New Season, New Tires, New Thread

[stuckathuntermtn]

I guess "all-day" is a usually a bit of an exaggeration but I get out for 4-5 hours pretty often. A lot of my rides start with grant creek road to ravine trail because I live in that direction, then I will do a loop somewhere and come back over sometimes, or meet up with the TNR ride. That turns into 40mi pretty easily. I do a lot of road riding too so my legs feel pretty good by the time the trails open up. Late start this year though- didn't ride until mar 12th.

The two longest rides besides the butte 100 I can think of were woods to sheep to mineral and then down the east fork to the corridor. That was around 8 hours with a group that wasn't in a hurry (5hrs moving time), Reservation divide from ninemile road to burnt fork and back was another big one, took about 7 hours.

So for stuff like that the fast tires are nice, but back behind sheep I was pretty worried about tearing a sidewall. A full suspension bike with a little chunkier and more durable tires would have been way better than a hardtail XC bike on race tires for that one.

Ah, makes sense. PS, I personally picked up just about every tree the other 2 guys cut when they called for Reservation Divide volunteers. You're welcome? lol. IDK how I didn't die. I gotta actually ride that now that it's clear, but I don't know if my car can get up there. I'd just do it the 4 or 6 miles in and out. We did it with a lot of walking, but there's some sweet trail in there.
Thinking about skiing tomorrow, tho.

[jamal]

At the same time I am moving to tires with larger knobs and even plan to get a dropper. Don't really like getting beat to the bottom of the XC course by a whole minute. I still want light, fast rolling tires, but with more grip. Maybe Nobby nic front, rocket ron rear or something. Of course, plenty of those guys going faster are on the same tires.

Thanks for going up there, it is a long way and a tough trail. We were up there a few weeks after the race/gran fondo and there were already a ton of trees down at the first part. We just parked at the bottom and rode up. yes it's a long way, but it is a gradual climb so not bad. Lot of pushing on the first bit, then a good descent, then it's fairly rolling, then you get into this grass sidehill with hidden rocks.

[One (+) Sentence]

Running 29" Flow Mk3s, ready to replace my minions. To go Wide-Track or normal?

I'd vote yes, move to the Wide Trail offerings.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Nobby Nics are good. The new ones may even last longer than half an hour.

[skaredshtles]

Nobby Nics are good. The new ones may even last longer than half an hour.

I wouldn't hold my breath...

[gravitylover]

Light(ish) with big old school knobs - Terrene Chunk with the light casing. Comes in 27.5 & 29 x 2.3 and 3.0. Also comes in a tough casing if you're sloppy or ride bruiser terrain.

[jm2e]

You'll be fine. There ain't nothin' 'round here that a 26" bike won't work just fine on...

Ha ha. Touche'
Our worry is that we find everyone's on short travel 29ers because nothing's tight/steep/technical and they're all just rolling along carefree on sanitized hiking trails. That was the impression I got from Empty Beer. Taken with a grain of salt though.

[skaredshtles]

Ha ha. Touche'
Our worry is that we find everyone's on short travel 29ers because nothing's tight/steep/technical and they're all just rolling along carefree on sanitized hiking trails. That was the impression I got from Empty Beer. Taken with a grain of salt though.

That's eMpTy BeeR for you.

I mean... you *could* ride just buffed 3-foot-wide singletrack if you choose to.

NTTAWWT

[D(C)]

I now have a week of riding on the 27.5 x 2.6 Butcher. I'm a fan. It feels like a normal tire, and cornering grip is great. No downsides as far as I can tell.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Anybody on the Aggresor or tomahawk? Thinking it be nice to have a middle ground tread option vs semi slick since I will be struggling on the tech climbs once I move back east

[D(C)]

Anybody on the Aggresor or tomahawk? Thinking it be nice to have a middle ground tread option vs semi slick since I will be struggling on the tech climbs once I move back east

I had an Aggressor on in back over the winter (Slaughter is back on now). It rolls a bit slower than the Slaughter but still quite well. I was happy with the grip. It may be a little drifter than the Slaughter when leaned over, but I was happy. It also wore very well. It's a good goldilocks tire.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

I had an Aggressor on in back over the winter (Slaughter is back on now). It rolls a bit slower than the Slaughter but still quite well. I was happy with the grip. It may be a little drifter than the Slaughter when leaned over, but I was happy. It also wore very well. It's a good goldilocks tire.

