29er tires

For awhile, the only fat maxxis 29" option was the ardent. That tire sucks.

Hans Dampf is way better than Ardent, though far from ideal tire.

STOKED there are finally some decent options for aggro giner tires!

Winter setup on the Surface is HRII up front and Specialized Purg Control out back, both 2.3" setup up gorilla tubeless. Clark recommended pre DHRII and DHF 29er tires out for public consumption

I could see a 2.3 3C DHF going outback after the winter is over. Actually could go DHRII due to the lower weight

i picked up at hr2 (2.3, exo, 3c) at the different bikes sale yesterday and put it on for a ride this morning. definitely noticed the additional heft over the conti mountain king it replaced. also noticed the phenomenal straight line braking traction.

but what stood out most was something clark has mentioned a few times, that i'm only now just coming to appreciate. i rode a 2.4 nobby nic (evo, snakeskin, trailstar) all summer and while traction and speed were good, the tire felt quite wooden and didn't seem to provide much damping despite its considerable volume. i swapped it out a few weeks ago for a conti mountain king which provided noticeably more cushion, despite giving up a lot of volume to the nic. the hr2 upped that again today, really helping to keep the front end of the bike under control and feeling precise

i'm hoping for some prolonged dry weather this fall so that (among other things) i can switch between the hr2 and the nic and get a full sense of the difference in damping the two provide. if my recollection and impression are correct, the difference is night and day, which further compounds my mystification wrt the popularity of schwalbe tires: expensive, fast-wearing, mediocre tread patterns, dead feeling; i just don't get the strong appeal they seem to hold for so many riders

Agreed. I have run Hans Damp, HR2 and DHR2s in EXO-level casings. They've all been really good.

i picked up at hr2 (2.3, exo, 3c) at the different bikes sale yesterday and put it on for a ride this morning. definitely noticed the additional heft over the conti mountain king it replaced. also noticed the phenomenal straight line braking traction.

but what stood out most was something clark has mentioned a few times, that i'm only now just coming to appreciate. i rode a 2.4 nobby nic (evo, snakeskin, trailstar) all summer and while traction and speed were good, the tire felt quite wooden and didn't seem to provide much damping despite its considerable volume. i swapped it out a few weeks ago for a conti mountain king which provided noticeably more cushion, despite giving up a lot of volume to the nic. the hr2 upped that again today, really helping to keep the front end of the bike under control and feeling precise

i'm hoping for some prolonged dry weather this fall so that (among other things) i can switch between the hr2 and the nic and get a full sense of the difference in damping the two provide. if my recollection and impression are correct, the difference is night and day, which further compounds my mystification wrt the popularity of schwalbe tires: expensive, fast-wearing, mediocre tread patterns, dead feeling; i just don't get the strong appeal they seem to hold for so many riders

Love the HR2! I'm happy with it front and rear when I want a decent rolling tire with massively solid all-around performance on mixed trails. When things get rockier and rootier I throw on my DHR2s or DHF/DHR combo.

IMO Maxxis has the best tire compounds. They're grippy, give great feel and feedback and pretty much never tear ( except when ridden hard in rocky terrain but no tire lasts long there).

Alright folks, it's colder and wetter and time for some different rubber. I've been running a 2.5 DHF 3c Maxx blah blah on the front and a Conti Trail king black chili 2.4 on the rear for most of the summer. Using Stan's flow (non-EX) rims, tubeless of course. Previously had good luck with Hans Dampfs, and have run racing ralphs on a 26er two seasons ago.

I'm looking for a 2.2-2.3 ish tire that'll handle the wet and not put me in that 800 gram plus field. One of the guys I ride with swears by his Ardents but I didn't think they got much love on this board.

Me: 200lbs +/- a few beers and a backpack, I ride my bike hard and like to monster truck / manual (read: smash) through anything I can
Bike: 2013 Rocky Instinct, Fox 34, 1x10
Trails: Burke, Sumas, Burnaby, Watershed

Thoughts?

