear on my bikes and I wouldn’t say they are like each other in design – maybe intended application? The Kryptotal looks more like an extra deep treaded Agressor in design.

I baulked when I saw the price but sure he said on the clip you got two?! Ok then that’s mental 😂

You can win two, but you certainly can’t buy two for less than £170.

No Wtb tyres?

Had them in mind when I started, but forgot after I’d had enough. I have no knowledge of them really so if you or anyone wants to put their whole range into the right group please do.

I would say the Assagai is more grippy and draggy than the Wild Enduros.

Same kind or intent of tyre though, yes?

I would not equate a Mary and a Shorty. But I don’t think it does match a Maxxis tyre. Maybe to a DHRII or a Shorty II, but I haven’t tried one yet.

This. The MM has a wider application window and is usable all year round (although there are better summer tyres) but ultimately falls short of the Shorty when it gets sloppy.

Without experience of it, I read it was closest, and close enough. Will correct in a later version once we have a few more inputs from people. Should it be in the Assegai group, or not in any group?

Scwalbe ice spiker for trails.

FTFY 🙂

I was looking at these last night out of curiosity, and the 45Nrth Wrathchild Trail. Really they’d get so little use that I may as well buy one now as a set would probably last a lifetime.

All I know is that someone needs to start smuggling Maxxis tyres in from wherever they’re made because RRP’s are out of control. £84.99 for a new Shorty according to yesterdays Megasack.

Hope the categories can help people here to easily find alternatives, in this case Conti Argotal for £50.

I like Bonty tyres, not sure the equivalence (did I just make up that word?) of XR4 or XR5
And then there’s Specialized… this could get complicated

No Vittoria’s either?

Any volunteers to look into their whole range? Bonty isn’t that mainstream but the other two would be well worth including.

Just compared the DHR2 and Kryptotal Rear on my bikes and I wouldn’t say they are like each other in design – maybe intended application? The Kryptotal looks more like an extra deep treaded Agressor in design.

I think intended application is what’s important. That’s what people buying tyres want, rather than a tyre with a particular design.

Update – Mary moved, Vittoria added. WTB and Specialized left to do.

Maxxis Dissector, Continental Xynotal, Michelin Force AM2

Maxxis Assegai, Continental Kryptotal Front, Michelin Wild Enduro Front, Michelin Wild Enduro Rear

Maxxis Minion DHR II, Continental Kryptotal Rear, Schwalbe Big Betty

Maxxis Shorty, Continental Argotal, Michelin Mud Enduro

Maxxis Wetscream, Continental Hydrotal, Schwalbe Dirty Dan, Vittoria Mota

Maxxis Minion SS, Schwalbe Rock Razor

Maxxis Minion DHF, Michelin Wild AM2, Vittoria Mazza

Maxxis Aggressor, Schwalbe Hans Dampf, Vittoria Martello

This leaves some well-known tyres which I couldn’t say have an equivalent in different brands:
Maxxis High Roller II
Schwalbe Magic Mary
Schwalbe Nobby Nic

Always wondered if some less nerdy people ended up fitting them unknowingly to trail bikes and complaining how slow, draggy and quick to wear they were.

I waste too much time in hear and on browsing bike stuff. I’m quite a geek. Nearly stuffed up my first Maxxus tyre order. Despite having a previous model to work from, although I was changing tread pattern. In thought 3c was all I needed to specify for the compound. I got maxterra not max speed. Probably the correct compund for the job in the end. But I think a Maxxis tyre has 6 (maybe 5) variables to choose. That’s a lot to get right.

But i stick with Maxxis as they go up well tubeless on my rims

WTB tyres my take…

Verdict = Assegai
Judge = DHRII
Trailboss = Aggressor or Dissector
Vigilante = DHF
Ranger = Rekon
Bridger = High Roller or Ardent

This is turning into an interesting post. I hate buying tyres. They cost a small fortune and in several cases have turned out to be rubbish so money in the bin.

Wild Enduro rear is faster rolling/ less grippy than the front. Somewhere between a dissector and a dhr2. Or maybe just put it in the rears section with the dhr2?

Update – WTB added thanks to ajantom (except Ranger and Bridger as we’ve not done XC/fatbike across the other brands), Wild Enduro Rear moved thanks to Yak.

