Morning all.
Another visit to CyB, another torn tyre.
My bike came with Maxxis evo Forekaster 2.35 front, Maxxis evo Crossmark 2 2.25 rear, which are fine for my usual riding.
However, I need something tougher for Peak District and CyB etc.
How about Specialized Butcher Grid Trail T9 front, T7 rear? Is an Eliminator Grid Trail T7 a bit faster rolling for the rear? All 29×2.3 to suit the 27mm (internal) rims on my bike.
TIA, oldnick

When I rode CYB I did 2 of the black loops which were pretty rocky.

I had an Exo DHF2.5” up front and an exo Aggressor 2.3” at the rear. On a 170mm/160mm travel bike though. No dramas.

I did Antur Stiniog on the same trip though and was worried about the rear tyre so I stuck on a Wtb Trailboss Tough / Fast 2.4” tyre (it was cheap). Something like that stays fairly quick rolling despite the heavier casing. I’d go with something like that over a Butcher grid on the rear of a bike – I reckon the butcher tread pattern / rubber would be quite slow on the rear. By all means use a Butcher or DHF or something like that upfront for steering grip.

Just back from a weekend in CYB! I rode on Specialized slaughter 2.3 rear and a Butcher 2.6 front. In Grid casing. I appreciate it’s a personal and subjective choice but I found them absolutely perfect – and plenty tough enough. Rode them in the Lakes last year too.

I wouldn’t worry about running the 2.6 on a 27mm rim. I am running it on a 29mm ID rim. And being specialized it is a slightly undersized 2.6.

I’m not sure the Spesh grid casings are any stronger than the Maxxis exo ones you were using.

Have you considered rim inserts like Rimpact? They don’t add much weight but can really help stop tears (apart from sharp rocks that just poke through the top IME).

I’ve just started riding an Eliminator (in the black diamond casing) on the back of my enduro bike. It does roll fast but it might be a bit of a dry conditions tyre.

Interested to hear if the new Spesh rubber compounds are better, the previous ones were very hard-wearing but not particularly grippy. So the old Butcher was treacherous as a front tyre IME.

Last time I was there I rode Vittoria Mezcal and Barzo, never used more than XC tyres, never broken one 😉

Eddy Current. it’s the only place that using such a hateful tyre makes sense. It’s so tough it’ll leave grooves in the rocks. Just don’t expect any grip in the wet. Or compliance over roots.

We had a day in CyB yesterday. Was running 2.8 Bucher Blck Dmnd front and rear on one bike and the other had a 2.6 Hillbilly Blck Dmnd front and a 2.3 Eliminator Grid on the back.
Did Antur Stiniog on Monday with the same set up,
Most of our regular riding is done in the Peak or Wharncliffe

The grid trail is meant to be a tougher casing than the grid, the perk of Spesh tyres is I can get them locally.
Any experience of the T7 & T9 compounds?
I was running homebrew tyre inserts which have cured the pinch punctures, these cuts were in the tread of the tyre though.

For CYB, exo is plenty, chunky on the front, bit faster on the rear

doomanic
Full Member
Eddy Current. it’s the only place that using such a hateful tyre makes sense

Totally agree with this.. pish poor tyre otherwise, but I replaced a very soft WTB rear trye with my old EC this last weekend, to ride C-Y-B and some welsh natural stuff. Worked out great, but dammit I want a Big Betty at a reasonable price…

I have done a 3x week holidays at CyB (split between biking and hiking) and only ever used EXO tyres.  Never cut a tyre there (or in the peaks).

I have broken a couple of rear spokes but that was likely down to an aging rear wheel on hardtail.

There is a bit of slate in CyB but nowhere near as much as say Machynlleth.

I ride there regularly on an Ikon exo and Ardent Race exo.

What the **** is everyone else riding to need big, heavy, horrible DH tyres?!

Last time I rode there I was on Racing Ralphs. Neither me nor a tyre died, and I am a quite frankly appaling bike handler!

Grid Trail is a fair bit tougher/stiffer/heavier than grid, so yeah, if you are ripping grid/exo level casings, then grid trail will give you a bit more robustness. No experience of the new t-named compounds though sorry, but what you are proposing sounds fine – ie faster rear.

Well it’s nice to know it’s my fault, but having cut numerous exo tyres through the tread at CyB they aren’t working out for me.
I never cut tyres anywhere else, just CyB. The new bike is much more confidence inspiring, so that isn’t making life any easier for the tyres 🙂

I rode on Minions last time I was there. Did see some poor sole pushing his bike back – couldn’t help as his tyre was completely destroyed !

Grid Trail has a stronger sidewall than Grid. The Blck Dmnd is even stronger in the sidewall has been replaced with the Grid Gravity.
Had a long chat last week with a guy at the Concept store about the new T compounds but couldn’t be convinced that they were as durable sidewalls as the Blck Dmnd so in the end managed to track down 2 2.8s and 2 2.6 in the Blck Dmnd compound and got them instead.

I can pinch (usually by the bead) semi frequently at Cyb but iirc only when jumping slightly, a lot of the downslopes are littered in pointy rocks
Run stans only exo front but it’s nearly always the stronger schwalbe apex/Bontrager se plus huck Norris rear that pinches
Need something better but reluctant to go for stiffer super gravity/dd or smaller specialized

Did see some poor sole pushing his bike back –

That’s a fishy tale. Was he going back to his plaice, or did he have a bass near to CyB?

Last time I rode there I was on Racing Ralphs.

Yep, ridden all the trails there on 2.1″ RRs and never had a problem….

I’ve sliced a snakeskin tyre at CyB so it’s not just you OP! I have found Michelin tyres are very good in rocks and the tread lasts better than Schwalbe or Maxxis, they’re not the most popular but they’re worth a look IMO.