I found myself switching between DHF and ASS every set. Finally tried the WTB verdict and it rides like a hybrid of the 2 tires. Grip, speed, and consistency is perfectly in between both tires, making it a good all arounder. Also DHF in the rear is great for a tire that performs when pushed hard but is very playful and drifty when you want it.
@@YogiTheBearMan I've been riding this combo all summer on tech trails with absolutely no problems. Now they things are getting covered with leaves, not so much lol.
Agree with the Assegai, but I did not like the Aggressor at all. Very little grip and surprisingly slow rolling. Noticed the same with Schwalbe Hans Dampf.
@@vlbz the reason I use the aggressor in the back is because I like a little give in the rear. Iike it to slide a certain amount for my style of riding
@@psychonaut038 i would like to agree, but i have a small conflict with that: i don't like the mixed logos because they're too different, i know it's a silly thing but it's reasonable enough given how the magic mary will do the job of rear wheel just fine, i'd simply run a harder compound on the rear with a 2.5 front and 2.4 rear
@@psychonaut038 yeah, spending more for the spring to be the same brand is silly tho, i have a DHX2 Factory Series Kashima with a grey steel 600 spring from RockShox and it looks great
Magic Mary front, Big Betty rear came on my Transition. So far so good. Been a dry sandy summer so far. Yesterday it rained and I'm feeling good on this combo. Schwalbe... Who knew? Maxxis isn't the be all end all I assumed them to be.
Exactly. I used to run 2.3 dhf/dhr combo in dual compound and went up to 2.5 assegai maxxgrip and dhr 2.4 rear, I didn't notice anything different while riding and it all felt the same because I'm not a top pro racer just like most other people in the sport. If only those youtube channels could understand that.
I spoke to an experienced MTB rider at a shop recently...about my bike and tyres. I have a hardtail and do occasional trails. He said unless you're riding fast and into jumps ride with what you've got. Tyres...I didn't buy the most exotic ones price wise as I would never outride them with my ability.
I'm running an Assegai (f), Dissector (r)......sure, the Dissector doesn't nearly have the braking ability of a DHR2, and it does break away sooner, but - it's minimal rolling resistance when climbing (compared to a dhr2), is very noticeable - I can climb so much easier with that Dissector on the back. It's all about managing trade-offs, and compensating for those deficiencies. I've found that running a fast rolling rear tire is good for pushing one more harder cassette gear when going uphill - making a huge difference. While I'm not concerned about overall 'speed', I rely on having a super grippy front, as I routinely take questionable lines, but I also want an easy pedaling rear for those trail sections between the fun parts
Good combo, but not for overall rolling resistance: Assegai out front is top dollar, except for rolling resistance (if you have time, put the Dissector on the front with anything on the back and compare how far you can roll out of a fire road slope onto the flat with the same test (same pace ‘in’ and no brakes) using the Assegai; it’ll shock you. But of course, that’s why in all other respects the Assegai is 1st choice of so many, including me!!!
This is what I run as well. I live in Colorado and a lot of our local trails are big climbs followed by big descents. For me this is the best combo I've found for these type of rides. I likewise don't care about speed. My main objective is to not crash :).
Currently running a Rekon rear, and Assegai front on my Ripmo. I never seem to have a lack of rear grip, so I went for efficiency there. I can never have too much grip up front, and the Assegai is there to give it. Running 2.6" width front and rear to allow slightly more compliance and rim protection.
That’s interesting. I played with a lot of combos but ended up with the Assegai/DHR II combo on my enduro bike and the DHR II/Forekaster combo on my short travel trail bike. I might stop experimenting for a while now I’ve seen this. Both seem to work on the bike/ride types for me. I feel more confident about my choices now. Thanks.
I guess your “Whistmas most popular tire combo” list comes from the fact that Maxxis totally dominates in the NA market. Back in Europe I’d run Schwalbe, Continental or Michelin, but it is nearly impossible to find them here. Things got better in the last few years, but folks here are too traditional 😁
My favs are the Vittoria Mazza front/Martello back in both enduro or race versions. I also like the WTB Judge fast rolling tough in back, like the DHR but faster and grippier, and the WTB Trail Boss Tough fast rolling in back when not going rough black much. for Maxxis I like Dhf Dd and DHR DH maxgrip, Assegai transfer knobs seem small losing grip in looser turns. Kenda Pinner Pro DH is nice both F or R. Specialized Butcher Trail front T9. lots to try still but I prefer fast rolling, tough yet not compromising grip.
I like it the reverse too. The side knobs are more spaced out on the DHF which allows for a little slip in transitioning from center to corner knobs. On the front the DHR2 is perfect
@@mikej1348 My friend just switched to DHR IIs front and rear and he's blown away how much faster it rolls over Assegai front. I may have to try a DHR II on the front
I am just a casual rider*, so I prefer the WTB VelociRaptor Mountain Bike Tire, since I ride a 26 inch tire. There is a Front & Rear Tread Tire! * Since I am old & slow, I call myself a Life Guard on the trail, in case someone needs aid!
Matt Beer did a First Ride article on the new Albert a couple of weeks ago www.pinkbike.com/news/first-ride-schwalbe-albert-gravity-pro-radial-tire.html
@@pinkbike can't wait to hate Henry's opinion on radial tires 😂 Jokes aside it would be nice to see some form of Huck to flat on these I don't believe radial and low pressures are playing well together...
@@LaurentiusTriarius i don't really see why radials would have issues with lower pressures, but i personally wouldn't care as most often i run higher pressures than recomended for my weight
I like how even the “fast rolling” combo is pretty aggressive. Video is definitely more for the all mountain/enduro folks. I’ve only got one MTB (Stumpjumper) for everything from downhill shuttles to 4 hour rides from house (so pavement miles). Going to be trying the Rekons soon as Specialized tires kept getting the side lugs ripped off.
I run rekon out back. Fast and I'm always surprised that I get better grip than I think the tire will give. I like it with a DHR up front. Forekaster could be nice up front too but I haven't ridden one yet.
