[Closed] Ard Rock Enduro tyre choice

Ran specialized butcher and purgutary grids last year. Both tubeless with no issues.

I ran Minion front EXO 3c and a HR2 EXO 60a rear. Just make sure you increase usual pressure(s), particularly in rear. Bloke on Maxxis stand said no less than 30psi in rear. Was a bit dubious at first, having never ridden there before. It's bloody rocky! Wasn't running tubes, didn't puncture.

Dry: Minion/Minion SS
Wet: Minion/Minion (packing a shorty if its biblical rain)

20psi front/24 rear, plenty of rock and racing blind means line choice is what it is and rocks will be smacked into!

My usual rear tyre - a bombproof trail boss tough fast, upfront either a Mary or a DHF, dependant on mankiness levels.

Canny wait, best event in the calendar.

Still in the same predicament myself as what to bring. ultimately i think it will end up being Minion DHF Exo front and DHR2 Exo rear. But worse case i will stick with what i have - Magic Mary Trailstar snakeskin front and Ibex 55a rear

I ran a hr2 front and an ardent in the rear. Both tubeless (at the start)

Needless to say, I punctured on 3 stages including the first. All rear tyre related. I've never been so happy to throw a tyre in the bin!

i ran hans damphs last year and was happy with them. Swapped the rear for a nobby nic (still same front) and its not as good. (better in mud though of which there is little)

I don't think tread pattern is the important part of the choice process at Ard rock, the way it is at the likes of tweed valley enduros, when a bit of rain can make so much of a difference.

IMO a fast rolling, yet very robust rear is the main consideration. It's all pretty gravelly and grassy (and bugger all grips well on wet grass).

1st year Hans damphs
2nd year MM on the front and Rock razor on the back
Last year Minions

Missed the magic mary really, think it just gives you that bit more confidence and bulldozer type feel going through the rocks.

Ones with nice thick sidewalls on the rear.
I sliced open a brand new folding maxxis minion about 10 yards into stage 1 last year.

Tick

Anyone considering the Aggressor for the rear?

Stock levels in shops for Minions isn't helping either.

Just delivered and about to get thrown at the bike is a Maxxis Aggressor 27.5x2.3" dual compound double down for the rear and a Maxxis Minion DHF 27.5x2.5" Wide Trail Exo 3C MaxxTerra for the front.

Slightly concerned that the Aggressor doesn't quite have the volume I'd like but the Minion on the back isn't available in double down with a durable enough compound.

Getting hold of that DHF WT was a Labour of love though.

I'll be fitting a nice new Mary supergravity on the front, slaughter grid on the back.

Canny wait...

So after painstakingly panicking and over thinking it. I have plumped for Mary front with either super gravity Razor (if it's dry) or Hans dampf (if it's wet)

My buddy is running an aggressor for the event, but exo......

I'm running a DHF 2.5 3c MaxxTerra on the front, and Slaughter Grid on the back. Taking a HR2 Exo for the rear for if it's wet, just because it's all I've got!

Tough casings, high volume front and fast rolling rear of choice.

Ardrock is quite a tough one to call tyres on, the stages are mostly sharp rocks apart from an inevitable final stage riding down wet grass, but there's a lot of pedalling and even tarmac road climbing in between. It really would punish someone on a bike set up for ultimate descending.

Last year Mary front and HR2 rear .. this year different bike same tire choice ..Mary is the only thing id run upfront ground anchor !

Is there an idiots guide to Maxxis tyres anywhere? Can't see anything on their website that explains the different compounds

There is this, from 2015 though and don't know if it helps.
[url= https://www.merlincycles.com/blog/maxxis-2015-tyre-range-explained/ ]Merlin explain maxxis[/url]

DHF 2.5 WT front and Aggressor DD Rear 😉

Whatever happens to be on the bike when I get it out of the shed. Which means what is on it at the moment.

Dans160, my intent was to do the same but my rear TRS+ is pretty much slick right now.

People talk about how brutal the course is on tyres but I can't imagine it being that much different to the dark peak or verbier.

Its no different to a lakes ride or any other off trail excursion. Just ride whatever you have and have fun.

Magic Mary and Hans Dampf supergravitys for me last year. Worked superbly

Unfortunately my legs were not working quite as well 😉

It's much sharper than the Dark Peak. Scree, lots of loose, sharp rock that can slice sidewalls and lots of rough rocky terrain that can lead to trouble if not unweighting appropriately. I wouldn't mind betting this accounts for a lot of the events' reputation for killing rear tyres. There's a bit of rooty muddy in there now too to mix it up a bit. I've seen plenty worse, but it's a long way from coiffed Trail centre and has caught people out on that basis before.

