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Bike tyres... I know. What is the world coming to on a bike forum.
For a few years I have bumbled around quite happily on Vittoria Mazza trail tyres. They are pretty good at most thing right up until the point they are not and that has been fine. I've never found them draggy or unpredictable but they do struggle when things get wetter and I may as well just walk any sections with even mildly damp roots. Not unpredictable, just predictably bad.
Unfortunately my new (to me) bike came with a WTB Vigilante 2.5 / Judge 2.4 combo. I say unfortunately, because I have had my eyes opened by just how much more capable these tyres are when pointing down. It's a shame the judge is like throwing an anchor out on the flat terrain and climbs. Fine for pure winch and plummet but I do like to get some miles in too. I've stuck a 2.4 trail boss on the back for now which feels really nice if a little less confident when braking... and once things get damp again I doubt that will be staying on.
So I'm now looking at all the tyre options and honestly there are so many out there that I need some pointers. This is my attempt at finding a combo I can live with to get around having to keep swapping wheels (some will remember my earlier thread...)
I've come to accept that I just need to get stronger and deal with a bit more drag than the Mazzas - but I'd like to avoid the 'always riding on wet grass' levels of drag I get form the Judge.
Riding wise. Main stuff is either hardpack downhill trails or steep & loose stuff in the woods with a side helping of very steep stuff and Peak District rocky goodness. Ride Ambergate fairly often and have Wharncliffe aspirations but also don't want to die pedalling back to the top. Bike is an Airdrop Edit MX and I ride on the limit of my skill level, so prefer a tyre that won't try to kill me.
So far of interest are
Specialized Butcher / Eliminator combo. Trail or Gravity to be determined...
Continental Kryptotal front/rear. Casing to be determined...
Got on well with Schwalbe tyres in the past and see Magic Mary on the front of a few folks locally but I've found the typical Hans dampf rear underwhelming when I tried some.
But there are so many out there and the most prolific tyre tester for UK riding seems to rate everything as brilliant.
Thoughts welcome.
I'm a fan of the Contis, no noticeable drag, bags of grip.
I have gone from the enduro to the DH casing, just for a bit more support in the sidewalls, I'm a big lad and really struggled to find the sweet spot in pressure to prevent rim dingers. DH casing is very much fire and forget now, but that's for winch and plummet/bike park so no drag.
I wouldn't recommend them for general use. enduro casing may be a nice compromise.
I’d leave the Vigilante on the front if you like how it behaves - the rear is most of the rolling resistance. On the back I’ve found the T7 compound Specialized tyres hit a good balance of rolling, gripping and wearing all year round.
The new Eliminator comes in dual compound with T7 centre, T9 sides in the Gravity casing - I’ve just got one because to my surprise it was measured to roll as fast as the Trail casing (and I’ve had a spare of rear punctures on my off-road commute). I’ve been using the T7 Butcher for years on the back but it’s now T9 only which is way stickier and slower and faster wearing.
I’d leave the Vigilante on the front if you like how it behaves - the rear is most of the rolling resistance. On the back I’ve found the T7 compound Specialized tyres hit a good balance of rolling, gripping and wearing all year round.
The new Eliminator comes in dual compound with T7 centre, T9 sides in the Gravity casing - I’ve just got one because to my surprise it was measured to roll as fast as the Trail casing (and I’ve had a spare of rear punctures on my off-road commute). I’ve been using the T7 Butcher for years on the back but it’s now T9 only which is way stickier and slower and faster wearing.
Thanks, kicking myself for not thinking of that relatively simple option. The Vigilante still has a good amount of life and a dual compound Eliminator looks like it might be the ticket to even things up a bit.
How close to the fabled 2.4 does the eliminator measure?
I get the idea you want matchy front and rear but imo the maxxis dhr2 is the best all round rear there is. It's not fast but it's not super slow, it works in pretty much all conditions, and when it runs out of grip it slides really well, which is just a huge win- you can push the edge of the grip, manage a slide, recover it easily, so you're not having to ride miles within the limits as you do with a twitchier less predictable tyre or "bad skidder". So confidence inspiring and safety-boosting. I keep trying to find something faster, that doesn't give up too much grip in return and tbh nothing's been close. It's just really bloody good and goes perfectly behind a vigilante. Annoyingly there's not a doubledown dual (ie tough, hard rubber) version, that'd be my ideal.
(The maxxgrip is a good allround front, too, but it totally runs out of juice when things get softer and wetter. Maxxis's highroller 3 is phenonenal tbf, super grippy and works in all conditions, but it is sloooow. Totally worth it imo, I'm not sure you'd agree)
The contis are awesome tbh, and better still now that the supersoft enduro fronts are available. The Argotal is imo a bit better overall than the krypto, it's just a fantastic balance of spikiness while also still not being horrible to pedal, it's pretty awesome that you can have a tyre this capable but still have it not be horrible to pedal round a red route or similiar, and it doesn't have any of the "excessively spiky" feel on hardpack that some similiar tyres have, it's not wandery or pingy at all. The only downer is they're expensive, and there's still no endurance compound, enduro carcass rear- ie hard rubber tough carcass. They've improved the range but it's still not all there yet.
I haven't had a chance to try an eliminator in the proper wet, I was pretty impressed with it otherwise as a fast rolling rear. TBF this is a hard thing to do right, it's very hard to add useful speed without giving up too much grip, the Trail Boss is a really good example of this- gives up way too much grip, for not enough speed. But I've not used a Butcher for ages, can't comment.
Magic Mary is a solid tyre but the ultrasoft rubber is pretty much just a soft, it doesn't have the tenacity of a maxxgrip or conti supersoft. And the side grip isn't amazing. TBF it's feeling its age now and Conti's Argotal does literally the same job but is imo better at absolutely everything, all the time. But it's taken absolutely years for that to happen, a sign of just how good it is. Schwalbe are imo basically not very good at rear tyres, they've only ever made one I like and it's bloody discontinued (RIP supergravity rock razor, forever in my thoughts)
Oh on that subject, they've gone totally out of fashion but I still absolutely love semislicks for like half the year, they're just so ridiculously fast but still retain useful grip. Massive grippy tyre up front and super fast ungrippy tyre at the back is a brilliant combo.
Maxxis dhr2 front and back, and never read a what tyre thread again as long as you live.
Which would be a shame, mind, as the front tyre is one of the more interesting components on a MTB. But the dhr2 will see you right.
I've not ridden a Mazza but heard they were good and grippy - no matter, the front tyre needs to inspire MASSIVE confidence on technical descents, if you're not feeling good with them they must be changed.