Everyone has their own starting point for grip vs easy pedalling. Here in Michigan, my tire combo causes a lot of puzzled facial expressions from the typical xc trailriders I see out there on the trail.
Home terrain is mostly rolling, oak-covered hills with clay soils, rocks and silty when it gets dry. I've liked Rekon (f) and Aggressor (r) on my hardtail but it gets spinny on steep root/rock climbs. Eager to put Dissector on f and move Rekon rearward. Went to coastal redwood country and had great time with Butcher/Eliminator pair.
I was looking for a fast rolling tough rear tire: Vittoria Martello Enduro, as per Henry Quinney‘s rear tire shootout. Kept my Magic Mary in the front, bit will change to Mazza, most people seem to like it. If Tire Industry is listening: we need more tough, fast rolling rear tires! Enduro carcass with trail compound. Weight is part of the 🏋️
Assagie is the slowest boring tire I've ever used if you go dh it's ok if you trail ride it's a slug I personally don't run maxxis anymore I'm on tacky chans and kenda pinner combo best I've ever ran fast and works up as well
Trail riding in spring/summer: Forekaster gen.2 front and Rekon rear. Trail riding in autumn/winter: dissector rear and minion dhrII front or double down minion dhrII f/r.
Forekaster 2.4” (F) and Aggressor 2.3” (R) is my go-to combo on my Yeti. It’s like an Assegai-lite with less weight and better traction than a Rekon. Aggressor is a great, fast rolling rear tire.
It's crazy how much of the market Maxxis owns. Granted they make a great product, but there are many other great, and possibly even better options. I've been riding Maxxis for as long as I can remember, but plan on trying some Continentals for my next set of tires. Hopefully more people start using other brands as this will increase competition and force companies to innovate so we all get better performance.
I switched my DHF front tire to an Assegai, and it feels much safer and grippier. I used to wash out a lot with the DHF because I tend to lean heavily, but now with the Assegai, I never lose grip when I lean. It also lets you play around a lot more without dying
In general, more spaced deeper knobby on the front to bite and shed for steering control, closer spaced shallower knobby with heavier carcass on the back to minimise rolling and impact flats
I'm a Schwalbe guy. For . best combo for trail riding is Nobby Nic in the front and Wicked Will in the rear. Very fast rolling combo with decent grip in the corners and awesome when doing tech climbing. I've also tried Magic Mary front and nobby nick rear for a more endro or Downhill runs.
ran nobby nic's that came on my bike til they wore out - decent tire. When schwalbe brings their radial tech into the 'trail bike' tire category, I will definitely try those out.
@@gaddobronx6740 I've now ordered a Nobby Nic 2.4 Super Trail for the front and a Wicked Will 2.4 ST for the rear. would you run it tubeless with an insert or without? or rather with a aerothan inner tube? opinions?
@@egazzz99 i run this setup on my trail bike, works great . MMy wicked will is a speedgrip , even less rolling resistance. And ofc tubeless all the way . WIll never ever go back to inner tuubes
I ran Ardents (came with the bike) - put a high roller II on the front and a Forekaster on the rear - huge improvement over Ardent (I’ve been down a couple times and knew I needed to upgrade tires) haha Most of my riding is gravel road to some light trails with loose rock - I love my combo. I’ve been thinking about some better options but from here I think id be losing more than gaining Thanks for the video!
DJ - Ikon-F, DTH-R Trail - DHF-F, DHR II-R Enduro- Assegai-F, DHR II-R eMTB - Assegai- F&R DH/Freeride- Krytotal Fr -F&R Shortys F&R in the mud. I'd run them more often even in dry but they wear out crazy fast
its all fit for purpose but yeah, I'd definitely say the Assagai/DHR (or DHF/DHR) are the standard for DH/Park and everyone else makes an as good derivative these days - Butcher/hillbilly, Magic Mary, Kyrptonal, Newton, Verdict, Mazza but basically every category BUT trail really has a standard - for Trail I think Exo and the like type casing with an aggressive front like a DHR, while dependant on the terrain would call on something like the high roller, dissector or aggressor as a rear. I personally like the Specialized Butchers as my DH tires and run a T7 in the front of my bike, while I really enjoy the Hans Damf in a bit narrower for the rear w/ an insert. I think the "trail" category of bike is now blended with Enduro, but shock tunes (more than leverage curves IMO) are getting better... but that doesn't mean you need to "enduro-up" your bike with heavy DD/insert tires if you were more than able to crush the same trails you ride today with your old Gary Fisher on Rocket Rons a decade back. Unless you had significant traction and flat issues, I think its like everything - fit for purpose.
Assegai , dhr2 on banshee Assegai , highroller on whyte ebike Michelin Gum X on Giant. I've got a continental argotal and kryptotal pair up to try out.
Running Continental Kryptotal. I'm finding it better for me than Maxxis tires, which I've been running since 2019. I personally won't be buying Maxxis anymore.
i run assegai F and dissector R, and have found no problems with the less breaking traction and find that I like how it corners more than the dhr2, I also love that faster rolling for pedaly enduro sections
My all time favourite tyre combo that I've had the most of and in multiple sizes is; Maxxis Hookworm rear and Holy Roller front, ever since my early BMX days. But I mostly ride street/skatepark, even on my DH bike. I do have a set of Minions for riding in dirtier places though 😅
I am using Assegai front and Hans Dampf rear for the same reasons. They are most predictable across all conditions. For eg. Magic Mary front is great on damp conditions but on dry and loose over hard it tends to wash out without warning when Assegai is not doing so or at least not in such surprising fashion. For rear if someone’s like more loosy end than DHR is nice but from my riding Hans Dampf is more predictable and have quite low rolling resistance.
