Hi Guys,
I've been doing a fair bit of researching and as ever, got more confused the more i looked.
Basically, I ride a full sus 650b bike, mainly in the Peak District and visit the odd trail centre (loved Coed Y Brenin last week).
I'm not a massively good rider, so don't go thinking I'll be putting tyres to their extreme. However currently I'm running a Hans Dampf Trailstar up front and a Nobby Nic Trailstar on the rear. I realise I bought the wrong Nobby Nic for the rear and find it incredibly draggy going up.
So I started looking at replacing the rear and was wondering whether to change the combo. The more I looked, the more I found the HD polarised opinion so was just thinking of swapping the whole lot.
Does anyone have any suggestions for good all round UK (Peak District) riding? If you do suggest any, please help me with compounds too so I don't get the wrong ones again!
Cheers!
I run the Minion DHF 2.5 front - not the super tacky, it seems overkill round here as the rock is mostly inherently grippy - and a Schwable Rock Razor out back, which is fast rolling, but deceptively grippy despite the tread pattern. The classic rear tyre option round here is the 2.25 Ardent.
If you're riding mostly in the Dark Peak, you don't get to deal much with really claggy mud, more gritty slurry, so you can get away with a faster rolling rear. You could always stick the NN on the front instead of the HD as things get drier, but I find the DHF really reliable for Peak District stuff.
Bear in mind that everyone's tyre preferences are personal and depend a bit on riding style and ability, but the grippy front / fast rear principle isn't a bad starting point.
I ran a Dampf at each end for a couple of years without catching fire. It’s a good all round combo that copes well with wet roots, wet rock, mud etc so long as you get the compound right 😉 and pacestar rear, Trailstar front. It’s not a miracle combo and the price of being pretty good at everything is being excellent at nothing.
The real Achilles heel of the combo is the Dampf rear, there’s potential to run something a little faster rolling. A pacestar Nic is/was the standard option.
If you wanted to go further down this line then try a TrailBoss or RockRazor as a rear. Personally I think the TrailBoss is better as fit and forget simply because it handles mud better, but the RockRazor is a good summer option.
Chunky monkey front and smorgasbord rear
I'm not remotely hardcore but do like the security of tyres that stick but also roll well enough. I'm also up in north east Scotland where it is rocky sandy or peaty rather than proper mud. NN pacestar rear with magic Mary trailstar front worked for me. For the new build I've gone with a rock razor (speedgrip) on the back with magic Mary (soft) on the front, but haven't ridden it yet. Speedgrip and soft are basically the new pacestar and trailstar.
round ones, preferably black.
E13 grippy one on front and harder compound on the rear works for me at the min in the peak although I may stick a 2.4 ardent on the rear for summer.
Spesh butcher grid on front, purgatory on the back.
do me absolutely fine in the Peak
Not tried a dhf yet due to trying a Mary first and really liking the wide range of conditions it works in (trail star compound). Still trying to find the perfect rear to match, gonna try a 2.4 at dhr2 next in dual compound. I prefer grip over rolling resistance.
