Tyre choice

Ross Gardner

Looking for tyres... both front and rear.

It’s for a 650b hardtail, mostly trail use. Not sure whether to go for condition specific (some dry tyres and mud tyres), or just to get a pair of all weather.

I am aware of the fact ANY tyre can be tubeless, but “tubeless ready” tyres would be a bonus.

I was thinking Maxxis High Roller II 2.4 Kevlar 60a EXO for the front, and Maxxis Ardent Race 3C EXO TR for the rear, for all weather.

Perhaps Magic Marys instead? Let me know what you think.

mark_fogel

I use Nobby Nics in Trailstar front and Pacestar rear compounds on my 650b full sus trail bike... works great for me in all weather conditions. Might be worth having a look as Schwalbe recently released their Addix so these "older" tyres might be available cheap. Magic Mary would grip even better however I never felt like I needed more grip on the front personally.

I also run Continental Mountain King 29 x 2.4 front and Mavic Quest 2.35 rear in 60a.
These look absolutely massive on my trail 29er bike, grip well too.

There is always a compromise between speed grip weight etc, I usually pick something in the middle and this works well for me. I am not a fan of changing tyres all the time and ride the same tyres all year around in dry or wet conditions.

BTW your Maxxis choice will be perfectly fine

Ross Gardner

mark_fogel wrote:

I use Nobby Nics in Trailstar front and Pacestar rear compounds on my 650b full sus trail bike... works great for me in all weather conditions. Might be worth having a look as Schwalbe recently released their Addix so these "older" tyres might be available cheap.

Are you running plus?

I found the nobby nic II at £28 and the nobby nic performance at £18.

mark_fogel wrote:

Magic Mary would grip even better however I never felt like I needed more grip on the front personally.

I thought the ideal was more grip on the front?

mark_fogel wrote:

I also run Continental Mountain King 29 x 2.4 front and Mavic Quest 2.35 rear in 60a.
These look absolutely massive on my trail 29er bike, grip well too.

Hmm will check those out, thanks.

mark_fogel wrote:

There is always a compromise between speed grip weight etc, I usually pick something in the middle and this works well for me. I am not a fan of changing tyres all the time and ride the same tyres all year around in dry or wet conditions.

I would pick grip/speed/weight as priority in that order (I am a bit of a safety freak... doesn’t really suit the sport, I know).

JBA

Don't get Schwalbe Performance tyres. They are useless in the wet.
Look for Evolution series.

Like mark_fogel I run Nobby Nice on my full sus - trailstar F, pacestar R - and find them good all year round. They are also easy to set up tubeless.

On my hardtail I have just changed to Specialized Purgatory (F) and Ground Control (R), both in Grid flavour. Used to run them on my old full sus and they were always good. They set up tubeless very easily and only need a track pump to get them to seal. Shop around and you can often get good reductions on Spesh tyres.

Maxxis High Roller II is a great all-round tyre but very expensive. Everyone I know who run them swear by them. When I was looking for new tyres for the hardtail I couldn't find any deals.

The Rookie

JBA wrote:

Don't get Schwalbe Performance tyres. They are useless in the wet.
Look for Evolution series.

Neither exist anymore, all renamed.

licko

Having used both Schwalbe and Maxxis, I'd recommend the Maxxis combo everytime. I find them to have better grip in most conditions and they are tougher. Just my opinion mind you, probably plenty that would suggest the opposite.

jamski

I’m a big Maxxis fan. Don’t go 3c on the rear, you want that one up front for most grip. Go for a single or dual compound in the rear. I’m running a 3C Minion dhf on the front and an Ardent on the rear.

slc123

Another vote for Maxxis, I run a set of Ardent 2.25 on my XC bike all year round and have a Minion DHF up front and a High Roller II on the rear on my more trail specific bike.

Wouldn't consider changing, plenty of grip and the compounds are tough as well.

JBA

The Rookie wrote:

JBA wrote:

Don't get Schwalbe Performance tyres. They are useless in the wet.
Look for Evolution series.

Neither exist anymore, all renamed.

Although the model names have changed (Pacestar, Trailstar, etc changed to Speed, Speedgrip, etc) the tyres still come under the Evolution and Performance Lines.
It looks as if the coloured line on the tyre is absent from the Performance tyres.
Have a look HERE.

Ross Gardner

slc123 wrote:

Minion DHF up front and a High Roller II on the rear on my more trail specific bike.

I don’t think a High Roller II is a rear specific tyre. What was your reason for choosing this?

Which is better, the Minion DHF or the Maxxis High Roller II 2.4 Kevlar 60a EXO on front? I’m not sure if my rims are wide enough for the minion, either.

Guessing the Minion because the High Roller II is getting on a bit.

slc123

Ross Gardner wrote:

slc123 wrote:

Minion DHF up front and a High Roller II on the rear on my more trail specific bike.

I don’t think a High Roller II is a rear specific tyre. What was your reason for choosing this?

Which is better, the Minion DHF or the Maxxis High Roller II 2.4 Kevlar 60a EXO on front? I’m not sure if my rims are wide enough for the minion, either.

Guessing the Minion because the High Roller II is getting on a bit.

I've found the tread pattern on the DHF more conducive to being up front. Slices through stuff and gives good side grip for steering. The pattern on the HRII seems to grip quite well through the conditions we've had in the winter, in my experience anyway. The DHF is supposed to be the faster rolling, but I like the setup. Ultimately it's going to come down to personal preference and experience of riding the tyres and see how they ride for you.

Can always swap them over front and rear once you've purchased to see the difference. I have done that with them on previous bikes and in fairness I couldn't notice a huge difference!

Ross Gardner

slc123 wrote:

I've found the tread pattern on the DHF more conducive to being up front. Slices through stuff and gives good side grip for steering. The pattern on the HRII seems to grip quite well through the conditions we've had in the winter, in my experience anyway. The DHF is supposed to be the faster rolling, but I like the setup. Ultimately it's going to come down to personal preference and experience of riding the tyres and see how they ride for you.

Can always swap them over front and rear once you've purchased to see the difference. I have done that with them on previous bikes and in fairness I couldn't notice a huge difference!

Noticed there are different compounds for the DHF: the 3C Maxx Terra and the 3C Maxx Grip.

I’ve also read that it’s more of a Downhill tyre, rather than trail.

The Ardent on the rear has had mixed reviews, but I’m out of ideas for the rear, if I use the DHF or High Roller II up front.

lostboysaint

WTB Vigilante front and Trail Boss rear.

slc123

Ross Gardner wrote:

Noticed there are different compounds for the DHF: the 3C Maxx Terra and the 3C Maxx Grip.

I’ve also read that it’s more of a Downhill tyre, rather than trail.

The Ardent on the rear has had mixed reviews, but I’m out of ideas for the rear, if I use the DHF or High Roller II up front.

Mine are the 3C Maxx Terra, I run Ardents on my XC bike up front and rear and they work pretty well all year round. Could be grippy in mud, but still pretty decent. I think that would accompany the DHF or HR II pretty well.

Ross Gardner

Is the Minion DHR II better than the High Roller II, or the Ardent for the rear?

Ross Gardner

Ok, so I am getting the DHF and the DHR. On Tredz, the 3C EXO is listed with the DD, which doesn’t make any sense.

I’ve seen DH listed as a compound as well, when the only other compound is the DC.

Now it’s only a question of width: 2.3 or 2.5 (assuming 2.6 would be too big for my rims).

Double checked my rims, and it looks like I am getting the 2.3s.