Shorty 2.4 dh casing on the front just before winter, and usually last me until next winter. Then put that old shorty on the back and a new shorty on the front. An spare Aggressor or dissector for the back for some dry park laps or long enduro rides here in Chile. I’ve been doing that combo for years, can’t buy a pair of tires every time 🤑 Loads of psi too
have Ibis OSO with stock setup Assegai 2.5 front & Aggressor 2.5 Rear, with around 23-25 psi front & 25-27 rear. Ride in SF Bay Area from Mt Diablo to Demo Forest.
im running double dhr 2 and im quite happy with the performance so far, but also im not at the point where i would notice much of a difference. although it was a world of grip difference going from forekasters with tubes to tubeless dhr 2s
I ride here at the trexler nature preserve and I have the Kenda sport nevegal 29 2 20 tires and they handle absolutely everything. Kenda should be on the list.
I run a dhr2 front and rear in a dd casing. Ended up with a 2.3 front and 2.4 rear which is a bit against the norm but i like it. Front end is light on steep climbs anyways so i want something to hold up to roots and rocks and not deform on high g loads in turns.
Genuine question: What is the rough split in % that Rear vs Front have influence on rolling resistance? I feel like Assegai up front is still a drag despite Front supposedly having less influence on overall rolling resistance in the system.
Nice review. It’s difficult to find good comparisons given there’s so many different tires out there. For the tire combos you chose, excellent review. I’ve been trying tires to fit my varied rides (1/2 gnarly mtb trails with some tech and flow, 1/2 gravel on quite hilly Vermont northeast kingdom dirt roads). Bike came with Spesh’s Butcher/Eliminator T9 Grid, then I tried and quickly wore out a Rekon rear, grabbed a Dissector in a pinch while ordering a Forekaster. Loving the Dissector’s grip and bite, feels slow on gravel, so looking forward to wearing it out and trying the Forekaster.
@@ABHORRANCE831 I think the schwalbe have a better side wall I always had super gravity on the bike and super trail on the front. The super gravity is the Enduro casing I find it's just as stiff as the downhill casing. The magic Mary gives me far more grip in the mud. I'm from n.ireland, and only ride naturals. This means I get about 1 dry ride a year lol
I like this combo when conditions are more loamy. For the dry and loose conditions, I find the Dissector washed out laterally a lot. I'm running it currently with a DHF and want a more predictable setup. Thinking Schwalbe Magic Mary/Tacky Chan, Continental Kryptotal Fr/Re, or Maxxis Assegai/DHR2
If you don’t think Kryptotal F and Xynotal R is better than DHF,Assegai F / DHR,Dissector,Aggressor R you simply haven’t tried them… The new Albert’s might be the only tire to steer me away from Conti atm.. don’t get me wrong, I love Maxxis, even run them on my trucks..
I've got the Assegai and Dhr2 on my Giant reign and for me personally it's the sweet spot. It works well for me as long as they come in MaxxGrip and WT. I had them specced in MaxxTerra for a while, but that did not work well in the often muddy, rooty and wet conditions of the German mountains. (Swabian Alb) There is virtually no shuttling here and traveling and elevation are really a thing. Where weight does not matter (aka on my enduro), I also like the Schwalbe Magic Mary and Hansdampf combination, but to my taste it's a bit too much on the heavy and draggy side to put on a bio-bike. So Assegai/Dhr2 it is.
Just built my first wheelset. I want to test them out but the only 2 tires I have available that aren't currently mounted to my other bikes are an Assegai and a DHF. Which way should I run them?
I wish brands would just update/refine the tread pattern of a given tyre instead of releasing an all new tyre. Like look at motorcycle tyres. The Michelin Road 6 is the 6th iteration and replaces the 5. They didn't come out with 6 different names for different tyres and then keep the old one on the shelf right next to the new one. It makes tyre selection so confusing when you have 5 different tyres that all kind of do the same thing. Just tweak and improve the design year on year so that we have one or two tyres in each category that work really well. Dunno, just my 2 cents. It's too confusing trying to pick a tyre.
Great video, i run the forekaster 2.4 maxx terra front and rear and im really enjoying them. Come from xr4 2.4s, in comparison the forekaster rolls the same in regards speed despite being heavier, but more traction is noticeable. A bigger pro to the forekaster is that i haven't deformed a casing unlike the xr4 which ive gone through 4 rears and 1 front, granted on rough stuff but the forekaster took a beating in the exo front exo+ rear.
Assegai is such a great tire, great hardpack grip and it's ability to track straight through deep stuff is unlike any other tire. DHR2 is good but I can't really tell a difference between it and similar tires... except the DHF, that thing has no grip at all on off camber rocks. I mainly like the DHR2 because it lasts a long time.
went from a dhf front to an assegai front, and my first thought pitching it into a corner was 'now we're talkin'!' Just has that little extra bit of hold beyond where you think it's gonna give way
I've now ordereda Nobby Nic 2.4 Super Trail for the front and a Wicked Will 2.4 ST for the rear. would you run it tubeless with an insert or without? or rather with a aerothan inner tube? opinions?
I own DH bike and enduro, DH bike (fr/bck/ Minion DHF) (Minion DHF/Dissector Rear). Minion DHF, is the reason why it is still in the industry after 20+ years of service. I also used to ride assegai on my enduro bike, it is grippy but inconsitent, it is so hard to jump from Minion DHF to assegai, assegai never show any sign of grip loss and then all of a sudden you are wiped out, minion is consistent throughout the whole roll when you making weight lean turn. Second Assegai is super slow rolling tire, like noticeably!
yeah bud you would, ive went opposite way, first proper mtb in years, hardcore hardtail, came with forekaster v1 2.6 exo front, rekon 2.6 exo rear single (hard) compound. I ran them for a year and found them squirmy, puncture prone and the rekon was very much slip to grip, unfortunately im in the uk and its perpetually muddy, they had to go. wound up getting a michelin magiX/soft wild enduro front 2.4 and switched forkaster to rear, instantly gave bags of confidence on off camber and muddy sections, so much so i went out and bought the wild enduro rear. bikes a grip monster now, doing steeper stuff and sharper turns, brakes on anything. but you know what id give anything to get the low rolling resistance back, currently looking at an intermediate setup between the mega grip and the mega speed. give the forekasters a go, the v2 is a proper fast trail tyre apparently
The biggest problem with all of this is most people get Maxxis tyres in there bike and when they wear down they stick with them because that is what gets pumped out to the pro’s racing, not many people actually know about any other tyre brands and so of course again Maxxis will always be seen as the number one choice.
