New Season, New Tires, New Thread

Andeh, how does the Argo do on hardpack? Not what it's for, i know.
I recently put on a set of Krypto front and rear for bike park use and i gotta say, theyre badass.
So supportive.
So I'm thinking of getting another set for the trail/enduroish bike. Problem is, like half my pedaling rides involve a good bit of gnar rock and loose pea gravel and sand. The rest is fairly mellow flow trail. I'm pretty happy with the Krypto front but would like more front end grip in the rocky chunder but i dont want something too squirmy on the hardpack sections.

Hardpack is clearly not its forte, but it manages much better than you'd expect. I attribute this to the very well supported side knobs. I ride in NorCal, so our local trails here for about 8 months of the year are dust, kitty litter, and gravel over hard in some parts, and concrete-like hardpack in others (especially berms). So while it's bumpier over hard than something with more/tighter knobs like the KrF, it doesn't feel like a huge tradeoff. That's why I've gone to running them on the front year round. I recommended this to a racer buddy, and when we went up to Downieville about a month ago, he was giggling saying that it was like a cheat code up front in the mixed alpine. If the numbers are to believed in the recent Enduro MTB tire roundup test, its rolling speed is actually pretty close to the KrF, and faster than an Assegai.

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For that amount of loose, I'd say Conti Argotal up front, Kryptotal Rear for rear. Enduro casing minimum, Super Soft front (that exists now for Enduro if you look for it). Maxxis High Roller 3 is really similar to the Argo, and seriously good in loose over hard, just wears out faster than Conti.

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Just put this setup on my bigger bike and LOVE IT. Riding a Spec Hillbilly front / eliminator rear on the little bike and that is fantastic in loose (but more trail oriented) trails too.

True intermediate tires like these have a much sharper and engaged feel vs something like the Assegai that is great on firmer trails or decomposed granite, but gets skatey as the trails loosen and get blown since the assegai has way more positive tread and floats up higher in moondust. The intermediates also track better in deeper rutted sections too, IMO. Right now, everyone on Assegais are complaining about how loose our trails are, and everyone on intermediates are LOVING the riding conditions.

There isnt much hardpack in the central wasatch at present, but both tires have awesome lateral grip on smooth somewhat slippery quartzite, so I expect them to be competent come fall time. I cant say this with conviction as its not fully tested, but I think both the Argotal and Hillbilly will be a step or two less skatey on hardpack vs how skatey the Assegai is in blown chunder. The argotal and Hillbilly ride pretty similarly, with the main difference being the Argotal is a bit more square vs a little rounder (but not super round) hillbilly. my untested guess is that the hillbilly will be a tick better on hardpack with the slightly more round profile and less gap between corenering knobs.

Hillbilly is also $50 on specializeds website right now.

Interesting. That's almost exactly my same trail conditions from April through October.

I'm a few rides into a dual Argotal setup for the loose, dry conditions we get here mid-summer in Southwestern BC. So far, I am quite happy with it. They seem to have more bite and predictability in the loose stuff than the Kryptotal Fr/Re setup they replaced. I initially only switched the front to Argotal but found the Krytotal Re in back was sliding around on marbles more than I'd like in comparison. It felt unbalanced.

I'll be interested to see how the Argotals do as we get moisture in the fall. Around here, the dirt is most firm and supportive over the winter. Having the knobs dig into it is less of a factor. Traction on wet rocks and roots is the more critical thing. We'll see if the tall, spaced knobs squirm on the supportive dirt and feel sketchy on the wet rocks/roots. I suspect that the Kryptotal setup is more preferable.

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Originally Posted by D(C)

Traction on wet rocks and roots is the more critical thing. We'll see if the tall, spaced knobs squirm on the supportive dirt and feel sketchy on the wet rocks/roots. I suspect that the Kryptotal setup is more preferable.

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Argo Soft is my go-to for wet polished roots, I've not found better. It does unfortunately pack up more readily than I would've hoped, to the point that I feel like a max grip HR3 would probably have the edge if slop is on the menu too, particularly steep slop. Krypto had earlier limits at the extremes with the caveat that I only tried the endurance compound.

Ok, I was looking at the Kryptotal which seems to be almost identical to the DHR II, then ended up with a great deal on a DHR II 2.4 maxxterra, so I grabbed that. I hope to compare it to a Kryptotal soon.

This is a great thread, thanks all.

