Schwalbe Hans Dampf?

ilovedirt

I'm probably going to be in the market for some new tyres soon for the AM bike, and I've been looking at these, does anyone have any experience of them? I need something that's going to roll alright on trail centre type stuff, but also grip well in wet/more boggy stuff and be more resistant to pinch flats than the single ply minion/advantage combo i'm using now, as I'm going to want to chuck the bike down some downhill trails, and the single ply maxxis tyres are just too thin to run them at a low enough pressure to ride downhill properly on without getting hundreds of pinch flats.

benpinnick

I have some and they check all the boxes you've asked for. They are great tyres that straddle Trail/AM and DH impressively. Only thing I would say is that I am running some Bonty XR4 2.35s right now and they are nearly as good, a little lighter (which might not be a good thing I guess) but mainly half the price... literally.

ilovedirt

Hmm, how are they for puncture resistance? One of the main things that draws me to the Hans Dampfs is the snakeskin sidewall.

jonny2773

I use Hans Dampf 2.35 and to be fair Schwalbe could get away with calling it a 2.5 so make sure you have the clearance for these before buying them. That said they are without doubt the best tyre ive ever purchased despite the price, The snake skin sidewalls are strong the tyre sticks like s**t to a blanket to everything and yet they still roll pretty well on hard pack surfaces, i cant reccomend these tyres enough for trail centre riding.

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k295/a ... r-set.html

and for £51 + delivery for the pair not that expensive either.

ilovedirt

Sweet cheers. Anyone tried riding downhill on them? I have dual ply maxxis downhill rubber that I can stick on there if necessary, but it would be cool if I could just lower the pressure a tad on these instead.

Also, what is the difference between the pacestar, trailstar and performance compounds?

jonny2773

Ive not tried them for true downhill so i honestly cant say.

The pacestar are a slightly harder compound and therefor have slightly less rolling resistance and shouldbe used on the rear, the trailstar is a softer stickier affair and used on the front.

ilovedirt

ok, cheers!

DodgeT

I was going to get some hans dampf, but wasn't too sure on the durability of them upon having a squeeze of them, so I'm now running specialized clutch 2.3 on the rear and a butcher2.3 on the front of my enduro (forget the problems I have fitting them to roval rims) and they are a fantastic combo.

Did both penmachno loops in the wet yesterday and antur stiniog downhills today (11 runs) and they haven't skipped a beat at either place. Will be my combo of choice for a while I think.

ilovedirt

Cool, do they weigh much? I guess I'm asking a lot, but I want a good all round tyre with a good strong sidewall that can handle a bit of downhill that doesn't weigh much more than my current ones (700gish per tyre) and doesn't cost the earth...

lawman

bonty xr4's look alot like the hans, plus they roll better apparently. Dunno if places still do it, but if you buy bonty tyres you can return them if you don't like them before 30 days after purchase, might be worth a go, if you like em then great, if not money back and try another.

Spesh do the butcher in a light weight casing, might be worth a look, but I'm a big schwalbe fan so I have to say the hans would probably be the best, its got great reviews.

sofaboy73

have a look at the conti rubber queens as well.

the black chilli compounds grips well, roles well and so far wears better than the scwalbe's i've had (althoughs were nobby niks to be fair).

2.4 have re-enforced sidewall so good for running lower pressure on the front and the 2.2 on the rear holds up ok as well. by no means down hill tyres but a good AM choice. get away with running by c 20 ps1 on the front with a normal tubes and lates 20's psi on the back with a lightweight tube (any hardeder an they skitter around on the loose stuff). IIRC the 2.4 is 820 gr at the 2.2 650gr

DodgeT

Not light, but bloomin good. http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/tyres/mountain/product/review-specialized-23in-butcher-dh-tyres-11-45354

Clutch seem to be around 970g according to pinkbike review.

ilovedirt

Yeah I'm not gonna bother with those, if i want to use downhill tyres, I already have some. I need something that weighs less than my downhill tyres (minions) but has decent sidewall protection.

rockmonkeysc

I have used Hans Dampf & Bontrager XR4's. The XR4's roll better and grip slightly better in sloppy conditions but don't last as well as the Hans Dampf.
The XR4 is huge so I wouldn't go any bigger than 2.2" which is about the same a 2.35" Hans Dampf.

benpinnick

I measured the air volume of the 2.35 XR4 vs 2.35 HD - and they are almost identical in air volume. The XR4 does look bigger though.

I agree on the wear rates mind - The XR4 is really soft - literally dentable by your nail and doesnt rebound straight back.