Pretty sure the description of how the assegai came to be is way off... There were pink bike videos documenting how Minnaar came to maxxis with ideas incorporating the dhf and high roller 2 ... 🤔
I'm finding the number of people complaining that PB are Maxxis glazers ironic considering its been less than a month since they did a similar video sponsored by Kenda.
the discussion would be geography dependant. on east coast australia, popular combos ive seen dhf + dhr dissector + rekon barzo + mezcal aggaro + barzo dont see much in the way of double ass around here.
I used to run dual forekasters 29x2.6 before the new version came out. I liked that combo a lot because it was very light, rolled reasonably fast and I was used to smaller side knobs. They also felt like they still pushed through soft stuff to find the hardpack beneath. Since then, I've run dual DHF 29x2.6 I found that the DC EXO tanwall ones were about the same weight or better than the new forekasters but I really liked the side knobs better on these DHFs. I now am trying bontrager XR4s also 29x2.6 and I love the weight but miss the confidence, of those DHFs, they're still decent though. I don't want to run tires that are over 1000 grams if possible, that's a whole lot of weight! I'd say I'm kind of hard on tires, reasonably fast usually in the top 25% on strava, I love rocky stuff, roots, jumps, drops, but there's not that much in the way of truly fast long downhills where I live, so impacts aren't consisteltly big.
![You'll HATE it but these 4 "Inside-Out" Cornering Drills ELIMINATE DH/Enduro washouts forever [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vQb2UInYlrU/mqdefault.jpg)
I found myself switching between DHF and ASS every set. Finally tried the WTB verdict and it rides like a hybrid of the 2 tires. Grip, speed, and consistency is perfectly in between both tires, making it a good all arounder. Also DHF in the rear is great for a tire that performs when pushed hard but is very playful and drifty when you want it.
Forekaster front, Rekon rear because that’s really all i need for trails in northeastern Pennsylvania
Exactly this combo.. Or Rekon front and rekon race back, for some easier terrain. Minions are overkill for most people.
My Orbea Laufey hardtail came with this combo. I’m happy with it on that bike for smooth trails.
@@YogiTheBearMan I've been riding this combo all summer on tech trails with absolutely no problems. Now they things are getting covered with leaves, not so much lol.
I’ve doing Disector F, Forecaster R. And loving every minute of it
Love Christina’s expert opinion! Thanks!
Best combo I e used is Assegai 2.5 front & Aggressor 2.4 rear. I like the characteristics that combo gives my bike. Good video 👍👍
Agree with the Assegai, but I did not like the Aggressor at all. Very little grip and surprisingly slow rolling. Noticed the same with Schwalbe Hans Dampf.
Using the same combo, especially the Assegai is awesome. With the Aggressor, I´m just getting used to, not really flashed me so far but solid grip :)
I run the same combo on my Meta. Love it.
Mine r both 2.20 Maxxis Ikon 27.5.. Its feel good in rolling. Move fast etc.
@@vlbz the reason I use the aggressor in the back is because I like a little give in the rear. Iike it to slide a certain amount for my style of riding
My perfect tyre combo is a set of magic marys, they're perfectly balanced, look great and perform amazing
Magic Mary front / DHR2 rear 😎
@@psychonaut038 i would like to agree, but i have a small conflict with that: i don't like the mixed logos because they're too different, i know it's a silly thing but it's reasonable enough given how the magic mary will do the job of rear wheel just fine, i'd simply run a harder compound on the rear with a 2.5 front and 2.4 rear
@@Ferrari255GTO I also ride fox factory fork. And rockshock super deluxe spring shock. 🤣 I also got 2 differend wheels.
@@psychonaut038 yeah, spending more for the spring to be the same brand is silly tho, i have a DHX2 Factory Series Kashima with a grey steel 600 spring from RockShox and it looks great
Magic Mary front, Big Betty rear came on my Transition. So far so good. Been a dry sandy summer so far. Yesterday it rained and I'm feeling good on this combo. Schwalbe... Who knew? Maxxis isn't the be all end all I assumed them to be.
So many of us aren’t good enough to even notice much of a difference
Exactly. I used to run 2.3 dhf/dhr combo in dual compound and went up to 2.5 assegai maxxgrip and dhr 2.4 rear, I didn't notice anything different while riding and it all felt the same because I'm not a top pro racer just like most other people in the sport. If only those youtube channels could understand that.
@@godspeed821 "I rode the whole season with 30 psi inside my shock too - didn't notice a difference!"
This is the secret they don’t want 95% of riders to know
I spoke to an experienced MTB rider at a shop recently...about my bike and tyres. I have a hardtail and do occasional trails. He said unless you're riding fast and into jumps ride with what you've got. Tyres...I didn't buy the most exotic ones price wise as I would never outride them with my ability.
It’s all a bit overblown anyway. Technique is waaaaay more important
I'm running an Assegai (f), Dissector (r)......sure, the Dissector doesn't nearly have the braking ability of a DHR2, and it does break away sooner, but - it's minimal rolling resistance when climbing (compared to a dhr2), is very noticeable - I can climb so much easier with that Dissector on the back. It's all about managing trade-offs, and compensating for those deficiencies. I've found that running a fast rolling rear tire is good for pushing one more harder cassette gear when going uphill - making a huge difference. While I'm not concerned about overall 'speed', I rely on having a super grippy front, as I routinely take questionable lines, but I also want an easy pedaling rear for those trail sections between the fun parts
Too bad the dissector doesn't have the DHR side knobs
@@franksnyder363 same here! but, it does hold way better than it has any right to
love running the assegai front and dissector rear!
Good combo, but not for overall rolling resistance: Assegai out front is top dollar, except for rolling resistance (if you have time, put the Dissector on the front with anything on the back and compare how far you can roll out of a fire road slope onto the flat with the same test (same pace ‘in’ and no brakes) using the Assegai; it’ll shock you. But of course, that’s why in all other respects the Assegai is 1st choice of so many, including me!!!
