As with the winter season, here’s another tyre query, i have a 2.3 DHF up front just now on the full sus, but do have a 2.35 MM soft that i was thinking of fitting, is the MM that much better in winter, width wise there’s a tiny bit in it, but the MM does appear to be about 10mm taller when inflated on the rim over the DHF, so pushing the front end of the enduro up even more potentially, is the trade off worth it?

Yes.

That’s me sold, was just quadruple checking before i have to mess about with sealant!

Best front tyre there is IMO, excels as a multi condition tyre, mud, roots, rock.

Stonkin.

Yes. There’s some tradeoffs- lifespan isn’t anything like as good frinstance, because they lose tons of grip when they wear, very dependent on the block shapes I think, whereas the maxxi pretty much keep going . And the sidewalls aren’t as good ime, I can get on fine with an Exo but snakeskin is useless and I think they’re pretty much the equivalent of each other… (I have to use SG schwalbe to do the job snakeskin does)

And tbf, the DHF isn’t that good a tyre any more. Fair play, it’s about 500 years old. I’m wearing out a set on the big bike but I’ve got no idea where I’d choose a DHF over a DHR2 now.

Mary really nails that “spiky allrounder” thing really well, I don’t think maxxis really match that. But like most allrounders it loses out to specialists where those are best- 2.5 shorty is better in really loose stuff ime, dhr2 is better in drier conditions, mary sort of joats it in the middle. Which is a really good thing to do, but I’d rather have the specialists myself.

Pure xc aside, I don’t think I ever did a ride on my marys that they were “wrong”.

It’s definitely worth running a Mary over a DHF in the winter imo – as long as your riding isn’t all hardpack trail centre stuff anyway.

For me the 2.5 WT dhf is an excellent front tyre and I’ve run it for a few years now. However, when you get any mud on off piste type stuff the Mary just turns a lot better.

I think the DHF is still better in dry / hardpack conditions though. So I tend to swap to a Mary around October and swap back to the DHF around April.

I’m trying a 2.6” Specialized Hillbilly Grid out on my FS bike this year (the Mary is on the Hardtail) as it was much cheaper then buying a 2nd Mary. So far it’s been good – maybe got the slight edge on the Mary in thicker mud. Not really tried it on hardpack though.

But like most allrounders it loses out to specialists where those are best- 2.5 shorty is better in really loose stuff ime, dhr2 is better in drier conditions, mary sort of joats it in the middle.

It’s definitely worth running a Mary over a DHF in the winter imo – as long as your riding isn’t all hardpack trail centre stuff anyway.

Agree with both of these, it’s a great all rounder for natural riding, it’s not bad on trail centres, it’s just not great but I don’t tend to drive to TC’s these days any more, much as I do enjoy them.

My Bronson came with DHF EXO, lasted one stage of Dunkeld enduro, two rips saw to that, never really got to see how good or otherwise it was, back to old faithful supergravity Mary, which has since done it’s miles, and been swapped out for a 2.6 soft addix mary, which I like even better.

I’m a mary fanboi, so perhaps not to be trusted! 🙂

MM is defo better in mud/slop than a DHF, DHF is better on hardpack than A MM, personally prefer the MM as a better all rounder of the 2 if using all year round, although I do ride more natural/off piste trails than trail centres

I find the MM is awesome on anything it can dig into… but it washes out unpredicatably* on stuff it can’t like hardpack. I have the luxury of both a DHF/DHR combo and MM/Hans combo and quite honestly say where I’m riding determines which wheels (tyres).

*or not confidence inspiring… perhaps also rim specific but I find I can feel the sideknobs deform/slip one by one…

Cheers all, will get them swapped over, stick the DHF on the back up wheels of the hardtail, i know about the washout issue, after my last one ended with broken clavicle, ribs and knee, so will keep an eye out for that one, but run lowish pressures anyway so very mindful of washouts these days!

What compound are you all running on the front in the Magic Mary – love my DHF on the front here in Sheffield/Peaks but if their is something better 🙂

Addix soft in 2.6 flavour, which is more 2.5-2.5 depending on your rim size. It’s a beast of a tyre, very confidence inspiring, even just looking at the big bastard!.

Only running 22mm i/d rims so maybe a 2.25 will suffice?

this?

I’ve only ever used the supergravity in the smaller size, grip was great. Dunno if you can still get them tbh.

Both great tyres, the Mary is a better choice in winter, IMO. The Mary clears mud much better that a DHF, the tread pattern looks more like a Maxxis Shorty.

Love the Mary in softer conditions, hate how easily the knobs tear on them. I’d never run one now for that reason. If you push in you can ruin them remarkably quickly.

*or not confidence inspiring… perhaps also rim specific but I find I can feel the sideknobs deform/slip one by one…

I’ve never noticed that on any other tyre apart from the MM I recently started using. Slightly disconcerting!

I’ve never used a Mary, but the one thing I’d say about Maxxis is that they have their compounds absolutely dialled. Particularly on rocky stuff. Everything they make just seems to work.

I think the obvious question is whether you find the Minion DHF lacking. But if you have the MM sat there anyway, just put it on and see how it works for you and your riding style / terrain. I run the DHF all year round, but I’m Peak-based, so there’s not much real mud.

I recently swapped from 2.5 Exo Maxxgrip DHF to 2.6 Apex Soft MM on the front. Echoing the stuff above, the MM is a lot better on soft surfaces, but I’ve had some surprise slips on off-camber rock. It also seems to handle roots better, but I don’t know if that’s due to the taller knobs being able to dig in to the ground around small ones, where the DHF rises up to only have contact with wood.

They are almost excactly the same size on my 30 mm internal rims by the way.