I’m running 2.6 Butchers and Hillbilly’s in Grid casings and was wondering what pressures people are running in theirs?

My rear end felt dead harsh last night and I’m wondering how low I can before the resistance/squirm gets too much….

Only you can know that, by dropping pressure til you get it right.

Thanks that’s really helpful…..

22 front and 24 rear in our 2.6 x 29 Butcher Grids. The side walls arnt as thick as the older grids and we found any lower in the rear and the sidewalls were prone to damage. The Blck Dmnd ones have a lot stronger sidewall if that helps.
Running 16 and 18 in the 2.8 Blck Dmnds

Thanks that’s really helpful…..

Well, you were a bit vague tbh, we don’t know if you ride HT,FS or Rigid, if you ride rocky, muddy, rooty, gravel, beaches or what? how hard you ride, what weight you are, if you thunder into stuff or ride fairly conservatively…. etc etc

That would have been helpful.

Thanks that’s really helpful…..

It was probably the most helpful answer you will get. Everyone else will likely have different width rims, be a different weight and have a pressure gauge that reads differently to yours so their answer won’t be right for you.

I can tell you 10 in a black Diamond 2.6 is too low. The squidge test let me down. The front bottomed out on a rock with a proper clunk!

22/ 24 was good for me at bike Park wales.

Fair points. I ride pretty hard (uplift days, jumps, drops and endure races etc) but I’m smooth (learnt on a hardtail) around 200lbs weight. Full sus bike 130 back 150 front. My gauge is a digital topeak. Just after an idea what other people are riding so I can get in the right ball park and go from there, so I if I sound like anyone else and they’re riding Spesh 2.6 tyres I’m all ears.

I’ve got Eliminator 2.6 front and rear and know the front I can get down to around 21-22 before I find it gets a bit foldy. In the rear I’m about 25-26.

20-25 on buchers

I struggled to find the sweet spot on the 2.6 Butcher grid, especially on the rear, it seemed super sensitive to one or two psi ether way, but ended up with 25/28 front rear on 27.5 rims. Tracey is spot on, the side walls are not the best feature of the tyre, and I’ve temporarily moved back to shorty and DHR for the winter just to get back to something I find more predictable. I’ll give them another go in the summer though.as they do seem like there’s a decent tyre there somewhere struggling to get out.

I seem to be sitting at 22 front, 24 rear with Hillbilly and Butcher 29×2.6 Grid on 30mm rims on a Levo (so total weight around 240lbs).

The Butcher does seem quite a bouncy tyre, not as well damped as say a DHR2 2.4 Exo. I’m running quite a bit of sag and the bike itself is heavy so they seem to work well together. The Hillbilly is really good!

I agree with Chief, couldn’t get on with the Butcher and got a minion dhf 2.5 instead now.
Same real world size and much better grip and feel.
Sorry if that’s not much help either, but my point is maybe it’s the tyre and not the pressure.

I’m running 2.6 black diamonds, on 32mm internal rims.
I’m 250lbs and riding a Stumpy with 130 rear and 150 front.

Not had too many rides on them, but i’m thinking the 23psi i have in them right now is too much. I’m going to run closer to 20psi for a bit to see. I ride rooty but not too rocky terrain mostly. I’d wouldn’t be surprised if lower than 20psi results in tyre burping and ripping off.

I’m on the 29×2.6 Butcher Grid F+R. Running 23/28+ psi. I liked the tyres initially but was running them on mostly natural trails with very few rocks. I agree with sentiments about them being too thin. Any less than those pressures and they squirm like crazy. They’re also a pretty harsh ride. The side knobs are now starting to tear off mine and they weep sealant. Safe to say I will be exploring other options when this set die, which seems imminent.

Hillbilly on front butcher back both grid. No idea of pressure I’m afraid. I recently have them solid for first climb then let air out, do a wee run see how it feels go from there. But that’s because I’ve been riding vegan valley steep stuff.

How do you find the Hillbilly 2.6 in the Tweed Valley? I ran one up front for a bit and really liked it. Actually thought at the time that it might be a very good Golfy tyre.

Much more confident in the hillbilly than the butcher it replaced. I’m happy to trundle up hills to get more downs. I’ll ride different bikes if distance and rolling speed is my aim.
Taking it to muddy bowhill tomorrow to give it a proper test.

Thanks for the replies – I’ve definitely been running them too high. The undamped rear comment struck a chord.

Off to Hamsterley tomorrow for an uplift, so I’ll have a play around thinking of starting 20 psi front and rear and seeing how I go from there.

I ran a Hillbilly upfront at Antur in slushy freezing conditions last weekend and it never missed a beat – even though I was running it at nearly 30 psi!!

Out of interest who’s running Hillbilly front and rear? Thinking it might be an option for Rd 1 of the Welsh Enduro at Foel Gassnach….

The undamped rear comment struck a chord.

I think Chief nailed it, it’s not a great rear tyre.

20psi rear and 18psi front at Hamsterley this weekend. Rode some of the DH tracks and off piste stuff and the rear Butcher felt great. Turns out it’s a pretty decent rear tyre if you set it up properly.

Quite interested to see how the Hillbilly performs on the back over rooty loamy trails now….

Ran the Hillbilly/Butcher last winter. Found they were fine on anything loamy, but as soon as you got near any roots they had no grip in comparison to a shorty/DHR2 combo.

-Tread is a harder compound than Maxxis 3C
-Sidewalls are weak, so you have to run at higher pressures. However still found that they deteriorate and subsequently leak.

They are a no from me, the blck dmnd maybe better, but its an expensive experiment when you know maxxis work!

I have been really impressed by the 2.6 Hillbilly, I have run a Butcher 2.6 on the front too (both Grid) but really prefer the Hillbilly. For the rear I have moved away from a Butcher Grid and am now on an Eliminator 2.3 Blck Dmnd, had my first ride out on it at the weekend and very impressed, seems to roll better and the increase in support is really noticable.

Yea I agree the Hillbilly is a brilliant tyre. Think I might grab a black diamond version to run on the rear at races/uplifs and persevere with the Butcher for everything else.

I would love Maxxis but they cost a fortune!!!!