Cool! Good feedback. Is the slaughter the only semi slick you've used? Have been on both that and the Rock Razor now, which I'm amazed to say I am on my second season on without every knob having crumbled into dust. For some reason I feel like the slaughter was a little faster.

[Dromond]

I had an Aggressor on in back over the winter (Slaughter is back on now). It rolls a bit slower than the Slaughter but still quite well. I was happy with the grip. It may be a little drifter than the Slaughter when leaned over, but I was happy. It also wore very well. It's a good goldilocks tire.

I've ridden the Tomahawk and Slaughter. I sort of feel like if it's dry enough for the Tomahawk I'd rather go for the slaughter. Rolls a little faster, maybe better cornering grip; neither had great grip when upright.

[Damian Sanders]

Anybody on the Aggresor or tomahawk? Thinking it be nice to have a middle ground tread option vs semi slick since I will be struggling on the tech climbs once I move back east

I've got an Aggressor and a Minion SS to try out in the rear with a couple minion DHF 3C fronts, they are both the harder Dual Compound with tightly spaced tread blocks. Going to try the Aggressor on my suspension bike with Flow Mk3's, and the minion SS on my hardtail with WTB KOM i25's. People have been saying the minion SS's should be used on rims that aren't super wide, because on wide rims the side knobs will flair out and drag too much.

Keep in mind the Tomahawk is softer 3C maxx terra, with open block spacing, I don't think it would be that great as a rear tire - I'd rather have it in the front, with something really fast in the rear like a 2.2 Ikon.

If you insisted on trying the 2.3" Tomahawk 3C in the rear, I bet it would pair well with the 2.3 Shorty 3C, due to them both being open treads. Good in moist loose terrain, or dry with lots of loose and texture. They also offer two casing options on each tire, so you could run normal 1-ply front / Exo rear for light weight, or Exo front / DD rear for heavy duty use.

[PhishingME]

Anybody on the Aggresor or tomahawk? Thinking it be nice to have a middle ground tread option vs semi slick since I will be struggling on the tech climbs once I move back east

I'm on an Aggressor now, and like it. Had a Tomahawk last me 3 months the summer before last. Loved the Rock Razor last summer. I'll probably thow one on for the summer again. Looks like Schwalbe recently updated their compounds.

[Dee Hubbs]

I'm about to try the SS dual compound on the the back, matched up with a High Roller 2 up front. The SS is a 27.5x2.3, EXO weighing in at 745g. This should speed up the rolling resistance in the rear. This will be my dry and dusty Colorado tire. Im currently running a High Roller 2 on front and back right now up in Whistler/Pemberton whee its still wet and tacky.

[Andeh]

I just replaced my WT DHR2 with an Aggressor (on 31.8 LB rims). Only 1 ride so far last night, but it felt good so far. It seemed to roll/climb a bit better on the fire road section (judging by Strava times and how high I went up a down->up before having to pedal hard). On the downhill which is loose over hard, it seemed to brake a bit better. The trail isn't conducive to really leaning over, but cornering felt as good as the Minion. Anyways, this is just from 1 ride, and the thing is still brand new, but so far pretty happy with it.

[teledad]

Thinking of trying the Forekaster to replace my HR2 in the rear for similar reasons (looking for something lighter/faster/still grippy). Would be paired with a DHF up front. A little worried about durability since it's 120 TPI (at least in 29x2.35) but I'm usually not that hard on tires.

[jm2e]

Is the Aggressor not just another Ardent/Purgatory/Nobby Nic?
I guess I'm just lucky in that I just don't care enough about speed to sacrifice traction.

