Maxxis DHF / Aggressor combo – any good?

I’ve always ridden Schwalbe, but am going to try some Maxxis for my next set of tyres. Just wondering if anyone was running this combo and what they thought of it. I mainly ride off piste loamy stuff, or places like Black Mountain and FoD, and the occasional trail center.

Personally i would swap the DHF for a High Roller II.
I have tried, but i just can’t seem to get on with the DHF.
Other option would be the DHR2, not personally tried it on the front, but others have and seem to like it.
I liked the aggressor on the back when riding all sorts of trails and conditions.

Dhf and aggressor us my summer combo, works great on loose loamy trails and rolls well. No good for our local stuff in the winter though.

DHF on the front for me, aggressor was what the Maxxis boys suggested when I was looking for an ardent replacement.

Good summer-ish combo (or for rocky or trail centre surfaces all year). Not what I’d be putting on now for natural riding.

Just been riding this exact combo in Basque last week. Really liked it although I’m wondering what I’ll be wanting now things are getting sloppier.

Can’t go wrong with a DHF on the front imo. Aggressor has more bite than a Minion SS but not as good an all-rounder as an HRII on the rear especially going into Autumn.

Magic Mary + Rock Razor a versatile combo if you prefer Schwalbe or even a DHF front Rock Razor rear

Currently running DHR2 up front and HR2 out back. Tried an Aggressor on back but found it lacking in greasy woody conditions. Good all year trail centre rear but I prefer to fit and forget.

Been running a Magic Mary (with a Dampf on the back) for a while now through all seasons… and love it, in fact I think it’s going to be hard to find something as good.

I’ve got a DHR II WT 3C up front & Aggressor out back.
I really don’t like the DHR on the front, so it’s going on the back with a DHF WT on front. The DHR will wear out pretty quick out back & I’ll put the Aggressor back on. The Aggressor has got a couple of rubber bands plugging holes already.
I got binned hard by a High Roller 10 years ago & won’t try them again.

The High Roller 2 is a Completely different tyre to the High Roller, not riding one because you didn’t like the other doesn’t really make sense.

I’ve been running a dhr2 on the front and an aggressor on the back since May. For what I do I don’t like the dhr2 on the front – when it loses grip it does so very suddenly and without warning. I ride mostly armoured trail centre type trails though. On natural stuff it seems ok.

The aggressor is great at trail centres but now it’s beginning to get sloppy it doesn’t get very good drive forwards in any meaningful mud.

I’m about to swap the dhr2 onto the back and put a dhf on the front as I understand the dhf is more predictable on the sort of trails I ride.

If most of my trails were natural and I was coming into the winter I’d be tempted to run a shorty on the front and maybe the dhr2 on the back.

I guess that’s equivalent to schwalbe running a magic Mary on the front and something like a hans dampf on the back.

I’m running them on my hard tail and really like them. More grip than my Hans Dampf / Nobby Nic combo but a bit more draggy and weight.

I still can’t decide if I prefer the 2.5 DHF or the 2.4 DHR2 on teh front, it’s annoying me but as far as I’m concerned either one makes the highroller 2 pointless.

The aggressor’s an odd bird, it’s quick but not super quick, but it doesn’t- ime- corner anything like as well as a dhr2. I think the middle’s ace but the edges are a bit wrong. On a big rim it gets a bit more teeth… But it’s still good, it’s just for me it’s an unhappy medium. I just go SS fast, DHR2 slow.

Oh aye, someone might recommend a forekaster in a moment. It’s crap though.

I utterly love my SS. stick rocking it here in Autumnal Sweden. they are great fun ( as are most semi slicks)

Shorty 2.5 on the front mind for the lolz 🙂

Sweamrs is loving her DHF front / Aggressor rear combination. Annoyingly though finding another DHF 29 2.5 WT is proving very difficult so I might be having to fit a DHRII 2.4 on the front instead. Hoping it still gives the same “roll over anything” sensation.

Whilst browsing Maxxis I noticed they also do a 29 x 2.4 Ardent but not in 3C compound. Wondering what that would be like for drier conditions.

I’ve gone Schwalbe to Maxxis full time since April this year. Up until then had the odd Maxxis but never stuck with them.

I don’t like the DHR2 3C up front at all but I love the DHF 3C up front. Same as @joebristol the DHR2 has large centre “paddles” that can wash out without warning – I read somewhere that the DHR2 centre bit is designed to drift – not a good thing up front for me. Much better for braking at the rear or climbing up stuff. The DHF has angled centre blocks that seem to offer up a warning when you’re close to the limit and then still grip up again. That’s what I’ve felt anyway, much more feedback and control on the DHF up front.

