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Need some new tyres. Usually run Specialized (Butcher or Purgatory up front, Purgatory or Captain rear). Fancied trying a Slaughter on back but they're 650 only...
Opinions on any of the following would be welcome.
Keep with Spesh - Butcher f / Ground Control r
Michelin Wild Grip'r f / Wild Race'r r
Schwalbe Hans Dampf f / Rock Razor r
Continental Trail King f / X King r
Morning bump.
I've recently swapped from a Butcher/Purgatory combo to On One Chunky Monkey / Smorgasbord on my 29er. I really rate them and they were cheap as chips at £15 an end when I got them.
Not quite the combo you're looking for views on, but I've recently changed to a purgatory control on the front and a ground control grid on the rear. Both 2.3. It's great, bike feels planted and controlled, and it goes where I point it. A couple of my local trails are still winter muddy and the tyres just plough through. It's a slightly draggy setup but not so it spoils the ride. Went up tubeless with no hassle at all. This is on a 120mm steel hardtail (early Ragley Piglet).
Be useful to know where/what your riding
FWIW though my thinking tends to be more spend out on the front, save on the back so for me Hans Dampf on the front, Smorgasbord on the rear, both set up tubeless, for my local (Surrey Hills) riding
X Kings are great but if you have any rocks or especially flint where you ride avoid them cause they will die within weeks
+1 for Chunky monkey front, run one on both bikes all year round
Hans Dampf is pretty good, a pain to get on and off though if you're running tubes, run one in the winter on the rear of the HT.
I'm sure you can buy a 29" Slaughter.
Rutland Cycles sell them.
JEJamesCycles have a -10% flash sale on from 5 to 11 today if that helps. I've just ordered a Butcher for £24
Thanks all. Have taken a punt on a Hans Dampf / Rock Razor combo from Alltricks.
X Kings are great but if you have any rocks or especially flint where you ride avoid them cause they will die within weeks
Ditto, with the exact X-king+Trail King combo OP listed, I've found them okay around Calderdale, but a few days in the alps took some knobs off the X-king and put a one inch gash in the sidewall. Black chilli Trail King on the front has been great though.
Used to run Rubber Queen / X King combo. Great performing tyres, but too many issues with deformed sidewalls and not sealing to keep running them for too long.