This is what I run as well. I live in Colorado and a lot of our local trails are big climbs followed by big descents.
For me this is the best combo I've found for these type of rides. I likewise don't care about speed. My main objective is
to not crash :).
Currently running a Rekon rear, and Assegai front on my Ripmo. I never seem to have a lack of rear grip, so I went for efficiency there. I can never have too much grip up front, and the Assegai is there to give it. Running 2.6" width front and rear to allow slightly more compliance and rim protection.
That’s interesting. I played with a lot of combos but ended up with the Assegai/DHR II combo on my enduro bike and the DHR II/Forekaster combo on my short travel trail bike. I might stop experimenting for a while now I’ve seen this. Both seem to work on the bike/ride types for me. I feel more confident about my choices now. Thanks.
I guess your “Whistmas most popular tire combo” list comes from the fact that Maxxis totally dominates in the NA market. Back in Europe I’d run Schwalbe, Continental or Michelin, but it is nearly impossible to find them here. Things got better in the last few years, but folks here are too traditional 😁
My favs are the Vittoria Mazza front/Martello back in both enduro or race versions. I also like the WTB Judge fast rolling tough in back, like the DHR but faster and grippier, and the WTB Trail Boss Tough fast rolling in back when not going rough black much. for Maxxis I like Dhf Dd and DHR DH maxgrip, Assegai transfer knobs seem small losing grip in looser turns. Kenda Pinner Pro DH is nice both F or R. Specialized Butcher Trail front T9. lots to try still but I prefer fast rolling, tough yet not compromising grip.
in a german bikepark you will see 90% maxxis tires
It took me like 3 minutes to find all those tires in various casings and tread patterns lol..
@@jefferson9428 mind to share a link?
I live in Italy and I find Maxxis without problems
im runing dual xynotals enduro casing soft compound super fast rolling enough grip for me
Xynotal on the front? That's a thing? Cool! Do you do much down hill with that set up?
I recently tried the DHF in the rear and I love it
It is. I think the DHR II is better grip climbing but the DHF is no slouch in the rear
I like it the reverse too. The side knobs are more spaced out on the DHF which allows for a little slip in transitioning from center to corner knobs. On the front the DHR2 is perfect
My current setup is DHF front and rear…so far, so good.
@@mikej1348 My friend just switched to DHR IIs front and rear and he's blown away how much faster it rolls over Assegai front. I may have to try a DHR II on the front
It's isn't DHF for front but freedride and it is great in the rear and you have it in 2.5 👌 great rear tyre
I am just a casual rider*, so I prefer the WTB VelociRaptor Mountain Bike Tire, since I ride a 26 inch tire. There is a Front & Rear Tread Tire!
* Since I am old & slow, I call myself a Life Guard on the trail, in case someone needs aid!
Test the new Tire from SCHWALBE "Albert" 🤗👍 please
There too busy glazing maxxis
Matt Beer did a First Ride article on the new Albert a couple of weeks ago
www.pinkbike.com/news/first-ride-schwalbe-albert-gravity-pro-radial-tire.html
@@pinkbike can't wait to hate Henry's opinion on radial tires 😂
Jokes aside it would be nice to see some form of Huck to flat on these I don't believe radial and low pressures are playing well together...
@@pinkbike Thx for Sharing the Link💪👍
@@LaurentiusTriarius i don't really see why radials would have issues with lower pressures, but i personally wouldn't care as most often i run higher pressures than recomended for my weight
Vittoria Mazza F/R on all my bikes. Gear grip and fantastic durability.. Doesn't kill your wallet unlike other brands!
I like how even the “fast rolling” combo is pretty aggressive. Video is definitely more for the all mountain/enduro folks. I’ve only got one MTB (Stumpjumper) for everything from downhill shuttles to 4 hour rides from house (so pavement miles). Going to be trying the Rekons soon as Specialized tires kept getting the side lugs ripped off.
I run rekon out back. Fast and I'm always surprised that I get better grip than I think the tire will give. I like it with a DHR up front. Forekaster could be nice up front too but I haven't ridden one yet.
Everyone has their own starting point for grip vs easy pedalling. Here in Michigan, my tire combo causes a lot of puzzled facial expressions from the typical xc trailriders I see out there on the trail.
Home terrain is mostly rolling, oak-covered hills with clay soils, rocks and silty when it gets dry. I've liked Rekon (f) and Aggressor (r) on my hardtail but it gets spinny on steep root/rock climbs. Eager to put Dissector on f and move Rekon rearward.
Went to coastal redwood country and had great time with Butcher/Eliminator pair.
I was looking for a fast rolling tough rear tire: Vittoria Martello Enduro, as per Henry Quinney‘s rear tire shootout. Kept my Magic Mary in the front, bit will change to Mazza, most people seem to like it.
If Tire Industry is listening: we need more tough, fast rolling rear tires! Enduro carcass with trail compound. Weight is part of the 🏋️
Check out Maxxis Dissector DD. Been happy with it on the rear(wet breaking is trash thou).
Assagie is the slowest boring tire I've ever used if you go dh it's ok if you trail ride it's a slug I personally don't run maxxis anymore I'm on tacky chans and kenda pinner combo best I've ever ran fast and works up as well
Nice video!
I'm running double Dissectors for rougher stuff or skinnier Wicked Wills for lighter stuff.
i run an assegai up front and a magic mary in the back - awesome grip but terrible rolling resistance 😂
Normally the MM is a tyre most put into the front
But this also works i guess
I'm running Assegai in front with a Hans Dampf on back. Not quite the MM, but I go a tad faster? 😂😂
@@playgroundchooser Boath assagi and MM roll horribly 💀
mm i find not so good on the front. but here in switzerland i mostly ride muddy trails
My Ibis Ripmo came with double Assegai. Very good, just add air when you want better rolling resistance
I'm really liking the E13 tires. Their rebound on the enduro tires is proper!