You guys are convincing me to put a supersoft Argo on my front wheel i think.
D(C), are you in the general Vancouver BC area?
IE, wet n gooey but still grippy for much of the year but somewhat dry and dusty come summer?
Or are you more easterly and dusty through much of your bike season?

I gotta think that if the Argotal works in super loose and dry then it would work in wet season roots n rocks n whatnot.
It's marketed ( yeah i know ) as a more wet and loose soft soil tire than just dry and loose.
I like checking out new tires but dint really like finding the duds.
Hillbilly seems super intriguing.

I fondled a friends new Butchers f and r a few days ago.
T9 compound.
Wicked sticky rubber. Like the stickiest ive ever seen.
I like the new tread pattern better.

T9 is great for the front. Cant imagine how fast it would wear in the rear tho

Another Argotal-like option is the High Roller 3. I've ridden it and it rides very similarly. The side knobs are a bit closer together so I feel like it's a smidge better on bike park style berms or hardpack off-camber. It rolls a bit slower than the Conti though. If you live in the PNW and are looking for something for the wet season, I'd probably favor the HR3 for the front since there's nothing like MaxxGrip for wet roots. I rode it for a few weeks in early summer here in NorCal and really liked it, but the wear rate was so much higher that I took it off to save for our wet season to get more use out of it. The wear issue was not helped by the fact that I bought a MG DHR to pair with it.

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HotSchmoo - yes, Vancouver area. When it&rsquo;s wet, I&rsquo;d say our dirt is supportive and not very sticky, like, clogging is not much of an issue. I have found that all-round/dry tires like Minion/Assegai/Kryptotal etc. in the softest rubber work well. My concern with the Argotal is that the tall, spaced, blocky knobs would glance off roots. But we&#39;ll see.</p>
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A few more rides in, the rear Argotal is showing some tearing at the base of side knobs. But, I went with Super Soft, based on how well the K-Re in Super Soft held up as a rear tire.</p>

I've been a big fan of Argo SS/Krypt S DH casing on my Dreadnought for high country CO (generally loose over hard). I've gotten a full season out of this set which never happened with Maxxis, but they're probably due for replacement this fall. Very curious to try the Schwalbe Radial casings (looking at Magic Mary f Albert r) this go around and see if the hype is real.

Undersized 2.4s seem to be the latest trend. Get fucked, bike tire industry.

They're literally just relabeling 2.35s as 2.4. I need some volume, but I can't go with 2.6 on the rear because my bike isn't from yesterday. Another trend I've noticed is companies switching from making a 2.4 and a 2.6 to just a 2.5. And who knows what size really measures, but that means it probably won't work for me on the rear. And $100 tires now? Lol. Is that the tariffs?

Hear me out: the Kyptotal rear is a front tire
Seems like the Magnotal would be a decent rear pairing, so of course it's undersized and doesn't really have good side knobs.

Scored a deal on a Assguy to replace my blown out OE DHR II for my front tire. Didn't realize till I was mounting it today that it was a regular duel compound rather than the Maxxterra 3C I was running before. Am I gunna die? Mostly riding dryish high country SW CO, so loose over hardpack/tacky dirt/mixed rock gardens/occasional roots. Figure that the tread pattern will make up for the less grippy compound until I get caught in a downpour. Should I pull this tire asap and jump on the conti bandwagon or stop overthinking it and just ride?

.1 is not that much, so has anybody actuly checked the measurments on a mounted/ aired up tire ?

IME what the ass guy was good for was getting a 29x29 yeti around 180 switchbacks before i was on the modern program cuz there was a lot of slipage

DC Assguy will last virtually forever. You can get 5k miles on that thing, the compound is so hard.

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Originally Posted by ASmileyFace

Scored a deal on a Assguy to replace my blown out OE DHR II for my front tire.

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I bet you'll love the traction but hate the drag. I put a used maxterra assguy in the back (hardehar) a few winters ago and mostly enjoyed it. Pretty slow uphill tho fosho.
Also didn't like finding it completely impossible to break the back end free.
Not that I'm a big slashy guy. Still nice to let it slide a bit in the corners here and there.

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Originally Posted by ASmileyFace

Scored a deal on a Assguy to replace my blown out OE DHR II for my front tire. Didn&#39;t realize till I was mounting it today that it was a regular duel compound rather than the Maxxterra 3C I was running before. Am I gunna die? Mostly riding dryish high country SW CO, so loose over hardpack/tacky dirt/mixed rock gardens/occasional roots. Figure that the tread pattern will make up for the less grippy compound until I get caught in a downpour. Should I pull this tire asap and jump on the conti bandwagon or stop overthinking it and just ride?

