I’ve been running a 2.6″ MM in Apex soft for the last 18 months and it’s been a great tyre but I suspect it’s time to change. It doesn’t look badly worn (the blocks no longer have sharp edges, but none are missing) and now that the winter slop is here it doesn’t seem as confidence inspiring as I remember.

Should I;
a. MTFU and commit more
b. Get another MM
c. Get a Hillbilly (if I can find one)
d. Spend the entire winter on the sofa

Has anyone done a direst comparison between the 2?

I think the rim is a 40mm internal so too wide for a 2.35.

I like them both. Would say the MM is better on wet rock by some margin, Hillbilly better in the mud. I run Hillbilly/Butcher on one, and Hillbilly/Purgatory on the other…

Shorty?

Shorty?

This

Hillbilly isn’t a true 2.6 mind, more like a 2.45 so might be a little stretched on a 40mm rim. How about a WTB verdict or Verdict wet, I ended up with both (long story) and the verdict wet is a proper monster in the wet, much more confidence inspiring than the Hillbilly 2.6 I had before.

WTB website shows the Verdict Wet in tough casing only, but CRC/Wiggle have some stock of light casing ones.

Hillbilly is great in mud & loose stuff, and fairly fast rolling but the MM is a better all rounder so depends what you want it for.

d

Have those recommending the Shorty used all three tyres?

My Shorty is not getting much use this year after I bought a 2.6 Mary, though as we near peak slop time of year it may be coming out again soon.

Rode a good mix of trails in the Tweed Valley recently with me on the Mary and a friend on the Hillbilly. He was not happy with it for mixed riding. Basically seems OK for slop but a Shorty is clearly better – while a Mary is better for trails with any real amount of rock & root mixed in.

Shorty isn’t great on hard surfaces, tends to get a bit skittish. I run one on the front of my smuggler, good for cannock off piste which is a slopfest this time of year.

I like the hillbilly in loam/soft conditions, but couldn’t get on with it on harder surfaces.

Currently running an assegai, which is slow rolling, but grip wise its amazing. Braking traction of a DHR2/shorty, with big high roller side lugs. Doesn’t seem to clog, but most of the trails have been wet muddy, not sticky claggy mud.

Not ridden a magic mary recently, my OCD would twitch running mismatched tyres as they dont really make a good enough rear tyre.

I’d like to try the michelins, buts its an expensive test!

my OCD would twitch running mismatched tyres

I used to think like this till someone else pointed out that running mismatched tyres makes you look like you really know what your doing and are not just riding a stock bike. Other opinions are of course available.

“I used to think like this till someone else pointed out that running mismatched tyres makes you look like you really know what your doing and are not just riding a stock bike.”

Ditto! I needed a gnarly front tyre in a hurry and all I could find was a Magic Mary, so had that with a DHR2 on the back. And thus my hardtail looks like a bike spec’d out by an expert level tyre geek! 😉

I just let my riding do the talking.

Then people know I’m a clueless ****.

The hillbilly changed tread a little while ago, something I didn’t realise until a bought a new one this year. I absolutely loved the old one for the chalky clay slippery clag we get on the north downs, while still not being bad elsewhere.

The old tread was broadly comparable to the shorty in the mud I thought. Rode both back to back down the same muddy trail and couldn’t tell the difference, anyway. The MM, as suggested above, is more of an all rounder- to compare, on a lovely off camber steep and muddy bit of trail I made it down on a hillbilly while a mate on a MM who is normally much better at that sort of thing than me ended up in the bushes. It’s an edge case though- if the MM is enough for your local mud, I don’t think the old hillbilly added much.

The new tread I only have a couple of rides on. So far it seems fine. It looks like it will be more Mary than shorty, but I’ll find out this winter.

Bumping an old thread but does anyone run hillbillies front AND rear for winter? Down south in the chalk. I’ve just bought a pair but I do also have a butcher, a purg and an old storm control I could use on the rear instead.

Looking for max confidence on sloppy roots and mud, e.g friston / stammer. Is the rolling resistance awful? They are last year’s 2.3 GRIDs if it matters (currently on sale for £19 at the spec concept store as a PSA)

I’d say Stanmer and Friston are too flat to run a Hillbilly on the back. I have a Hillbilly 2.6 on the front of one bike with an Eliminator 2.3 rear; and a Magic Mary 2.35 front with a DHR2 2.3 rear on the other. That approach seems to give the right balance of grip vs rolling for around here.

Some years back I tried Shorty front and rear but it only worked well in total filth.

Cheers Chief.

how do you find the eliminator vs the dhr chief?

Hard to say – 27.5” DHR2 is on my hardtail (and I had it on my old full-sus). 29” Eliminator is on the back of my Levo so lots more grip because the heavy frame makes the suspension work better.

I think the Eliminator rolls better but isn’t as grippy in looser conditions. It’s quite a drifty tyre in general, more than you’d expect from its appearance. Not the stickiest but ok compound. Tread takes forever to wear, like some of the black chilli Continentals.

Never tried a hillbilly, but echo the above about shorty/MM, Shorty better at riding pure glaur, MM better all round if there’s rocks and roots. A few of my mates are on 2.5 Assegais up front (there’s a 2.6 now too IIRC) and seem to really like them.

The idea of sticking to one tyre brand is quite bizarre.

Cheap is why I usually end up with spec tyres. Not married to them though. I miss the Chunky Monkeys!

for stanmer/frison in winter you need to ride somewhere else for it to be fun on all but the driest periods

If you do insist on riding there then a thin mud tyre will be WAAAY better than a fat one as it cuts through the slop rather than floating on top. (There is a reason proper mud tryes dont come in fat widths). but then proper mud tyres are shocking on roots. and we have LOTS of roots.

I`ve some wetscreams i cut down for riding at Wild park but i only really use them if its a mega bad winter or i feel like a bit of resistance training. I didnt bother last year and left the butchers on and got sideways instead.

Ultimately if its really bad it will be slippy and there isnt really much you can do – just brake less as that actually helps tyres grip more!