Maxxis tyre combo for winter

rapid_donkey

All year ive been running panaracer fire xc pro which have been good, but sometimes felt a bit vague on the front and they look skinny compared to my old nevegals.
Im about to pull the trigger on some maxxis minions dhf 2.35 60a folding for front and rear after reading good reviews on them. Anyone else run this combo, or run a different maxxis front and rear?
I say they are for winter use, but it will mostly be trail centres so shouldnt be horrendous conditions. Peaks are a possibility on a sunny day though.
I want lots of grip on the front, but nothing too draggy (i found nevegals awful).
Cheers.

rockmonkeysc

Minions drag just as much as Nevegals.
Does it have to be Maxxis

rapid_donkey

Do they? I read they were quite fast rolling. I did have nevegal stick-e.
I had maxxis aspens on my old kona hei hei and they were good, so was thinking of giving another maxxis tyre a go.

rockmonkeysc

I have had a couple pairs of minions and they are slow.
Conti Rubber Queens, Bontrager XR4s and Specialized Purgatory's are all better.

coulddobetter

Bonty xr4 is a brilliant tyre as far as I am concerned. Well rated by bikeradar too.

The Northern Monkey

Minions are slow-ish, but have tonnes of grip. Minion supertacky DHF on the front and a 60a DHF (rolling backwards) on the rear is my favourite tyre combo (although I really like my betty trail/pace stars at the mo!).

Nevegals are the only tyre I've taken off after 1 ride though... absolutely shite.

Never really needed a specific winter tyre here though, trails are hardpack and drain well.

rapid_donkey

Ok im liking the sound of these XR4's.
Would 2.2 front and rear be good, or 2.35 front? Might be overkill for my riding actually.
Wheres the cheapest place to get some 26 x 2.2 team issue folding from? I would search myself but im somewhere with pretty rubbish internet.

coulddobetter

I run 2.2 front and back on a boardman carbon hardtail. They have come up wider than the mountain king 2.2 wire bead. Did you read the bikeradar review ? I ride mixed cross country did manage a 30mph plus bit downhill and felt totally safe and I am over 50.


http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... -10-36950/
Got mine for around £ 50.00 the pair via local shop with a 10% loyalty discount.

rockmonkeysc

You don't want the 2.35 XR4s, they are enormous.

coulddobetter

True . I reckon they would be close to fouling my sid fork , the 2.2 is fine.

rapid_donkey

Thanks for the input.
Just bought 2 of these:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bon ... e-ec044793
Now for those 140mm forks and thomson stem. Christmas is coming early!

swod1

i've got a xr4 tyre that i might put back on the front instead of a nobby nic that i'm unimpressed with but they do tend to pack up the tread with mud though i've found but thats when its really bad and you would be best with a mud specific tyre for them conditions.

Thewaylander

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Minions are slow-ish, but have tonnes of grip. Minion supertacky DHF on the front and a 60a DHF (rolling backwards) on the rear is my favourite tyre combo (although I really like my betty trail/pace stars at the mo!).

Nevegals are the only tyre I've taken off after 1 ride though... absolutely shite.

Never really needed a specific winter tyre here though, trails are hardpack and drain well.

What hte dude says,

though got 2.3 purgatory on the rear and the butcher control up front and as a trail tyre superb, butcher is like a minnion but better!