Maxxis Dissector, Continental Xynotal, Michelin Force AM2, WTB Trail Boss

Maxxis Assegai, Continental Kryptotal Front, Michelin Wild Enduro Front, WTB Verdict

Maxxis Minion DHR II, Continental Kryptotal Rear, Michelin Wild Enduro Rear, Schwalbe Big Betty, WTB Judge

Maxxis Shorty, Continental Argotal, Michelin Mud Enduro

Maxxis Wetscream, Continental Hydrotal, Schwalbe Dirty Dan, Vittoria Mota

Maxxis Minion SS, Schwalbe Rock Razor

Maxxis Minion DHF, Michelin Wild AM2, Vittoria Mazza, WTB Vigilante

Maxxis Aggressor, Schwalbe Hans Dampf, Vittoria Martello

This leaves some well-known tyres which I couldn’t say have an equivalent in different brands:
Maxxis High Roller II
Schwalbe Magic Mary
Schwalbe Nobby Nic

Wild Enduro rear is faster rolling/ less grippy than the front. Somewhere between a dissector and a dhr2. Or maybe just put it in the rears section with the dhr2?

Have put it with the DHR2 as it’s the same intent, closer to DHR2 than Dissector, and Michelin’s Force AM2 is in the Dissector group already.

This is turning into an interesting post. I hate buying tyres. They cost a small fortune and in several cases have turned out to be rubbish so money in the bin.

STW tyre group test for each category?

Hutchinson Griffus 2.5 (front) in assegai
Griffus 2.4 in dhr2, maybe dissector

I hate buying tyres.

me too but because I go down the rabbit hole of trying to work out what I want and what all the different compounds etc actually mean.

And then when I’ve ordered I’ll read something that says it won’t be grippy enough and I’ll destroy it in the forest ride out 😤

I hate buying tyres

I don’t. I’ve found what I like and I stick to it. If ever Maxxis stop making Minions, I’m gonna have to give up bikes.

I hate buying tyres

I don’t. I’ve found what I like and I stick to it. If ever Maxxis stop making MTB tyres, I’m gonna have to give up bikes.

Some Specialized tyres for you:

Hillbilly – recently updated with much thicker side knobs, so it should be better on harder ground or drier conditions. Previous version was a bit closer to a Shorty than a Magic Mary. New version closer to the Magic Mary.

Butcher – halfway between a DHF and a DHR2, better at braking/driving than the former, doesn’t rail corners quite as hard but has less of a drifty zone between the centre and side knobs. Doesn’t brake as well as DHR2 but has a bit more directional stability in straight lines.

Eliminator – like a less cloggy Aggressor, or maybe a Dissector with transition knobs. Doesn’t have as much braking grip as a Butcher but not bad. Less driving grip too but that’s much less obvious unless you put it on the back of an ebike (I swapped a part-worn one from a Levo to a singlespeed hardtail).

I haven’t tried the other Specialized tread patterns but I’ve put thousands of miles on these. Unlike Maxxis the different sizes seem to just be different casing volumes rather than changing the knob side / spacing radically.

Regarding Specialized casings, Grid is similar to Maxxis Exo, Grid Trail a bit tougher and Grid Gravity similar to Double Down.

And the compounds, T7 is the same as the original Gripton versions in the burlier tyres, and is somewhere between Max Terra and Dual Compound in terms of stickiness but the wear rate is really good and they roll well for the grip. T9 feels stickier than Schwalbe Soft or Max Terra and with much slower rebound. I’ve only tried T9 on one ride so far but it seems really rather good.

And casings – in these models the 2.3 measures closer to 2.4” whilst the 2.6 measures closer to 2.5”. The new 2.4 Hillbilly actually is 2.4” wide (all measured on 30mm rims).

You can get a 215/45 R16 Maxxis All Season car tyre from Camskill for £83.45 How can a comparatively tiny MTB tyre possibly cost more?

Interesting little project, wonder if it might be useful to list them all in an shared google sheets and mark them 1-5 for each condition (mud hardpack road etc), and then you use the filters for specifics (and cost) you are interested in.

Need to do a similar thread for compounds and casings too to go into such a resource.