The DHR2 3C out back is brilliant there and so is the Minion SS out back. Surprising what it can get away with. The Minion SS would certainly do trail centres all year on the rear but for me I like AM more than TC so I need more bite when it gets sticky.

I’ve not done a Maxxis winter yet but I’ve just fitted a DHR2 3C out back and I’m sticking with the DHF 3C up front until it becomes Magic Mary time… with the way it’s going that could be in a few weeks or the DHF will be fine… I just don’t know yet.

The wear on the Maxxis has been very even and consistent for me.

The DHR2 is a hell of a tyre on the back though. I’m not sure it’s ‘that’ much slower than the Minion SS. I couldn’t fault it at the weekend after riding the Minion SS for ages I didn’t feel a slow down at all, but I definitely had more grip.

I may end up buying a new DHF 3C for the front for next year and put the older DHF 3C on the back to finish it off. If that’s pretty good then that’ll be how I go rather than buying a specific front and rear.

I don’t have many “new” design tyre options so it’s good I’m getting on with the DHF/DHR2 as it’s a classic that’ll hopefully still be available in 26 inch for a while yet.

The DHR2 3C rolls a lot better than the DHR2 dual compound. I’ve got one of those and it’s worlds apart. 3C is worth the extra IMO.

Been running a dual Aggressor on the back all summer. Recently switched back to the DHR2 3C now things are getting wet. The DHR2 has way more braking traction, especially in the wet, but boy does it feel more draggy on the climbs. Not sure how much of the difference is down to tread pattern or rubber compound.

The DHR2 3C rolls a lot better than the DHR2 dual compound. I’ve got one of those and it’s worlds apart. 3C is worth the extra IMO.

That’s surprising. I was thinking a dual DHR2 would be my rear tyre for next winter (when my current DHR2 3c will be worn out), mainly in an attempt to decrease the drag.

I mainly ride off piste loamy stuff

This loamy stuff doesn’t stay ‘loamy’, if it did, I’d say yeah, keep the DHF on, but they’re a bit skitey on mud.

DHF and HR2 on the back works for me at about 18 psi each in this damp. Loam roots content

@mark90. Yeah, I know. But definitely true. The dual compound DHR2 is also rubbish in the wet or on grass but the 3C is fine. The 3C DHR2 is quite a bit lighter than it too. There’s a huge difference in feel between them.

The Dual Compound thing almost put me off buying the Minion SS as that’s only a “Dual Compound” too but that Minion SS dual compound feels almost exactly like the 3C DHF & DHR2 3C and when I grab the DHR2 Dual Compound (it was setup on another wheel) and dig my fingernail into it it certainly feels much harder rubber.

I wish Maxxis would give the compounds used in all the tyres their softness values as just saying “Dual Compound” definitely isn’t the same thing on the different tread patterns.

That Minion SS is way softer than “Dual Compound” would have you believe if you’d tried their other “Dual Compound” tyres.

3C is great but I wish they’d offer MaxxGrip 3C. They’re all MaxxTerra 3C.

My other wish with Maxxis is that they stop making non TR tyres at the Trail / Enduro / DH end. Just put TR on them all.

Gelert – I’m glad someone else has had the same experience with the dhr2 on the front with that sensation of it suddenly losing grip. Online a lot of people have liked it but maybe it comes down quite a lot to the type of surface you ride on.

mark90 – I’d have though the 3c would always be more draggy than the dual compound as it’s stickier. My dhr2 3c is going on the back of the Aeris in place of a 3c aggressor for the winter so it’ll be interesting to see the difference.

Myabe I’ll stick with a 3c DHR2 for the rear then, and live with the shorter life. Or try my used 2.3 3c DHF from the front and fit a 2.5 on the front.

The DHR2 3C rolls a lot better than the DHR2 dual compound. I’ve got one of those and it’s worlds apart. 3C is worth the extra IMO.

This totally confuses me! I’ve been using the DHR2 2.3 in both 3C and Dual compounds over the last few years and until I read your post I was totally convinced that the Dual is much faster rolling than the 3C, to the point that it’s almost as quick as a Minion SS (my summer rear option on the less gnar bike). Although the 3C is still quite a bit quicker than the Shorty 2.3 (my winter filth rear option).

I also like how the Dual compound’s side knobs really rail turns in softer ground and how they stay square and sharp for much longer. I’m back on the 3C rear now on both bikes because the Dual got a massive glass slash and I’m feeling stingy. The DHR2 2.3 3C has been retired from front tyre duty in favour of the DHF 2.5, HR2 2.4 and Shorty 2.5 – bigger is indeed better!

blacknose – Member
The High Roller 2 is a Completely different tyre to the High Roller, not riding one because you didn’t like the other doesn’t really make sense.

Don’t use logic against me.