It's the 30+ km of transitioning and the big uphill road slog between the first cluster of stages and the second half that are the real killer though, you really do need to compromise bombproof DH and peddlability.

I ran a Minion SS EXO rear Minion DHF EXO 3C front last year when it was dry.
It was great for grip/speed, but finished the last stage with a soft tyre (didn't notice on the stage) and limped back to the campsite.

I would happily run an HRII out back, but now that they are £50 I can't bring myself to do it. £35 is my max so I may switch to Specialized Grid.

Last year on the Trance: Rock Razor Pacestar, Nobby Nic Trailstar - both standard Evo SnakeSkin and run tubeless - didn't have any issues with that setup.

This year on the Jeffsy: Magic Mary Evo Snake Skin Trailstar on the front, with the bike's original Onza Ibex on the back, pumped up hard!! For my level of riding, it'll be fine. Again, tubeless.

If it's wet, I'll swap the rear for a Super Gravity Magic Mary Trailstar, but I'm hoping it'll stay dry as I really don't want to push that thing round!

Onzadog - Part worn 2.3 Minion DHF exo thingies front and rear. I don't usually ride rocky terrain (Aston Hill has some but not prolonged) so plenty of life in them to ruin during this ridiculous race I have been persuaded to enter. My legs, knees, toes, arse etc. are aching just thinking about it.

more importantly does anyone have any thoughts about this extra stage they have added?

Haven't heard anything about a new stage... tell us more. Is it 6 stages now? Or one in, one out?

p.s. I have my tyre combo from last year (27.5 WTB Vigilante Tough/High Grip & Trail Boss Tough/Fast) for sale, can deliver them in time for the Friday practice 😉

yea 6 now

...joy.

Conti Baron Projekts.
I have had a love/hate relationship with these over the past year.
They are definitely not fast rolling (though the rear is much better now it's worn).
They ALWAYS leak sealant through the sidewalls, but once set up tubeless stay up.
They wear well (especially the side knobs compared to dhf & dhr2 3c).
They do that horrible thing on roads where you can [i]hear[/i] them sucking down onto the tarmac.
However they grip almost everywhere, and seem to shrug off the Dales rocks with ease.
I've done 2 recent rides around Reeth to test my fitness and tyre pressures. First ride was at 25/29 psi and was fine. Second ride I forgot to let out any air after pumping up the tyres and pressure was somewhere in the low 30s. It was a pingy, horrible ride.
I am going to try 24/28 on Thursday, I would go lower but the transitions have scared me a little.....
Semi slicks have crossed my mind - I've found Maxxis DD Minion SS in 26 " but the thought of trying to brake on sheep shorn , damp grass has kept me away so far.
I'm seeing if I can stay off the coward levers on the next ride, if I find any way of enlarging my testicles I may plump for the above option....

surely a 2.1 semi slick is the way forward?

I'm thinking of running a Magic Mary up front and a HRII on the back.

Need to get the magic mary ordered and convert to tubeless! 🙄
That's this weekend planned.

Just rode last night around Reeth.
It was extremely wet...
If you're thinking of running a semi slick with the upcoming weather, I hope you like going sideways 😆

I'll be running a Minion DHF / SS combo. Both exo jobbies but will be bringing my Slaughter DH tyre from the Demo just in case...

If the weather is shit, I'll pop on my DHR II.

If the weather's shit, I might go home.

Took me ages to get my rock razor to stay up tubeless, don't want to change it

Well good luck.
The top moorland is very waterlogged and the campsite is similar.
I just thought I would give the heads up so that people could make informed decisions.
If you can ride steep, slippery conditions on a semi slick then all kudos.
If not, maybe consider something with a little more centre tread.

Mary or Shorty front and back?

I hope you like going sideways

Bwaaaarrpppppp!!!

Cheers before the heads up, extra tarpaulin underneath the tents!

Bought a new tyre.... 😀

Bugger. Dunno if my HR2 will cut it if it's really wet. DHF staying on the front, so, shorty or DHR2 on the back?

Wouldn't you be better with the shorty on the front?

Wet camping in a field...car is a BMW...Sunday evening sounds fun getting out then!

Wouldn't you be better with the shorty on the front?

Would a Shorty on the front and the DHF on the rear work? If it will fit.

Shorty front and DHF rear won an enduro mag tyre pairing shoot out last year. The only reason I'm not running that combo is wanting a double down on the rear. The dhf dd is maxxgrip so wouldn't last 5 minutes.

I'm local rider, riding out of Reeth every week. Currently running Continental Barons 2.4 front and back. I run 30/32 PSI in the back and around 28 PSI up front both tubeless. Mate runs high rollers.

Never swap tyres out for differing conditions.

Neither of us have had issues.