Trail riding in spring/summer: Forekaster gen.2 front and Rekon rear. Trail riding in autumn/winter: dissector rear and minion dhrII front or double down minion dhrII f/r.
Forekaster 2.4” (F) and Aggressor 2.3” (R) is my go-to combo on my Yeti. It’s like an Assegai-lite with less weight and better traction than a Rekon. Aggressor is a great, fast rolling rear tire.
It's crazy how much of the market Maxxis owns. Granted they make a great product, but there are many other great, and possibly even better options. I've been riding Maxxis for as long as I can remember, but plan on trying some Continentals for my next set of tires. Hopefully more people start using other brands as this will increase competition and force companies to innovate so we all get better performance.
The problem where I live is Continentals compared to Maxxis are way more expensive, so Maxxis wins.
It's simple - distribution.
I love my new continental trail tires. A super soft version will be the next purchase for sure.
I switched my DHF front tire to an Assegai, and it feels much safer and grippier. I used to wash out a lot with the DHF because I tend to lean heavily, but now with the Assegai, I never lose grip when I lean. It also lets you play around a lot more without dying
Dissector front and rear, excellent in every condition. No contest.
In general, more spaced deeper knobby on the front to bite and shed for steering control, closer spaced shallower knobby with heavier carcass on the back to minimise rolling and impact flats
I'm a Schwalbe guy. For . best combo for trail riding is Nobby Nic in the front and Wicked Will in the rear. Very fast rolling combo with decent grip in the corners and awesome when doing tech climbing.
I've also tried Magic Mary front and nobby nick rear for a more endro or Downhill runs.
super trail or super ground?
magic mary is the end game front tyre
ran nobby nic's that came on my bike til they wore out - decent tire. When schwalbe brings their radial tech into the 'trail bike' tire category, I will definitely try those out.
@@gaddobronx6740 I've now ordered a Nobby Nic 2.4 Super Trail for the front and a Wicked Will 2.4 ST for the rear. would you run it tubeless with an insert or without? or rather with a aerothan inner tube? opinions?
@@egazzz99 i run this setup on my trail bike, works great . MMy wicked will is a speedgrip , even less rolling resistance. And ofc tubeless all the way . WIll never ever go back to inner tuubes
I ran Ardents (came with the bike) - put a high roller II on the front and a Forekaster on the rear - huge improvement over Ardent (I’ve been down a couple times and knew I needed to upgrade tires) haha
Most of my riding is gravel road to some light trails with loose rock - I love my combo.
I’ve been thinking about some better options but from here I think id be losing more than gaining
Thanks for the video!
DJ - Ikon-F, DTH-R
Trail - DHF-F, DHR II-R
Enduro- Assegai-F, DHR II-R
eMTB - Assegai- F&R
DH/Freeride- Krytotal Fr -F&R
Shortys F&R in the mud. I'd run them more often even in dry but they wear out crazy fast
its all fit for purpose but yeah, I'd definitely say the Assagai/DHR (or DHF/DHR) are the standard for DH/Park and everyone else makes an as good derivative these days - Butcher/hillbilly, Magic Mary, Kyrptonal, Newton, Verdict, Mazza
but basically every category BUT trail really has a standard - for Trail I think Exo and the like type casing with an aggressive front like a DHR, while dependant on the terrain would call on something like the high roller, dissector or aggressor as a rear.
I personally like the Specialized Butchers as my DH tires and run a T7 in the front of my bike, while I really enjoy the Hans Damf in a bit narrower for the rear w/ an insert.
I think the "trail" category of bike is now blended with Enduro, but shock tunes (more than leverage curves IMO) are getting better... but that doesn't mean you need to "enduro-up" your bike with heavy DD/insert tires if you were more than able to crush the same trails you ride today with your old Gary Fisher on Rocket Rons a decade back. Unless you had significant traction and flat issues, I think its like everything - fit for purpose.
"DHR2"2.4 rear - "Shorty"2.4 in the front! This is my go to in any terrain, summer as winter since years. 🤘Highly underrated. Proof me wrong😄
I’m running dhr2 on front and rear, but maxx grip up front, maxxterra on rear. Because that’s what came with the bike, and it works great!
Assegai , dhr2 on banshee
Assegai , highroller on whyte ebike
Michelin Gum X on Giant.
I've got a continental argotal and kryptotal pair up to try out.
Assegai front, Rekon rear. Business up front party out the back. Norco Fluid AS1 Perth, West Straya.
Assegai/DHRII in my e-bike. Dissetor/Dissector in my trail bike and Rekon/Rekon Race in my XC rig. Ranging from DD/DH casing to EXO as appropriate.
Running Continental Kryptotal. I'm finding it better for me than Maxxis tires, which I've been running since 2019. I personally won't be buying Maxxis anymore.
when I finally get round to buying an ebike, the motor will make pushing a dhr2 around infinitely more joyfull
i run assegai F and dissector R, and have found no problems with the less breaking traction and find that I like how it corners more than the dhr2, I also love that faster rolling for pedaly enduro sections
I run DHF front and Forkaster rear.
How’s that combo been?
I always hated pedalling the Assegai, it's a monster downhill though flat out but I didn't love that it really needed to be muscled around.
High roller 2 rear, DHF in the front. Favourite combo of all time.
ive washed out numerous times with assegai/dhr combo but way less with mm/bb combo, mainly because of the supersoft compound
My all time favourite tyre combo that I've had the most of and in multiple sizes is; Maxxis Hookworm rear and Holy Roller front, ever since my early BMX days.
But I mostly ride street/skatepark, even on my DH bike.
I do have a set of Minions for riding in dirtier places though 😅
I am using Assegai front and Hans Dampf rear for the same reasons. They are most predictable across all conditions. For eg. Magic Mary front is great on damp conditions but on dry and loose over hard it tends to wash out without warning when Assegai is not doing so or at least not in such surprising fashion. For rear if someone’s like more loosy end than DHR is nice but from my riding Hans Dampf is more predictable and have quite low rolling resistance.
