[Closed] Tyres (sighs) definitive pairings (double sigh)

Minion DHF front and rear - £10 each from Halfords from a PSA on here. Used mostly for saving me money whilst bimbling.

DHR2 front and rear- anything
Shorty front DHR2 rear- wet, hard use
DHR2 front Minion SS rear- dry, hard use
Rocket Ron front Thunder Burt rear- dry xc speedy terror

Convict(F) Vigilante(R) for winter at the mo..

Looking for ideas for spring/summer but will probably be a DHR2(F) MinionSS(R).

Barzo front, Saguaro rear - multi-condition xc
Ground Control front, Saguaro rear - winter singlespeed xc
Mud x front and rear - always smugly sat at home when I need them most.
Canis front and rear - retro pimptastic skinwall xc 8)

Bronson front/Ardent rear - spring/summer/autumn
Chunky monkey front/ardent rear - winter (don't go mud plugging though)

Autumn/Winter/Spring
Minion dhf 3C front
Aggressor rear

Summer rear changes to Minion ss

Maxxis DHR2 - Front
Maxxis Aggressor - Rear

Going to stick with that combo for the foreseeable as it just works for me

Butcher front purgatory rear - great allround combo
Butcher / salughter for faster summer set up
Hillbilly/ butcher for winter slop

Minion DHF + HR2, on all year. I'm sure there are faster rolling options for the summer but I'd rather have tyres that'll stand up to flint, granite and roots.

seemingly invincible on my carbon hardtail with

Rocket Ron Evo Liteskin (Front)
Racing Ralph Performance (Rear)

Ashton Court, Leigh Woods, 50 Acre Wood, Haldon, FoD and Cwmcarn.

Not feeling like I am missing anything with that combo at the moment. Although the roots in 50 Acre might catch me out sooner or later.

In the year I've had my 29er:

F HR2 3C
R HR2 dual
then
F HR2 3C
R Minion SS
then
F Shorty 3C
R Minion SS
then
F Shorty 3C
R HR2 dual
then
F Shorty 3C
R Shorty 3C
then
F Shorty 3C
R e13 dual

Tempted by an e13 triple for the front once the weather improves - all in Tweed Valley, so lots of roots/rocks/mud.

Butcher front Purgatory rear. All year round and everywhere

Ardent / Ardent - Every condition. Only tyres I own so get left on for everything. Never really let me down.

TK/TK all round
TK/MK trail centre
HD/HD all round, rock not muddy
HD/NN all round muddy

At the moment, Barzo front and Mezcal rear for everything

DHR2 front and rear on the LV301
Chunky Monkey front, Smorg. rear on both the Hummingbird, and the Alpitude in Greece.

In anticipation of spring i've just fitted:

F: WTB Vigilante 2.3" light/high grip
R: WTB Trail Boss 2.25" light/fast

Lighter and faster than Butcher / Purg Grids, I'm liking them so far.

Chunky Monkey Front, Smorgasbord Rear. All year round.

I seem to remember that being a more popular combo on here before Brant went off to become a seamstress and everyone decided OO/PX were the devil.

Not the best in the winter mud, mind you. Also, not that quick in the dry, but this is less of a problem since I'm in Yorkshire so the trails are dry for one afternoon a year, and I'm normally at work that day.

Started with

Front - Minion DHF supertacky
Rear - Minion DHR II 60a

switched to

Front - Magic Mary
Rear - Shorty

Found the Shorty to be a bit lethal on wet roots and rock so now on the

Front - MM
Rear - using the old DHF supertacky - super draggy on climbs not too bothered as I'll wear the tyre down but by gosh it's ace on the descents

been enjoying

F purgatory R ground control

but i put a hole in my GC so swapping for a slaughter. See how i get on...

on the XC bike big fan of mud X / geax gato winter. RaRa for summer.

Winter XC miles (mainly road linkups and bridleways) - Ground Control front, Fast Trak rear

Usual XC/Trail Spring/Summer/Autumn - Butcher or Purgatory front, Ground Control rear.

Every so often I mess around with different tyres but end up back with same tyres front and rear. Ride in too many different places and conditions to keep changing so needs to work everywhere. Running same back and front means when the front gets worn it can migrate to the rear and a new tyre goes on the front. Summer 'semi-slick' duties handled by letting the tyre wear out.

Currently Conti Trail Kings as tyre of choice.

Bonty XR4's - currently lapping up anything I can throw at them from wet & muddy to dry and hardpacked. Love 'em.

