Hello,

Interested in hearing what different combinations of tyres people run on their bikes. I've always run the same on both wheels, but met and saw a few people on trails with different front and rear combinations.

Its got me curious, and wondering what peoples opinions are and any recommendations to try out for general trail use.

Maxxi High Roller front, Maxxi advantage rear on a Kona HT.

It is resonably common to put a grippier tyre on the front and a faster rolling tyre on the rear. On a full-sus people sometimes use a wider tyre at the front too. You could do it on a hardtail, but most people want bum-cushioning.

I run various tyres depending entirely on conditions, often different front and rear. For a while I was running a Mud-X up front and a Furious Fred on the back, which is a reasonably stark difference.

Depends what I've got

At the moment I have a High Roller front & Conti Vert Pro rear

2.25" UST Nobby Nics front and rear, with the tread patterns set specifically to F & R. They work a treat.

2.35 Kenda Blue Groove DTC Front.
2.10 Kenda Nevegal DTC Rear.

Same as Simon…High Roller on the front, Advantage on the rear

HT
front: Nokian gazzaloddi 2.3
rear: Maxxis highroller 2.35

FS
front: Maxxis Ignitor eXCeption 2.35"
rear: Maxxis Ignitor eXCeption 2.35"

All year round, as I don't really ride the bike in winter mud-fest wood blasts. I have tried a smaller tyre on the rear and didn't realy like it that much.

HT
Dry
front: Maxxis Ignitor eXCeption 2.1"
rear: Maxxis Ignitor eXCeption 2.1"

Muddy
front: Bonty Mud-X 2.0"
rear: Bonty Mud-X 2.0"

Always run a fatter,knobblier tyre on the front & a 2.0"(ish) on the back with as little tread as a I can get a way with,hate feeling them drag.Would never run a mud tyre on the back unless it was stupidly muddy like at Mayhem or the like….

Maxxi High Roller front, Maxxi advantage rea

Same here, nice combo.

Depends on the tyres. The old Specialized tyres had a Control / Master designation for F / R, my current tyres seem to be non-specific and seem to work fine so I don't really worry about it!
The Schwalbe ones on my CX are the same tread pattern but run in different directions.

@emac65 You learn something new everyday. I never thought of it like that.

so I currently have panaracer rampage both front and rear. Any recommendations on what tyre to run as rear? I may try out the Maxxis or smaller on the rear.

FS: 2.35 highroller up front, 2.0 larsen TT on the back.

HT: Nobby Nic on the front, racing ralph on the back, both 2.1. Unless it bone dry then ralphs all round

How can you use differing makes on the same bike – think of aesthetics and pictures

I also run the HR 2.35 front and Advantage 2.35 rear combo on the FS. It's a good one although for all out speed a 2.1 HR on the back is pretty good if it's not rocky / off camber / wet. Also tried a 2.0 Larsen Mimo on the back but lost the back end too many times.
Have 2.1 Blue groove front (comes up wider than most 2.1s) and 2.1 Ignitor (ghetto tubeless) on the HT which I like too.

2.35 High Roller front
2.35 Larsen back

You can lean on the High Roller with a bit of confidence and the Larsen rolls great and actually grips pretty well, unless it gets very muddy.

In the winter I run a 2.5" WTB Weirwolf up front and a 2.3" Nokian Gazzalodi on the rear. It gives a good combination of traction out of gloopy mud and front end grip on the corners.

In the summer I just run a pair of 2.25" Intense System-4 tyres.

-j

Minion on the front, High Roller on the back.

Sorry I think half of you are crazy:-) I followed the crowd but High rollers on the front gave me cold sweats. Looking down on the profile I just did not trust it at all when leaning even slightly.
Its fine on the back paired with a very unfashionable Bonty ACX.(I actually really rate the ACX as similar to Nobby Nics but less fragile)

On the front noooooooooooooo

Currently panaracer cinder 2.25 front and rampage 2.35 rear.
Winter, I tend to run a narrower pair of tyres to help cut through the mud.

Smoke/Dart ftw!

Actually, now I've thought about it – are there any other tires which were designed specifically to work as a pair? The idea that a pattern which is good on the front can magically be as good on the back just by turning it around now strikes me as a bit optimistic…

I once had a massive 2.4 fire FR on the front and a 2.0 trailblaster semi-slick on the back.

I was mental.