Yeah buddy! I'm also Assegai up front and a Hans Dampf on the back. I wonder if we're just chasing each other around the comment sections 😂😂
Shorty 2.4 dh casing on the front just before winter, and usually last me until next winter. Then put that old shorty on the back and a new shorty on the front.
An spare Aggressor or dissector for the back for some dry park laps or long enduro rides here in Chile.
I’ve been doing that combo for years, can’t buy a pair of tires every time 🤑
Loads of psi too
DHF/Dissector for fast rolling chunk trail riding
have Ibis OSO with stock setup Assegai 2.5 front & Aggressor 2.5 Rear, with around 23-25 psi front & 25-27 rear. Ride in SF Bay Area from Mt Diablo to Demo Forest.
Front always Assegai || Rear: DHR2 or Dissector
im running double dhr 2 and im quite happy with the performance so far, but also im not at the point where i would notice much of a difference. although it was a world of grip difference going from forekasters with tubes to tubeless dhr 2s
I ride here at the trexler nature preserve and I have the Kenda sport nevegal 29 2 20 tires and they handle absolutely everything. Kenda should be on the list.
I run a dhr2 front and rear in a dd casing. Ended up with a 2.3 front and 2.4 rear which is a bit against the norm but i like it. Front end is light on steep climbs anyways so i want something to hold up to roots and rocks and not deform on high g loads in turns.
Genuine question: What is the rough split in % that Rear vs Front have influence on rolling resistance? I feel like Assegai up front is still a drag despite Front supposedly having less influence on overall rolling resistance in the system.
70\30? No idea
I don't notice front tire resistance at all. Like... at all.
@@playgroundchooser ur a wizard
Schwalbe Racing Ray & ralph combo on my XC and Maxxis Dissector & Rekon on the trailbike. Might be trying some Vittoria tires next.
Nice review. It’s difficult to find good comparisons given there’s so many different tires out there. For the tire combos you chose, excellent review. I’ve been trying tires to fit my varied rides (1/2 gnarly mtb trails with some tech and flow, 1/2 gravel on quite hilly Vermont northeast kingdom dirt roads). Bike came with Spesh’s Butcher/Eliminator T9 Grid, then I tried and quickly wore out a Rekon rear, grabbed a Dissector in a pinch while ordering a Forekaster. Loving the Dissector’s grip and bite, feels slow on gravel, so looking forward to wearing it out and trying the Forekaster.
I switched from a Magic Marry and big Betty to Assegal and DHR 11 i will be going back to schwalbe as soon as I can get the Marry in the new compound
I was running two Maxxis a bit on my HT
I went back to the included Schwalbe mm and HD after the Maxxis just did not do it
What do you prefer about Schwalbe over Maxxis? I'm considering the switch but tires cost too much to experiment
@@ABHORRANCE831 reliability
@@ABHORRANCE831 I think the schwalbe have a better side wall I always had super gravity on the bike and super trail on the front. The super gravity is the Enduro casing I find it's just as stiff as the downhill casing. The magic Mary gives me far more grip in the mud. I'm from n.ireland, and only ride naturals. This means I get about 1 dry ride a year lol
DHR II front, DISSECTOR rear 👌 my home trails in South Africa = steep/dry and dusty/loose over hardpack/ hardpack
Would have loved to see assegai front dissector rear thoughts.
I like this combo when conditions are more loamy. For the dry and loose conditions, I find the Dissector washed out laterally a lot. I'm running it currently with a DHF and want a more predictable setup. Thinking Schwalbe Magic Mary/Tacky Chan, Continental Kryptotal Fr/Re, or Maxxis Assegai/DHR2
IMHO Kryptotals are the best alternative to the Assegai/DHR combo. Better feedback, faster rolling and out back the Kryptotal rear blows away the DHR.
They are more expensive as well.
If you don’t think Kryptotal F and Xynotal R is better than DHF,Assegai F / DHR,Dissector,Aggressor R you simply haven’t tried them… The new Albert’s might be the only tire to steer me away from Conti atm.. don’t get me wrong, I love Maxxis, even run them on my trucks..
I've got the Assegai and Dhr2 on my Giant reign and for me personally it's the sweet spot. It works well for me as long as they come in MaxxGrip and WT. I had them specced in MaxxTerra for a while, but that did not work well in the often muddy, rooty and wet conditions of the German mountains. (Swabian Alb)
There is virtually no shuttling here and traveling and elevation are really a thing.
Where weight does not matter (aka on my enduro), I also like the Schwalbe Magic Mary and Hansdampf combination, but to my taste it's a bit too much on the heavy and draggy side to put on a bio-bike. So Assegai/Dhr2 it is.
Magic Mary front and whatever in the rear. currently Hans Dampf.
My favorite summer combo is Assegai fr and aggressor r. Bit of a happy middle ground
Forekaster is a solid fast rolling trail tire and great for tough XC courses. Run an Aspen for the fast courses.
I really like the DHF/DHF combo it's been a go to for a while now after running Conti Kryptotal Fr front/back
Just built my first wheelset. I want to test them out but the only 2 tires I have available that aren't currently mounted to my other bikes are an Assegai and a DHF. Which way should I run them?
Kryptotal Fr/Re on my enduro, Forekaster f/r on trail, Mascal/Peyote on XC
I wish brands would just update/refine the tread pattern of a given tyre instead of releasing an all new tyre. Like look at motorcycle tyres. The Michelin Road 6 is the 6th iteration and replaces the 5. They didn't come out with 6 different names for different tyres and then keep the old one on the shelf right next to the new one. It makes tyre selection so confusing when you have 5 different tyres that all kind of do the same thing. Just tweak and improve the design year on year so that we have one or two tyres in each category that work really well. Dunno, just my 2 cents. It's too confusing trying to pick a tyre.
Nice dry test trail. What about wet/damp roots or mossy rocks
Great video, i run the forekaster 2.4 maxx terra front and rear and im really enjoying them. Come from xr4 2.4s, in comparison the forekaster rolls the same in regards speed despite being heavier, but more traction is noticeable. A bigger pro to the forekaster is that i haven't deformed a casing unlike the xr4 which ive gone through 4 rears and 1 front, granted on rough stuff but the forekaster took a beating in the exo front exo+ rear.
