Ridden these a few times now, 27.5 wheels, Pro 4 hubs and 2.25 Hans Dampf up front and 2.25 Nobby Nic on rear – Current model Giant Anthem that gets used for trail centres and bigger days in the hills. Have a HT for the rest.

wondering what to change them to, or more of the same once worn out. Conscious that I probably can’t go much wider anyway, either for rim width or rear frame clearance.

We have Hope XC wheels and are using Bontrager XR4 Team Issue in 2.35 width, front and rear, on our Cotic Souls. No problems that we’ve found. Fronts at 22 psi Rears at 24 psi with tubes (Oh the shame!)

That’s good to know, was wondering about XR4 as have a pair of the cheaper Expert ones from a PSA a while back.

I’ve always used Bonty XR series on mine: XR4 front/XR3 rear for winter, XR2 front/ XR1 rear for summer. 2.35 on the front, 2.2 on the rear. I do have an XR2 2.4″ on the front of my Spearfish on XC rims. Didn’t want to risk going to 2.6″ so I’ve gone with a Stans rim for that tyre.

Great, thanks, will look at some Bontys. Wasn’t sure if I could go up to 2.35 on the Hope’s with 19.5mm internal rim width, but sounds like I can !

Michelin Force XC 2.1. Not too rounded and the side knobs engage well when cornering. I don’t think I’ll go any wider than these.

@fruitbat no shame in running tubes in hope rims, they are without a doubt the worst rims to setup tubeless,

i have felt every emotion for hours days and weeks hoping to get my tyres setup

^^ I had read that about them before buying them. Mine went up with no issue – 2 wraps of Tesa tape, Stans Race sealant and Schwable Booster to pop them, no air loss, no faffing.

@whatyadoinsu – codswallop! They are no worse than any other rim. One in two times I will mount a new tyre with just a track pump, if I’m mounting a tyre that’s already been used then there’s a good chance my trail pump will do the job, obviously if I’m at home then I will use the track pump to do it.

Ran 2.35 tyres for years on 17mm mavic rims, you’ll be fine.

Nobeer, yeah, I had 2.35 Purgs on my Soul setup on Mavic 719’s for years similarly..

some XR4 Team’s on the shopping list for later in the year, cheers all !