[PhishingME]

No, it has actual lugs.

[Andeh]

Is the Aggressor not just another Ardent/Purgatory/Nobby Nic?
I guess I'm just lucky in that I just don't care enough about speed to sacrifice traction.

FWIW, I hated the Nobby Nic. That thing slid all over the place and spun out constantly on climbs. Second ride on the Aggressor also felt great. Cornering felt no different than the DHR, no issues spinning out, and I noticed again on a few down-then-up sections that I've ridden dozens of times that I coasted further before having to pedal. So far, it's been all win-win.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Nobby Nic is a great rear tire for about 5 short rides.
IME

[Damian Sanders]

Have been running a 26x2.3 DHF 3C/EXO/TR and 26x2.3 Aggressor DC/EXO/TR for a couple rides now. Last ride was 23/27 psi, on 29mm internal Flow MK3. Such an awesome combo - tons of grip, precise, light for what they are, great cornering, climbing and braking. Aggressor rolls fast and still grips. Awesome rough trail riding setup.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Have been running a 26x2.3 DHF 3C/EXO/TR and 26x2.3 Aggressor DC/EXO/TR for a couple rides now. Last ride was 23/27 psi, on 29mm internal Flow MK3. Such an awesome combo - tons of grip, precise, light for what they are, great cornering, climbing and braking. Aggressor rolls fast and still grips. Awesome rough trail riding setup.

I think that'll be my setup once these Schwalbes break off... going on 11 months with the same tires and they're STILL going... The Germans must have effed up this batch somehow.

Think it's worth getting the double down casing on the rear? Don't feel like I need casing that gnarly but wanna be able to head out for occasional east coast bike park day

[Damian Sanders]

I think that'll be my setup once these Schwalbes break off... going on 11 months with the same tires and they're STILL going... The Germans must have effed up this batch somehow.

Think it's worth getting the double down casing on the rear? Don't feel like I need casing that gnarly but wanna be able to head out for occasional east coast bike park day

From that video and various Richie Rude bike checks, it looks he (205 lb) runs the 27.5x2.3 Aggressor DC/DD/TR @ 30+ psi, with a 27.5x2.5 Minion DHF 3C Maxx Grip (DH compound) DD/TR @ high 20's psi. That's on EX511 rims, 30mm internal. Last year he ran a EX471 (25mm) in the rear with a EX511 front. He also runs the 27.5x2.5 Shorty 3C Maxx Grip DD/TR front and 27.5x2.3 Griffin 3C Maxx Terra DD/TR rear together or mixed with the DHF or Aggressor.

IMHO, that's a heck of alot of tire, very nearly a full on DH setup, used on DH rims. With relatively high pressures. For example, the wire bead DH version of the DHF in the same size and compound is only 220g heavier (1170g vs. 1390g claimed). The Aggressor DD is 1050g in 27.5x2.3, so a bit more reasonable, but definitely a heavy tire. Obviously he's one of the fastest and most aggressive enduro racers in the world, and he's running into things really hard, so it's appropriate.

I wouldn't want to pedal around a setup like that for normal rocky trail riding, too heavy and you get a rolling resistance penalty with the heavier casings and very soft compound front tire. Running a DHF EXO casing and 3C max terra in the front is far more reasonable. The DD casing in the rear is a tough call - if you're running lower pressures in the rear, to where there's a threat of pinch flatting the tire and a stiffer casing would help, a DD casing is going to roll like a boat anchor. An EXO with appropriate pressure to prevent flats in normal riding is going to roll much better. The only time the DD makes sense to pedal up and down is if you ride aggressively enough (like Richie) on rough terrain, and run higher pressures, that you need the heavy casing.

Personally I wouldn't trail ride with a DD casing, nor would I seriously ride park with EXO casing tires. For actual bike park use, I'd say it's a better move to get a set of full on DH tires and just swap them in for park use if it's only a few times a season. Or if you have a spare wheelset, set it up for DH use.