Hans Dampf or Fat Albert?

oxocube1

Looking to put a new tyre on the front of the Mega in time for an upcoming trip to BPW. Narrowed it down to either a Hans Dampf 2.35" or a Fat Albert Front 2.4" both in EVO/Trailstar/Snakeskin flavour. The Albert is about 230g heavier than the Hans. It would be replacing my Minion DHF 2.35", as I just feel I want something wider on the front end. The rear tyre will probably stay as a Minion DHF for the time being, it's just the front i'm tinkering with at the moment.

Anyone who has experience with either or both, which do you reckon is the better choice for my trip, and similar riding afterwards?

Thanks in advance!

russyh

I have used fat Alberts before and they are mind bogglingly big tyres. I mean like motor cross big! I found them to numb the ride and feel a bit wallow. The hans dampf seems to get great reviews, following my experience with fat alberts I would go with the hans dapf

mcnultycop

Had both on the Front (FA NN combo came on the bike, went to HD HD). I prefer the HDs, and HD in 2.35 is the same if nor bigger than a 2.4 FA.

Confusingly though I'm going to go FA HD, as my rear HD is wearing so I'm doing to do some cheapskate swapping about.

The Northern Monkey

Best tyre for me at BPW has been the big betty... works really well on the dry rock! They're huge mind.

If its wet, something supertacky is required as it can get a bit loose!

lawman

Hans Dampfs all the way. The older Schwalbe tyres like the FA and NN aren't great imo, the more recent ones with newer tread patterns are much, much better.

warpcow

lawman wrote:

Hans Dampfs all the way. The older Schwalbe tyres like the FA and NN aren't great imo, the more recent ones with newer tread patterns are much, much better.

^This. I can't say I like HDs that much, but they're far more consistent than FAs, imo. The couple of times I used FAs they seemed pretty grippy until *gripgripgripgripgrip-RELEASE*, with no transition between the two (that was the gooey-gluey compound iirc).

Qui3tman

Rode a Hans Dampf on the front of my HT when I went to BPW (in the pouring bloody rain) and had no issues with it at all. Felt nice and secure, but then I was only riding the blues.

lawman

warpcow wrote:

lawman wrote:

Hans Dampfs all the way. The older Schwalbe tyres like the FA and NN aren't great imo, the more recent ones with newer tread patterns are much, much better.

^This. I can't say I like HDs that much, but they're far more consistent than FAs, imo. The couple of times I used FAs they seemed pretty grippy until *gripgripgripgripgrip-RELEASE*, with no transition between the two (that was the gooey-gluey compound iirc).

Agreed. I used NN's for years, mainly because yet were light and rolled well but while grip was reasonable they had a tendency to just snap on you and I never really had full confidence in them, so to end up riding a bit tentatively. It didn't matter what compound it was either, I had pacestar, gate star and other compounds before they did the star series and they were all the same so it must be some kind of inherent trait of the tread design. They've dropped the FA altogether for 2015 and completely redesigned the NN so I guess they thought the same!

HD's are great, huge so can be issue with clearance but I've found they roll pretty well with a pace star rear, trail star front and they are insanely predictable, you always know how they're going to react and if they do drift it's more of a predictable slide than a sudden snap. I haven't used anything else for 18 months or so and only just replaced my original pair as well so durability seems excellent. If they fit your frame/fork then I see little reason to use much else unless you ride in really sticky mud all the time.

CitizenLee

Love the HD up front on my bike, don't think I've used a better front tyre. Loads of grip and when they do let go they're very predictable.

Didn't get on with one on the rear though as there was too much drag now the trails are drier. Swapped it for a Racing Ralph the other day for a bit less rolling resistance and I think I've found a winning combo. Bike feels much less sluggish. I just hope the RR holds up, although it's the Evo Snakeskin Super GTI Turbo Rockstar SRI XXX version so it should be ok

Penylope

another vote fo HD, both ends of the BLTC.
predictable, gripy as fark, quite fast rolling considering they are both sticky licky compound, but i will prob go for a slightly harder compound for the rear next time.
my only 'slight' critisism would be they do come up wide (on stans flow) so you do need to be carefull with frame/fork clearance as stated above. Other than that, awesome tire!

oxocube1

Awesome advice as usual guys, thanks very much!

Seems to be a pretty unanimous decision for the HDs which I'm happy with as I was leaning towards it from the start.

Just gotta survive the next week in work before BPW!

dusk

I have HD front and Ardent rear, really like the combo. I did have HD rear as well but it couldn't take the abuse but has been fine on the front