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Good rubber matters most on hard surfaces (roots, rocks) that are firmly attached to the ground. The slipperier those surfaces are, the more good rubber helps. The more youre riding in loose material (sand, gravel, loam), the less the rubber compound matters.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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The problem with hard rubber is that its great mid summer when everything dry and loose, but then when fall rolls around and everything is slipperier, you want to replace it with something sticky. But the hard rubber is barely worn at all because those things last forever. So then you have this internal monologue about whether you really want to spend $100 on a new tire just to get better traction on roots when you already have a tire mounted up thats barely worn at all. And then you say fuck it, Ill just run the hard compound because its fine and I already own it. And then you go for a ride in October where everything is greasy from the frost the night before and youre floundering all over the place and crashing a little bit, and you start asking yourself if a better tire would fix this, or if you just kinda suck at bikes, which leads to a momentary crisis where your entire existence is slightly in question. But then your friend crashes right in front of you, so you can at least tell yourself that youre in good company. But you still go home after the ride and spend some money on a stickier tire, even though you know that its not going to help *that* much.</p>
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edited to remove apostrophes. This site sucks so much.</p>
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sposed to be wet up here but its been dry so I buy tires for how its suposed to be AND now its turned wet

for Moab I probably bought the wrong tire but I bought the tire for when I got back and it was fine in Moab and here

now days I buy a DHR II in DD and an Assguy in DD when i can get them on sale and I change them when the small sipes or the side knobs dissppear which is about once a season coincidently also when the traction gets sketchy

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Originally Posted by toast2266

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Good rubber matters most on hard surfaces (roots, rocks) that are firmly attached to the ground. The slipperier those surfaces are, the more good rubber helps. The more youre riding in loose material (sand, gravel, loam), the less the rubber compound matters.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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The problem with hard rubber is that its great mid summer when everything dry and loose, but then when fall rolls around and everything is slipperier, you want to replace it with something sticky. But the hard rubber is barely worn at all because those things last forever. So then you have this internal monologue about whether you really want to spend $100 on a new tire just to get better traction on roots when you already have a tire mounted up thats barely worn at all. And then you say fuck it, Ill just run the hard compound because its fine and I already own it. And then you go for a ride in October where everything is greasy from the frost the night before and youre floundering all over the place and crashing a little bit, and you start asking yourself if a better tire would fix this, or if you just kinda suck at bikes, which leads to a momentary crisis where your entire existence is slightly in question. But then your friend crashes right in front of you, so you can at least tell yourself that youre in good company. But you still go home after the ride and spend some money on a stickier tire, even though you know that its not going to help *that* much.</p>
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edited to remove apostrophes. This site sucks so much.</p>
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God damnit stop stealing my thoughts.&nbsp;</p>
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Also, how to navigate spousal bike expense-related conflicts, in three acts:</p>
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*This tire is too hard* Honey, biking would be so much safer if I got this really soft tire for wet season, if I&#39;m hurt I can&#39;t watch the kids!</p>
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*This tire, while soft and grippy, is too slow* &quot;Honey you know if I were faster on the trails I could make it home sooner and spend more time with the kids&quot;</p>
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*This fast tire wears too quickly* &quot;Honey, I&#39;m really saving money in the long term by having a harder compound to run in the park and saving the soft tire for winter&quot;</p>
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fin</p>
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Edit: fu*ck this website so much</p>

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

sposed to be wet up here but its been dry so I buy tires for how its suposed to be AND now its turned wet

for Moab I probably bought the wrong tire but I bought the tire for when I got back and it was fine in Moab and here

now days I buy a DHR II in DD and an Assguy in DD when i can get them on sale and I change them when the small sipes or the side knobs dissppear which is about once a season coincidently also when the traction gets sketchy

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How does that not feel like dragging a boat anchor everywhere?
Also, why is there no dual compound Exo+?
2nd question, does Exo+ do shit over vanilla Exo? Maxxis Exo tires are some of the most weepy, flimsy, under sizes tires I have ever seen. Which is a shame, really because their tread patterns are good.

its simple 85nm from the Shimano and now 100 nm with the Bosch motor

Maxxis seem to come on a lot of new bikes I was once on a group ride where I checked and all but one of nine riders were on maxxis

Maxxis came stock on my yeti and on 2 SC Eebs, new maxxis always seem to instal easily with a shop pump

no flats since at least 2018