Regarding Specialized casings, Grid is similar to Maxxis Exo…

And if they still do the non-Grid, 2Bliss one, avoid it! Nearest comparison would be Kleenex (Not a tyre brand, in case of confusion 😛 )

bikesandboots
Need to do a similar thread for compounds and casings too to go into such a resource.

+1

I’m quite confident with Maxxis that I know what compounds and casings I can try but am completely at sea with both Continental and Michelin. Both brands whose tyres I’d like to run but have no idea what the offer looks like in terms of grippyness in comparison.

Michelin being especially awkward as they seem to only offer some variants in certain wheel sizes.

I’d also suggest a range of overlap for the chart a bit like the brands do for ground conditions so it’s not absolutes – as there seems to be more of a venn diagram of comparison than X=Y=Z.

Heads up on the Vittoria Mota… has more in common with the Magic Mary, Shorty and Hillbilly than the all out mud spike hedgehog tyres and like the Magic Mary is great all year round on the front

Didn’t really finish this did we, and I lost interest. Until now.

To keep things simple for now, only the more mainstream brands as I perceive them are included. XC, DH or eMTB specific models are omitted for now as I don’t have any prior knowledge of them. Also omitted are budget/leisure models, and fatbike models.

I’ve tried to come up with names and a short description for each group. In each group one tyre is marked * as the class defining one.

It’s too complicated to fit neatly into groups, but I think something approximate like this is useful as a “if you’re looking at this, also consider these”.

Comments welcome and appreciated.

Traction Max
Designed for traction, usually for the rear.

Continental Kryptotal Re
*Maxxis Minion DHR II
Maxxis High Roller II
Pirelli Scorpion Race Enduro T
Schwalbe Big Betty
Specialized Butcher
WTB Judge

Traction Speed
Also for traction, but compromises in the name of rolling speed.

Continental Xynotal
*Maxxis Dissector
Michelin Wild Enduro Rear Racing Line
Michelin Wild Enduro MH Racing Line
Michelin Wild Enduro Rear
Pirelli Scorpion Enduro R
Pirelli Scorpion Trail R
Schwalbe Tacky Chan

Control Mixed
Designed for control and confidence on the front.

Continental Kryptotal Fr
*Maxxis Assegai
Michelin Wild Enduro MS Racing Line
Michelin Wild Enduro Front
Pirelli Scorpion Enduro M
Pirelli Scorpion Race Enduro M
Schwalbe Magic Mary
Specialized Hillybilly
WTB Verdict

Control Soft
Also for front control, but a more open tread pattern that digs in and clears better.

*Maxxis Minion DHF
Pirelli Scorpion Enduro S
Pirelli Scorpion Trail S
Vittoria Mazza
WTB Vigilante

Semi Mud
Not a full-on mud spike, so more versatile.

Continental Argotal
*Maxxis Shorty Gen2
Pirelli Scorpion Race Enduro S
Vittoria Mota

Mud Spike
Mud specialists.

Michelin Mud Enduro

Hardpack
Optimised for hardpack speed at the expense of traction and usability in softer conditions.

*Maxxis Aggressor
Schwalbe Hans Dampf
Specialized Eliminator
Vittoria Martello

Semi Slick
Slick centre for speed, aggressive edges for cornering.

Maxxis Minion SS
*Schwalbe Rock Razor
Specialized Slaughter

Light Grip
Lighter end of things, downcountry, more front oriented.

Maxxis Forekaster Gen2
Michelin Wild AM2 Competition Line
Pirelli Scorpion Trail M
*Schwalbe Nobby Nic
Specialized Purgatory
Vittoria Agarro
WTB Trail Boss

Light Speed
Lighter end of things, downcountry, more rear oriented.

*Maxxis Rekon
Michelin Force AM2 Competition Line
Pirelli Scorpion Trail H
Schwalbe Wicked Will
Specialized Ground Control
Vittoria Syerra
WTB Ranger

Given how often the Bontrager XR/SE range is recommended on here, that’s an obvious omission.

Happy to add them in if someone wants to do the analysis for the full range. Or I might do it but not soon.

Same for Hutchinson, Vee, Kenda, e13, Goodyear.

I just look for ones that have the most words/abbreviations/numbers and assume they must be good! Then try to find them on sale….