Tires 27.5

New used bike (my Blur LT died) but now one the 650b/27.5 wheels. Looking for tires that suit my riding style and needs.

What I use to ride:

Winter:

Folding Kenda Nevegal Stick-e

Summer:

Nobby Nic Trailstar with SS protection

Riding sytle:

old school, slow tech, lots of tech climbing, long rides, winter and summer.

Availability:

Kenda Nevegal Stick-e 27.5 not made. Only DTC which suck for my riding.
Nobby Nic Trailstar available but hard to find. Lots of Pacestar available

Tire Desirability:

Winter - sticky for all around brake control over roots, rocks, skinnies. I don't want fast rolling in the centre knobs. Low weight is important.

Summer - since it is never dry all the time a better compound for roots, rocks, skinnies than pure 60dur. Low weight low weight low weight - it's summer I ride even longer rides.

Currently running (came with bike): Maxxis Highroller II. They seem OK but less inspiring than my old Nevegal Stick-e tires for the wet here.

Recommendations??? Thanx

My new/used bike came with a Magic Mary in front and it's like velcro in the wet.

I haven't tried the Hans Dampf but they look Nevegal-esque (lots of knobs, round profile).

I have been using the new Maxxis tires as of last year. I also used to use nevegal stickee tires up front btw.
I am using up front now maxxis 3c TR exo 2.3 (true to size btw) Dhf front dhr rear
My 650b dhf front weighs about 800 or so grams.
It rolls pretty good which is nice for longer rides and on techy muddy rooty rocky stuff seems grab just fine and rails at speed on corners. very happy with them and seems durable
Magic mary and hans are great tires but are slow rollers which you might not mind so much coming of a nevegal.
One of friends race here and uses hans up front and the new updated 2015 nobby nic in back. He seems to like them alot.

I really love the magic mary hans dampf combo. Not super light weight though.
Both have much more noticeable intermediate knobs. When i swithced from a DHF to MM I was amazed at how much i could feel the intermediate knobs when cornering…

i found the hr2 to be one of least favorite tires wet or dry.

Or talk to Clark. He is the tire man

I really love the magic mary hans dampf combo. Not super light weight though.
Both have much more noticeable intermediate knobs. When i swithced from a DHF to MM I was amazed at how much i could feel the intermediate knobs when cornering…

i found the hr2 to be one of least favorite tires wet or dry.

Or talk to Clark. He is the tire man

hr2??

Conti Trail King Protection Black chilli front/ Mountain King Protection Black Chilli rear
2.4" if you are bigger/ ride really hard or 2.2" if you are a little lighter or not so hard on your gear or a bit of weight saving.

Better grip than the HRII (IMO), roll just as well (or faster in the case of the MKII) and better wear.

hr2??

Maxxis High Roller 2

I really liked the High Roller 2s I ran last year…in some ways more than the minion. Something about the large sweet spot where the tire feels in a controlled drift was something I really got a kick out of. Also wore very well in 60a…

New bike has schwalbe rubber, seriously considering replacing with good old maxxis. I have read schwalbe tires dont last very long - anyone have any experience?

Talked to a guy at Crankworx last year who was running Magic Mary's and asked how he liked them. He said they were great for traction but said the pedal from Creekside to the village almost killed him. Slow rollers.

I tried one ride on a magic mary then gave it away. In certain areas I'm sure its a great tire, but for my trails it sucked. Either the knobs were rolling over with too high pressure, or the tire itself would if you let air out. I got gun shy about leaning any weight on it in corners. The trail was a semi hard Kamloops style trail. I went back, put on an Ardent of all tires, and hit all my lines on the same trail. Its too bad because I really wanted to like that tire, but I think it needs really soft dirt to work, and/or a mega wide rim.

I don´t really get the stoke on Magic Marys either.
I have them as Vertstar Compound Super Gravity variant on my freeride bike, front and rear.
The wear quite fast, feel pretty stiff, even with lower pressure. They are grippier than my Hans Dampf Vertstar on the front (on the Enduro bike), but they feel incredibly slow.

My freeride bike feels like it doesnt want to roll at all. Could also be the relatively heavy wheelset, but especially on pavement traverses it is really noticable.

I do love my Hans Dampf Vertstar front and Rock Razor Snakeskin rear combo though. Super quick and enough grip for me. Even in wetter stuff.

Maxxis Minions, in either DHF or DHR pattern. Get 3C / TR / EXO and never look back.

Maxxis Minions, in either DHF or DHR pattern. Get 3C / TR / EXO and never look back.

I think your 100% correct here…
I'm running the new 2015 Magic Mary front and rear and its a slog pedalling uphill at times, they seem to be alright descending with lots of bite for cornering….but yah, think I will go back to the DHF and DHR.

From what I'm reading the MM Trailstar tires seem to be likely the closest to Nevegal Stick-e tires with regards to weight and sticky/spin. Best for slow tech wet rooty stuff.

Hans Dampf are in between Nobby Nic Trailstar and MM Trailstar. Probably like the current tires I have the Maxxis Highroller II ?

Tires use to be easier to figure out years ago - best wet sticky tires for the NShore trails (which were all the same - steep, rooty, rocky, stunted and all slick in the wet but not too muddy) was the Mich Comp16 tires (no longer made, heavy DH tires, that wore out crazy fast). Nearly everyone rode the same trails (not much else available) and most came to the same conclusion about the tires of the day. Now with a lot of trail/riding styles available it becomes difficult to determine the best tire for an individual.

But thanx for the input. Still not certain what to get but interesting to see the opinions - esp when the poster describes the trail types or riding style they usually ride. If anyone use to (or still) rides Nevegal stick-e (NOT the DTC) kevlar bead and can compare them to other tires they ride/rode that's great (one poster did - thanx).

Weight and ride wise anything comparable to the Nobby Nic Trailstar tires? Thanx again.