When it promises to be dry(ish) for a few months I'll swap to Maxxis Crossmarks as they roll really well and are super grippy - they just aren't great in mud.

HR II Front
Ardent Rear

Pretty much all year

HR II front
IKON rear for Scottish "Summer"*

*(One day a year at the Glentress 7!)

HR2 3c (F)
Slaughter Grid (R)
Kind of a mullet combination for winter riding but it seems to work

Winter:
Shorty 3c (F)
Beaver (R)

"Summer"
Minion DHF 3c (F)
Ardent (R)*

All of 'em EXO and in 29er variety.

*but considering swapping that for a HR2 for more grip on steep/mucky stuff (like Golfie).

[img] http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-3773699254952_2268_14408610 [/img]

Retro- Panaracer Smoke/Dart skinwall, as above
26er- Schwalbe Rocket Ron liteskin (Spur of the moment weenie influenced decision), never again, grips not bad for what they're used for, but they're so flimsy you can unseat them with a jet wash! Have to run pretty high pressures to avoid roll (30-35ish. I'm 11 stone fully kitted up).Snakeskin next time!
29er- Spesh Slaughter Grid or Minion DHF 2.3" on the back, weather dependent, Minion DHF 2.5" on the front. Like night and day compared to the Schwalbes above!

Retro- Panaracer Smoke/Dart skinwall, as above

Fitted a Shorty(f) and a Mary(r) for the 'puffer and they are the best combo I've used on my current bike 😀
For a number of reasons I've not ridden my bike since!!!! Therefore I need to do a bit more off-piste locally to verify my choice, Ae Enduro 😆 During the 'puffer descents I could choose any line to overtake with confidence 😆

In anticipation of spring i've just fitted:

F: WTB Vigilante 2.3" light/high grip
R: WTB Trail Boss 2.25" light/fast

Lighter and faster than Butcher / Purg Grids, I'm liking them so far.

Good to know! I've just stuck a Trail Boss on the back of my Flare to go with the Vigilante on the front! 😀

Onza Rip/Rail

Run a Trail King 2.2 up front and a Hutchinson Toro at the back. I'm really an xc guy but the TK is so dependable, so stays on all the time. The Toro is grippy and fast enough.

For super dry stuff I like to swap out the Toro for a Crossmark, However the last (LUST) one I bought is ridiculously heavy!! It's about 960g which puts me off using it to be honest.

Andy R - Member
DHR2 front and rear on the LV301

What I should have added was front is Super Tacky, rear 3C.

god I have Rip and Rail...they were unbelievably terrifying.

Minion DHR all tear swap front from DHF to Shorty and back again depending on how many "woahhh" ride it is

HT (26) - Vigilante (f) and Purgatory (r)
FS (27.5) - DHF (f) or Shorty (f) and DHR2 (r) all 3C EXO - swap between front wheels depending on weather/terrain. Might try an dual compound Aggressor on the spare rear wheel for those dry summer days, as the 3C DHR2 is a bit draggy.

Also have a spare set of Spesh tyres in 27.5 (Butcher, Purgatory, Ground Control) but my OCD can't face mixing tyre brands on the 'good' bike. The mix on the HT makes me twitch, and I can only live with it due to the bargain prices paid for the tyres.

From Slop>Dry

Front: Shorty>HR2>DHR2
Rear: DHR2>Ardent

front onza porcupine (white)

rear tioga farmer john

Slight hi-jack, but does anyone know who makes the e13 tyres?

I really love the tyre and the carcass is just about perfect. I'd like something that doesn't wear as fast though. I'd like to find out who makes them and then try their equivalent carcass protection if that makes sense.

IE, if it were maxxis who made them, is the carcass exo or double down?

Front Hr2
Rear xr4

Giving it laldy:
F: wtb convict light high grip
R: wtb vigilante tough fast rolling

Not quite so much ot the laldy:
F: wtb vigilante light high grip
R: wtb trailboss tough fast rolling

Huck Norris inserts in all.

Butcher/Slaughter in the dry on 27.5
Hans Dampf all year 29

Currently on the FS: Maxxis HR2 front, Specialized Slaughter rear, both tubeless. Found no problems round tight twisty pumpy but ultimately flat trails today. Will swap Slaughter out when it gets to the wetter seasons.

Currently on the rigid commute HT: again favouring hardpack/dry and fast rolling on roads, Specialized Slaughter front, Hutchinson Python rear, both tubed. All year. Puncture resistant enough to be mostly reliable for commutes.

Bonty SE5 front all year.
XR3 (summer) and XR4 (winter) rear although used a HD I had last winter.

