Specialized Clutch DH?

peter413

Just realised I don't have any DH tyres left except mud tyres so could do with getting a dryer conditions DH tyre. Ideally I'd get another Der Kaiser (although probably the Projekt's) but at £40 it's a little expensive when it won't be used that much. This is only for the front, I'm sorted for the back with some old Dual Ply High Roller's and a Big Betty but neither of these are suitable for the front.

I've seen a couple of places selling the 2.3 Specialized Clutch DH for a little over £20 and they look like they might be pretty similar to the Der Kaiser. I love my Butcher Control's and TBH I don't need much more grip than they offer but they're too delicate compared to a proper DH tyre. Does anyone have any experiences with the Clutch? I've googled it but most of what comes up is to do with the SX and not the DH version but what is there looks promising. I'm thinking it might be worth a shot anyway for the price but thought I'd check to see if anyone had any opinions on them before I hit buy. Obviously because this is purely as a DH tyre I don't care about the rolling resistance which appears to be the biggest complaint about them.

rockmonkeysc

The Clutch is very similar to Maxxis Minion. They're ok but the 2.3 is a bit narrow.

peter413

It's only for the Mega so the width isn't an issue for me, the 2.3 Butcher is a really nice size I find so as long as it's similar to that then I can live with it.

It does look pretty similar to the DHR 2 except the side knobs look more like the Der Kaiser's than the Minion's and they look nothing like the other Minion's. That to me sounds like a pretty good tyre but like I said I'm looking for others opinions. I've seen a few people comparing them to High Roller's, not Minion's which I can understand as you just have to look at the Butcher to realise which one makes more sense to be compared to the Minion. Most of those comments were before the DHR 2 existed.

What is ok about the Clutch? Is the grip rubbish, is it just slow, is it too weak, do the knobs tear off?

paul.skibum

I had the 2.5 Cluth DH on my big hit - it was an amazing tyre - incredible grip on everything including wet roots. 2.3 might be a little skinny for true DH running.