Assegai is such a great tire, great hardpack grip and it's ability to track straight through deep stuff is unlike any other tire. DHR2 is good but I can't really tell a difference between it and similar tires... except the DHF, that thing has no grip at all on off camber rocks. I mainly like the DHR2 because it lasts a long time.
went from a dhf front to an assegai front, and my first thought pitching it into a corner was 'now we're talkin'!' Just has that little extra bit of hold beyond where you think it's gonna give way
I've been interested in the Forekaster on the front and DHRII on the rear. The Forekaster looks like a mini Assegai.
DHF and DHR II are the classic combo almost anywhere
Same here! Very hard to beat!
Pretty unbeatable for dry conditions
Classic, but I'm not a fan of the death channel. Assegai for me all day. 😊
@@playgroundchooser same! Currently on DHF/Dissector, so the vague channel is on both fronts and rear. Not my favorite combo
@ABHORRANCE831 yeah, I don't mind it being more floaty in the rear, but front? No thanks. 😂
I've now ordereda Nobby Nic 2.4 Super Trail for the front and a Wicked Will 2.4 ST for the rear. would you run it tubeless with an insert or without? or rather with a aerothan inner tube? opinions?
High Roller are awesome in good dirt.
DHRii on the front and Dissector rear. I run this all year round in uk rain
past 4 years I've ran Schwalbe Magic Mary front Rock Razor rear steady
I own DH bike and enduro, DH bike (fr/bck/ Minion DHF) (Minion DHF/Dissector Rear). Minion DHF, is the reason why it is still in the industry after 20+ years of service. I also used to ride assegai on my enduro bike, it is grippy but inconsitent, it is so hard to jump from Minion DHF to assegai, assegai never show any sign of grip loss and then all of a sudden you are wiped out, minion is consistent throughout the whole roll when you making weight lean turn. Second Assegai is super slow rolling tire, like noticeably!
Assegai/dhr2 is great. I'm on the kryptotals right now and plan to go back. They're fine, but the maxxis just feel better to me
On my 27.5 wheels I have a Vittoria Barzo 2.6 on the front and a Mezcal 2.6 on the rear ❤
That’s why I run 2.25 Nobby Nic front 2.25 wicked will rear. You just need to trust that front on the steeps
I have assegai front and rear, would i notice heaps of difference pitting a forekaster on the rear?
yeah bud you would, ive went opposite way, first proper mtb in years, hardcore hardtail, came with forekaster v1 2.6 exo front, rekon 2.6 exo rear single (hard) compound.
I ran them for a year and found them squirmy, puncture prone and the rekon was very much slip to grip, unfortunately im in the uk and its perpetually muddy, they had to go. wound up getting a michelin magiX/soft wild enduro front 2.4 and switched forkaster to rear, instantly gave bags of confidence on off camber and muddy sections, so much so i went out and bought the wild enduro rear.
bikes a grip monster now, doing steeper stuff and sharper turns, brakes on anything.
but you know what id give anything to get the low rolling resistance back, currently looking at an intermediate setup between the mega grip and the mega speed. give the forekasters a go, the v2 is a proper fast trail tyre apparently
Why the Commencal? Are you not riding for Trek anymore? Just curious not trying to start anything
Video like this with more x c race tires would be cool. Just bought myself a nice light XC bike and have only experienced the tires it came with.
Magic mary front / DHR2 rear
Onza Purcopine is the one to go all around!
Otherwise i would choose (Never Schwalbe) Dissector and Agressor.
Minion SS front and rear for speed and scary front grip 😁
You friend are crazy. 😂😂😂
A slick on the front? 🫠☠️
@@playgroundchooser it's actually OK on hardback dry trails
My favourite maxxis combo is magic mary front and big betty rear in super dowhill ultra soft addix compound
What do u think assegai front and forekaster/rekon rear for hardpack trail riding?
The biggest problem with all of this is most people get Maxxis tyres in there bike and when they wear down they stick with them because that is what gets pumped out to the pro’s racing, not many people actually know about any other tyre brands and so of course again Maxxis will always be seen as the number one choice.
Pretty sure the description of how the assegai came to be is way off... There were pink bike videos documenting how Minnaar came to maxxis with ideas incorporating the dhf and high roller 2
... 🤔
Interesting combo with dhr front and forecaster back; I ise vice versa, forecaster front and dhr rear
I'm finding the number of people complaining that PB are Maxxis glazers ironic considering its been less than a month since they did a similar video sponsored by Kenda.
I’ve ran dhf front and rear for years but gonna give the assguy a try
Dhr in the back does make a difference. No point having a dhf in the back
the discussion would be geography dependant.
on east coast australia, popular combos ive seen
dhf + dhr
dissector + rekon
barzo + mezcal
aggaro + barzo
dont see much in the way of double ass around here.
Cst grqvateer atm on my ebike. Good value for money….does have the maxxis wobble haha
I used to run dual forekasters 29x2.6 before the new version came out. I liked that combo a lot because it was very light, rolled reasonably fast and I was used to smaller side knobs. They also felt like they still pushed through soft stuff to find the hardpack beneath. Since then, I've run dual DHF 29x2.6 I found that the DC EXO tanwall ones were about the same weight or better than the new forekasters but I really liked the side knobs better on these DHFs. I now am trying bontrager XR4s also 29x2.6 and I love the weight but miss the confidence, of those DHFs, they're still decent though. I don't want to run tires that are over 1000 grams if possible, that's a whole lot of weight! I'd say I'm kind of hard on tires, reasonably fast usually in the top 25% on strava, I love rocky stuff, roots, jumps, drops, but there's not that much in the way of truly fast long downhills where I live, so impacts aren't consisteltly big.
DHF front / Rekon back for more chill rides. DHF/DHR for the chunk
Same combo, dhf and rekon rear
argotal + kryptotal my new combo i dont wanna miss anymore.