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New bike time soon and my usual pick of On One Smorgs (one my 26" HT) isn't offered by the company I'm buying from. So, they need to work to a decent level all year round. Not too as I ride to & from my local trails; not heavy, good protection, good for tubeless, good all round grip, can take a beating, usual stuff. These are choices I can pick from:
Maxxis HR2 dual compound
Nobby Nic Evo snakeskin
Magic Mary bike park
Hans Dampf Evo
Ardent dual compound
X King (Exo or protection)
GeaxGoma tnt
Ta
Any if those will be fine. Except the Mary, that compound is awful, and it's a cut spike, so not really ideal all year round.
I'd also add in Butcher and Purgatory control, and bontrager XR4 and XR3.
Personally, a Hans Dampf trail star front and Hans Nobby Nic 2016 Pacestar rear would be very good all year round.
Er... Just buy Smorgs if that's what you like? They're not exactly expensive....
I really rate The Spesh Purgatory. Particularly when they're £30!
Trying out a butcher up front and Purgatory rear on my new 27.5 which hopefully should be a good combo.
Purgatory Grid front and Ground Control Grid rear for me. Was running Purg's both ends until recently and they handled everything well but wanted a slightly faster rear
What's the terrain like?
Can't fault my Minion DHF / DHT II combo to be honest.
Easy to set up tubeless and seem to work well enough all year round. Cheap from A Cycles too.
All depends where and how you ride.
I would have chosen Magic Mary as a year round tyre, but not that cheapo wired version!
I'd be wanting vertstar/snakeskin front and trailstar/supergravity rear.
I never got on with Smorgs though. Lasted less than one ride tubeless on the back of the hardtail. Not enough volume and not tough enough. Pinched straight through the sidewall on the first descent. Only added this to reinforce the first point... It all depends where/how you ride.
The highrollers. But it really depends on the riding you do. Maybe the Ardent, or one of each.
HR2
Purgs front and rear for me to, wet trails last week and dry this week. Handled really well on both.
Quite pleased so far,
Decent price to
Thanks for the different options but to be clear, the options I've posted are what is offered. If I bought Smorgs or another voice outside of what is listed is have to take them off and flog them - which I can't be arsed with 🙂
Terrain is fairly varied but only rocky a few times a year, for the most part it's Chilterns, Woburn, FoD type terrain.
Ta
I like how you say what you usually like, and people reccomend something completely different....
imho, closest to the smorg is the ardent... but im not a fan of it on the front.
if it was me, ardent (r) HRII (f)
HR2 3c front with DHR2 60a rear - both in Exo carcass.
Butcher and Purgatory control
Could do a lot worse for a 'cope with most things' set-up. As always, it really does depend where and what you ride, and how you want to ride it.
The Purg isn't the best braker in a straight line, but I personally still rate the Butcher as one of the best front tyres out there in anything other than deep slop or Moab slickrock. Currently running a Butcher / Slaughter combo, but switch to Storm Controls for the winter. Certainly during the warmer months a lot of the Aston Hill locals either use or have used Purgs and Butchers.
(BTW - as a former Tring resident the Chilterns and Woburn are very different kettles of fish in the winter 😉 )
I would have chosen Magic Mary as a year round tyre, but not that cheapo wired version!
I'd be wanting vertstar/snakeskin front and trailstar/supergravity rear.
Holy crap, how often do you ride?! My vertstar Mary had about 10 rides before it looked like it was dead.
Would you ride in the dry and dusty trails with the Mary too? I found them a bit sketchy on dry trails, amazeballs in the wet, but overkill for all year round.
Continental Mountain King II - had a Smorg and a Chunky Monkey - both good tyres, but the Mouantin King II seems to be working better - feels like it rolls easier; grips better and is lighter.
Pipmaster Jazz. Don't I know it. Woburn is fine all year round, slippery roots when wet etc., but around the ridgeway can be lethal, particularly in the winter.
I use Butcher/Purgatory all year round - will have a very lightly used pair of HR II's for sale pretty soon
I've been using Hanns Dampf on my 5 since I built it. I find they grip brilliant in most conditions bar sloppy mud.
But God there draggy..what's the alternative?
Hr2s probably best all year tyre of those imho
Good balance of grip, wear, rolling and they clear mud well
Continental Mountain King II
That's a good option too, but make sure you get Black Chilli. Ran a 2.2 on the rear and a 2.4 on the front through winter 2014/15.
Woburn is fine all year round, slippery roots when wet etc., but around the ridgeway can be lethal, particularly in the winter.
Oh yes. 😉