I have, after advice on here, always mounted a DHF on the rear in the opposite direction as the arrow. Should I do the same with a magic mary on the rear for a wet DH day tomorrow?
Thanks for your opinions, STW.

No

Yes, just for balance of course!

Tyres are not just designed to go forwards, but braking performance too. The old reversing direction harks from the days of shite tyres.

If you can’t get enough traction from a Mary, there’s no hope for you! 😬😂

I can’t argue with that detail, l just don’t like yes/no answers, it leaves us ill informed! Thanks Nobeerinthefridge, I agree with your Magic Mary comments, have a good weekend..

If you can’t get enough traction from a Mary, there’s no hope for you!

I’ve got a Dirty Dan on the front. It’s going to be messy tomorrow.

I suspect I won’t notice the difference anyhow. Will I die?

I used to reverse the rear because I prioritised drive over braking on the rear wheel. Some manufacturers would recommend a different rotating direction for front or rear use.

Was tempted to do it on my CX tyres (Terreno Wets) but I read that the tread direction also assisted with mud clearing, arguably most important for a CX tyre!

have a good weekend

You too wof, may the flames on yer tyres roar!

Also no. TBH it probably won’t make a massive amount of difference with a Mary anyway, but it’ll brake better going “right way” and it’s not like you’re likely to want more pedalling grip? Not many tyres worth doing it with these days but I don’t know if there’s anything that makes sense doing it for DH? Mud-shovelling XC, maybe

I’d only reverse a mary on the back if i wanted less traction for some reason on cornering and less efficiency when upright, the pattern is pretty much for a one way fit, then again i DHR’s front and rear due to not liking DHFs in either direction so probably not the person to listen too ;o)

I have, after advice on here, always mounted a DHF on the rear in the opposite direction as the arrow. 

What the hell? Why would you do that? When has this ever been a thing?

Seriously, lots of people on here give bad advice.

argee
Full Member

then again i DHR’s front and rear due to not liking DHFs in either direction so probably not the person to listen too

DHR2s I hope? If it’s classic DHRs then I’m calling the police

It’s on backwards. If I don’t post again for 24 hours it didn’t work.

Thank you all for your support.

Northwind
Full Member
argee
Full Member

then again i DHR’s front and rear due to not liking DHFs in either direction so probably not the person to listen too

DHR2s I hope? If it’s classic DHRs then I’m calling the police

Yeah, i’m stuck in the 00s, they’re even the new fangled 2.4s as well, to be fair they might as well be on back to front with me, never get to use them on the other bike, i’ll be back on shorty’s soon as well!

Tyre direction?

Vertical 😉

2003, I bought my Giant VT2 brand new for a little over 1000quid. The Whistler bike shop did a tire (tyre) upgrade to suit Whistler trail riding and their advice for the red sidewalled IRC (El Gato?) was to mount them backwards for climbing traction.
I mount my tires based on the arrow on the sidewall. Some tires are still front/rear direction specific, others direction specific regardless of which end. (e.g. conti trail king is front/rear directional, all other contis one direction only)

Anyone who spends more time suffering wheelspin than total time spent suffering rear wheel braking skids and general pedalling drag, should reverse their rear tyre. Does anyone compete in off-road hill climbs on a MTB? Can’t think of anyone who’d fit the criteria otherwise…

So I thought the directional arrows were because the most traction was gained when the wheel rotated in the direction of the arrow. IMO it therefore only makes sense to reverse the front wheel for better braking performance as the traction is more likely to be on the limit at the front end during braking and leave the rear as intended as it would be more welcome/beneficial to have best traction at the rear when driving/pedalling …. 🤷‍♂️ I would leave the rear as it is intended and only change the front if anything.

Changing the front is an even worse idea.

“So I thought the directional arrows were because the most traction was gained when the wheel rotated in the direction of the arrow.”

Thankfully not. It’s the way the tread pattern works best for cornering, rolling and braking. You can tell this because any ramped blocks are sloped to roll better with the square edges on the other side for better braking, which is the opposite of what you want for pedalling traction.

I guess you might want to reverse the rear for muddy XC rides with gentle descents where strong braking isn’t needed.

This reminds me of a funny conversation I once had.

Someone had a High Roller on the front of his bike and was running it backwards. He was explaining the science to me, pointing at top of his tyres running his finger up and down the ramped central knobs with the sharp square edges and saying that the designers got it the wrong way round. Apparently it rolls much faster when the ramp hits the ground first and brakes better when the square/rear edge of the knob is facing forward.

I said something like “Yeah, but when your tyres rolls around to touch the ground, it’s upside down.”

It was one of those moments where you see the lightbulb flickering behind someone’s eyes as they slowly realise something.

You only have to reverse your tyre if you spend the majority of your ride doing that thing where you sit on the bars and ride backwards. Duh.