Minion and Highroller, what way round?

Northwind

For reasons that I don't fully understand myself I've decided to do a downhill race at innerleithen on the Mmmbop... Got a 2.5 Highroller and a 2.5 Minion, both supertacky, both dual ply, which way round would you put 'em? Going by the tracks from the previous rounds it'll be fairly solid surfaces, typical innerleithen stuff. Speed will be down on proper race pace natcherly but I think there'll be a certain amount of panicky braking and near crashing so I'm still wanting excessive grip

I don't trust my own judgement here if I'm honest, not convinced I know either tyre well enough to judge. The Highroller just feels better to me but I don't know if it is. Tell me what to think

kenan

Minion is supposed to have more grip so I'd put that on the front.

The guys I know who race downhill run minion front and back or minion front and high roller back.

robertpb

You just can't seem to unsettle a sticky minion, so I'd always put it up front.

Koiler

is it a minion F or R?

that would make my mind up, i think some people opt for 2 front minions, but run the one on the back 'backwards' but im not sure how well a minion R would work on the front.

looking at mine, i wouldn't want to run the rear tyre up front so if its a Minion R, then leave that on the back and stick the HR on the front, if its a Minion F, the you could run it backwards on the rear or just normally on the front with the HR on the back.

the HR will work well front or back

Northwind

Ah yeah, sorry, it's an F. Did have an R but I gave it away rather than use it again

Koiler

they're not that bad! i quite like mine

anyway,

even though the minion is supposed to be a more aggressive 'race' tread, after comparing my minion F to a highroller (both 2.35) the high roller seemed to have much bigger side nobs and just looked grippier. thoug it was slightly flatter in the middle bit of the tread, i guess that where the high rolling bit comes from. Thinking about it though, i guess this might reduce the straight line braking grip when compared to the minion

if it was me, id run the minion on the front, and the HR on the back, in fact, thats what i will be doing when i finally need to replace the rear.

The Northern Monkey

def put the minion STF on the front. I love mine, possibly my fav tyre..... in the worrlllld [/Clarkson]

Northwind

I'll give that a crack then. TBH Minions have never impressed me but like I say, I know it's so subjective that I don't really trust that opinion The Highroller felt spot on from the first ride. Time to give them another chance I guess

The Northern Monkey

to be fair, i've not used a high roller either lol. But i've just been so happy with the minions I don't want to change!

peter413

Northwind wrote:

Ah yeah, sorry, it's an F. Did have an R but I gave it away rather than use it again

And I have put it to good use

Don't you have two High Rollers? Judging by the conditions they will be quite tacky/sticky mud for the last round and most say they are a better all rounder.

Otherwise, Minion on the front and the High Roller on the rear backwards so that it gives you more braking grip and more bite for pedaling.

Or, if it's really muddy, you can borrow my Swapthingies (2.35, super tacky and slow reazy) or maybe just the one since I want to use one myself

Northwind

You're good if you can predict ground conditions 3 weeks ahead

Ooh, reversing the rear highroller, good idea.

Northwind

My cheeky testride reveals that neither work very well in snow-melt slop, there's a surprise

peter413

Northwind wrote:

You're good if you can predict ground conditions 3 weeks ahead

Well it's not exactly going to be dry is it, and it would have to be pretty shitty to be like the first round so it must be an intermediate

Anonymous

Minion F on the front and HR on the rear. Could run the HR backwards for extra grip DH (but will grip too much on the flat) or a Minion R on the back or Minion F backwards on the back.

Minion F on the front I find is more straight channelled than the HR but good for digging right into loose stuff. HR on the back just literally keeps it rolling without too much slipping.

All that said I've not really experienced much else other than Ignitors all round (good for races supposedly but found they had less grip on loose stuff).

yoohoo999

Definitely the DHF on the front and HR on the rear.

I find that the HR is more predictable on the rear when it gives and then bites again, especially on an HT (I run HR's on my mmmbop).

Unless it's really muddy, the DHF on the front won't be beaten for grip.

Even though they are dual ply, I'd defo stick a proper DH tube on the rear, the mmmbop's rear end isn't very forgiving when you are hammering it so you won't want 45psi bloating about in there, so get some hefty rubber and run it low (although, play around with the pressures, since HR's can act a bit odd when cornering at really low psi's)

richg1979

peter413 wrote:

Otherwise, Minion on the front and the High Roller on the rear backwards so that it gives you more braking grip and more bite for pedaling.

a backwards highroller gives less braking grip

Northwind

yoohoo999 wrote:

Even though they are dual ply, I'd defo stick a proper DH tube on the rear, the mmmbop's rear end isn't very forgiving when you are hammering it so you won't want 45psi bloating about in there, so get some hefty rubber and run it low (although, play around with the pressures, since HR's can act a bit odd when cornering at really low psi's)

Aye, I run it with a 2.3 Eskar usually which is pretty much the same size as a 2.5 HR, so I just take the queue off that- with the HR in the rear I usually go for 20 as I'm light but I might go up a wee bit due to the lack of suspension or, you know, movement of any description at all with the Mmmbop's crazy forth bridge rear end.

Though, it'll depend a wee bit on the course they tape out I guess.