Can't fault them. Easy as anything to setup tubeless, don't roll until the pressures are silly low, not punctured or torn any yet and they hold pressure excellently.

I have no intention of trying other brands.

I've not managed to out grow my rocket ron front and racing ralph rear.

So that's my go to combination. But I am a bit of a mincer.

26" High Roller 2 (F)
Ardent (R)

Minion DHF front
Minion SS rear
Tweed Valley

I've just bought the SS which means it will now rain forever!

Onzadog – I read on a Pinkbike review that E13 use CST to make their tyres (who own Maxxis among others) but from my experience the carcass doesn’t quite match any of the current Maxxis offerings. Exo is thinner and lighter and DD is slightly thicker and heavier, plus the 3C compound isn't particularly hard wearing.

XR4 Front, XR3 rear. Current set have done about 1000 miles so far since January, and the XR3 knobs are nicely worn down so it's probably the equivalent of an XR2 for summer mileage.

Kamikazie - what pressure do you run yours at? Not managed to ding or burp them in the low 20s, but nervous to go much lower.

martin - On the front I've run as low as 16-18psi but my pump gauge seems rubbish at low pressures so it could be +-5psi easily.
It did feel extremely low though so I can believe it's in the ballpark. I wouldn't run that at a trail centre though as I think I'd roll them off on berms (which has happened to me on a HD rear).

Most of my riding is steep, rooty etc and not particularly fast corners so you can get away with lower pressures. For general riding I tend to stick to 22F / 25R baring in mind what I said about my gauge. Also worth noting that the SE5 has a tougher carcass so may cope better at the lower pressures than the XR series.

Minion DHF/DHR2 at the minute, I was going to stick the SS back on the rear but this weeks forecast rain has made me reconsider.

Tempted to stick a DHR2 on the front as plenty seem to?

Cheers Kamikazie

Mud: Shorty/Minion
Wet: Minion/Minion
Dry: Minion/Minion SS or Aggressor

Local XC Rides: Forekaster/Ardent Race

Spring, summer, autumn - Magic Mary 2.35 front, Aedent 2.4 rear

Winter - - Magic Mary 2.35 front, DHR2 rear

mark90

FS (27.5) - DHF (f) or Shorty (f) and DHR2 (r) all 3C EXO - swap between front wheels depending on weather/terrain. Might try an dual compound Aggressor on the spare rear wheel for those dry summer days, as the 3C DHR2 is a bit draggy.

I have just put an dual compound Aggressor on the back. Only one ride in so far but it performed well on all surfaces at slightly damp BPW and is definitely way less draggy that the the 3C DHR2.

Proper mud: beaver front and rear
Light mud, or places where I want a bit mroe rear traction; rocket ron front and rear.
all others: rocket ron front, racing ralph rear.

Pressures normally 18-19fr, 21-23rear, but higher for beavers as narrower.

Off topic a bit but what are peoples front - reat wear rates like? seems like my rears get worn three times as fast as front, wonder if it means i should be weighting front more?

The EThirteen TRS tyres are made by Michelin. They're just a slightly modified Wild Rock'R. I'm guessing they use their 'advanced reinforced' casing which seems to be bloody tough compared to the Maxxis EXOs I had before.

I've given up on Butcher/Purgatory - loved them on my Enduro, don't seem to work well on the Capra - and the sidewalls seem to have canvas showing after not too much use.

Tried HRII's 3C and it was like permanently riding through mud.

Just switched to a Magic Mary Evo Trailstar fron and Hans Dampf Evo Pacestar rear. Will report back when I go for a ride later this week.

after trying many many combos, I currently run magic mary trailstar super gravity on the front and DHR2 exo dual compound all year round. only time I change it is for DHR2 DD on the rear for uplift days. does everything I need and doesn't seem to have any real weaknesses other than when you would run a full mud tyre

[quote=jodafett ]Minion DHF front
Minion SS rear
Tweed Valley
I've just bought the SS which means it will now rain forever!

I bought/fitted a minion SS on saturday. its been raining ever since.

Fat: ground control 4.6 F&R all year
27.5+ 130mm fs ebike: purgatory 3.0f Ground control 3.0r (will change for next winter)
29 100mm xc fs: ardent 2.4f ardent race 2.2r in summer, shorty 2.3f beaver 2.0r
27.5 125mm trail fs HR2 2.3f ardent 2.2r in summer shorty and beaver as above in winter
27.5 160mm enduro fs HR2 2.4 f&r all year (might try shortys in winter)