Christ, Shortys aren't cheap.
Magic Mary Evo? Snakeskin and Super Gravity are both around 35 quid on CRC.

I wouldn't use a shorty at Ard Rock, they ain't the best on wet rock, and there's not enough of what they are good at (slop) there to justify them.

A supergravity magic Mary is a far better choice for the front. Slaughter will be fine on rear, as it's only really stage 5 that's proper grassy, and it ain't steep.

I wouldn't go for a full intermediate tyre tyre like a Mary or Shorty on the rear.
It's mostly loose rock up there, so I don't think the drag would be worth it.
Just think that a semi slick could be very interesting to ride on....
Oh and the campsite exit manoeuvres could be worth filming

Cool, cheers guys, I'll just stop overthinking it, keep the DHF on the front and throw an HR2 on the back, and just enjoy it 🙂

Weather wise, a lot can happen between now and next Saturday, and the slaughter has been just dandy riding this last week of slop on Arran, I'll stick with it.

Hmmmmm might change tyre then, might not.....ordered new waterproof shorts though. Sigma doing £100 specialised shorts for £30. Limited sizes though

I'm torn, hopefully not literally between a minion ss 2.3 or an onza ibex 2.5 for the rear.
Got both here waiting to fit either.

2.3 HR2 on the front and 2.3 Aggressor on the back. Should be ok? Come on sunshine, do your stuff.

It'll be clarty ! at least I won't be the only one coming off loads

Gone from putting a DHF WT front to a MM as on the Sunday it'll be chewed up to bits

I'm in the Sprint so fewer stages and less distance. Probably a Mary Vert Front/Vigilante fast or Trailboss Rear.
Nothing against Maxxis but the tougher cases are a bit steep.

Caved,ordered a MM to run on the front instead of the DHF, as it looks like it's going to be a bit damp.

My usual reliable weather page - yr.no - is predicting around 5-6mm of rain for the whole coming week, granted that can and will change, but if it's reasonably accurate, I reckon it'll be good conditions.

I reckon it's one of those places that will be a bit grippier with a bit of ground dampness about.

Going for Minion Dual Ply 2.7" front and rear here, DH tubes. I'm fit enough to drag them up the climbs.

there's nothing that steep, as long as it's fairly sharp rock proof just use what you got, you guys think too much.

Us virgin ard rockers think too much because of all the stories of punctures we hear. Given the wait and expense I plan to enjoy the ride not fix punctures! So a worthy thread I would suggest 8)

Im less worried about tyre choice on the bike (minion DHF 2.5 WT front, minion DHF 2.3 rear) and getting more worried about towing my caravan on and off the camping fields in my front wheel drive car....

Fields 1 (around the expo) and 3 (the one without loos / facilities) looked to have the flattest on/off routes last year.

Anyone have any info on how the camping ground is looking?

Also interested to see how the camp fields are looking. I'm not getting the van stuck in a sh*t fest. I'd rather go Sunday morning and park somewhere else and ride a mile or so into the expo area but that takes away the fun of heckling Saturday afternoon and having a few beers on the evening...

I'll ride the the tyres that are on. I wont be going fast enough to puncture anyway. 😆

That said, forecast isn't looking too bad this week. Showers tomorrow and Wednesday and then looking relatively clear through the end of the week and weekend.

I'll ride the the tyres that are on. I wont be going fast enough to puncture anyway.

My theory as well. Tyre choice will be round black ones.

According to the DBC and ArdRock facebook pages, all is looking good up in Reeth. Sounds like the the entrances to the camping fields are getting some work to stop them turning into a mess but the fields themselves are dry.

Not long now!

Still gonna be lazy and leave what tyres I have on - I'm on a hardtail anyway so will no doubt be slow as anyhow!

Might chuck on my DHR II if I can be bothered.

itll be fine.

slicks all round.

DHF 2.5 3C EXO on the front which is what I've had on since last September and a 2.3 HR II EXO 60a on the rear which has been on the bike since Feb. I prefer the DHR II but it will do.

Put trailstar Hans dampf on the back, rock razor might have been optimistic.

DHF front, minion SS rear. After following this thread for a few days, it sounds like I'm going to die!

Did the SHC challenge on that combo a few weeks ago and that was the wettest ride I've ever done and I'm still here!!

Luckily I'm riding the "non-competitive" so I don't have to push myself like a loon.

thing is most of it is massive transitions. Half of it on tarmac. Reeth has its own microclimate so you cant guarantee anything (take a coat) just use what youve got.

After getting a hole in the sidewall last night ill be running it with a bit of extra sealant 🙂

Yes, some overthinking going on.

Something meaty with a bit of bite on the front, something quick and tough on the rear.

Job jobbed.