Alright folks, it's colder and wetter and time for some different rubber. I've been running a 2.5 DHF 3c Maxx blah blah on the front and a Conti Trail king black chili 2.4 on the rear for most of the summer. Using Stan's flow (non-EX) rims, tubeless of course. Previously had good luck with Hans Dampfs, and have run racing ralphs on a 26er two seasons ago.

I'm looking for a 2.2-2.3 ish tire that'll handle the wet and not put me in that 800 gram plus field. One of the guys I ride with swears by his Ardents but I didn't think they got much love on this board.

Me: 200lbs +/- a few beers and a backpack, I ride my bike hard an d like to monster truck / manual (read: smash) through anything I can
Bike: 2013 Rocky Instinct, Fox 34, 1x10
Trails: Burke, Sumas, Burnaby, Watershed

Thoughts?

I'm a bit heavier than you and have been running an HD up front and a DHR2 EXO out back since March. I've had great results under all conditions. After 70 rides the HD still looks pretty good but the DHR2 needs replacing ASAP.

Ardent is nice on the back in drier times, up front it is downright scary at all times though. At the midway point of September I put a Purgatory 2.3 out back to go with the HRII 3C 2.3 out front that has been on for the majority of summer.

I'd go HRII up front and a DHRII out back if I was buying new rubber (run that setup on the DH bike)

spec butcher front, spec purgatory rear
:couple:

I'm a bit heavier than you and have been running an HD up front and a DHR2 EXO out back since March. I've had great results under all conditions. After 70 rides the HD still looks pretty good but the DHR2 needs replacing ASAP.

Good to know you are getting good life out of the HD front. My HD front (trailstar) looks good after about 10 rides, but the rear Pacestar is completely shot after the same amount of rides. Several spots on the case where sealant is weaping through. Granted these tires were on my Satori for just a few Shore Enduros and pre rides this summer (but ridden very hard), the wear/$ ratio on these tires is terrible. Now that these tires are on my Honzo for the winter I'm looking for a faster, less grippy rear. MANdrew says great things about the new Ikon 2.35, maybe I'll give that a shot:-)

I still like the HD as a front tire around here, not overly heavy for how big they are, and solid traction.

I'm looking for a 2.2-2.3 ish tire that'll handle the wet and not put me in that 800 gram plus field. One of the guys I ride with swears by his Ardents but I didn't think they got much love on this board.

Me: 200lbs +/- a few beers and a backpack, I ride my bike hard and like to monster truck / manual (read: smash) through anything I can
Bike: 2013 Rocky Instinct, Fox 34, 1x10
Trails: Burke, Sumas, Burnaby, Watershed

Thoughts?

Seems like a no brainer to me. You need to get your hands on a DHR2 in 3C for the winter. It is a hair over 800g and can take and give a solid kicking. The burly knobs just don't give in when pushed hard and the knobs don't disintegrate like the HD's do. It works extremely well front and/or rear. Personally, I like the DHR2 F/R or combined with an HR2 on the back because the HR2 is a bit beefier overall and also breaks loose a bit sooner than the DHR2 for a more predictable ride.

I've been running the Bontrager XR4 Team Issue's (790g) ft/rr for the past while and they seem like a great do it all tire. I do much the same type of riding and I must say they've been great. Way better than the Ardents. They are a bit slow in the summer on the hardpack but it's such a small window around here it almost doesn't matter. I'm running them tubeless as well

so the DHR2 is really a favourite for front and rear? I'm not a huge fan of the HR2 for whatever reason, all the ones I've touched seem cheap. Anyone running conti's?

so the DHR2 is really a favourite for front and rear?

they seem popular and the tread looks good. every time i loft my front end towards the end of a ride i get a small tinge of regret for not going with a dhr2 over a hr2 out front. not sure where they shaved 200g off that tire?!

I'm not a huge fan of the HR2 for whatever reason, all the ones I've touched seem cheap.

if you don't like the hr2 the dhr2 might not be for you. centre tread looks pretty similar, though the outside blocks are 100% minion

going sub 800g on a 29er tire that's good in wet BC terrain is essentially impossible. either the tires mentioned, or dropping down seriously in weight and durability is the Maxxis Beaver. great tire, limited application.