Hello Vital MTB Visitor,
We’re conducting a survey and would appreciate your input. Your answers will help Vital and the MTB industry better understand what riders like you want. Survey results will be used to recognize top brands. Make your voice heard!
Five lucky people will be selected at random to win a Vital MTB t-shirt.
Thanks in advance,
The Vital MTB Crew
The weight penalty isn't huge, especially compared to e.g. Maxxis's 1400g+ DH tires, and comparing DH to Enduro casings wouldn't ever be night and day. But the on-trail difference between a set of Kryptotal Fr/Re tires in Trail Endurance and DH SuperSoft is absolutely massive, both positive and negative, and far more than just the ~200g/wheel weight difference.
Crazy how different riders have such different perspectives. Pushing into a berm the squirm is crazy if I’m running the pressure I use for Maxxis. DH casing for both, same wheel, pressure gauge, bike, trail etc.
I personally really like the feel of the Conti DH casing, but agree that even though it’s stiffer to me, it requires more pressure than Maxxis or Specialized. I pretty much have to run 28/23 r/f to get them to feel good in berms. I can’t get Schwalbe casings to work for me, I was pushing SDH Tacky Chans to over 32psi in the rear to not get rim pings. It felt the best at 26-27psi but were rim killers at those pressures.
how heavy are you? a Schwalbe super dh and says at 27psi it's rim killer? either the trails you ride are hucks to pointy rocks only or you're 300lbs
Is it just me or are the radial tyres way better than reviews are letting on? I went from a Hutchinson Griffus to a Magic Mary Radial and I thought I’d upgraded my forks at first, I’m a convert and my friend who races enduro is a convert too. I don’t think any other tyre on the market comes close, except for maybe the new High Roller III, and that still isn’t very close.
The magic is in the chasing, literally,
I agree with that, I’m sticking to them, the 2 rides I’ve done on different tires it was a slip and slide both up and down on the same tracks where I just go with 0 issues
That being said these do slide as well but way less than anything else I’ve tried
I've got a tacky chan on the rear as I don't particularly feel the need for a 3 block middle tread on a rear tyre, I tried a new location that was a bit more hard-pack and not as dusty as my local, and the Tacky was a whole lot more slip happy than the Mary, even running it at lower pressure didn't give it the same composure as the Mary
Mary in the rear is awesome for grip but slow rolling, i never go for full grip in the rear personally, i've used plenty of times a mary in the back for bikepark or sketchy stuff but it's a pain on the ups
203 on the scales this morning, 210 with gear. I started Saturday with 27/23 in my Spec DH casing tires and was getting loud pings on rocks charging through rock gardens, upped to 29/24 and that cleared up the issue for the rest of the weekend.
This is one of the trails that is partly to blame for my rim death. The Chute From Hell - EWS Northstar Stage 4 Practice RAW
Appreciate all the replies, we're doing our annual month in Whistler shred (tires and trails), and finally taking a break and catching up on this discussion. Left off at son burping the Kryptotal, more sealant and air resolved that, and me thinking I didn't need inserts. Fast foward a few days and the boy put an inch long gash in the sidewall of his Kryptotal. Me, decided to stuff a tube in the fanny pack and literally next run 3 jumps into zone 2 on A-line put a hole in my DHR right above the bead and small dent in the rim. Of course I didn't bother to check my tire pressure before riding that day either.
Son's replacement tire once again was choice of Conti or Maxxgrip DHR. He had a week on the Kryptotal and wear was minimal so went with SS DH again and I did the same based on the claim of better grip than Maxxterra and better wear. We are starting week 3 now, week 2 on the tire, and this morning my son complains about the wear on the Conti. I have to tell him he's crazy, there is minimal wear. This is the same kid that destroyed the tread on a maxxgrip rear in 3 days last year, the only difference is 27.5 last year and 29 this year. He weighs more, rides a lot of hours, faster, a lot of slab time. Also Hayes this year and Saints before.
As for me, running an insert now but also splitting my time with my 27.5 bike, it's got the insert and Conti SS, and a 29 front and rear bike. I'm new to 29 so besides having to wrap my head around all things 29 I have some interesting tire things going on as well. Nice to be insert free except for running more pressure than I prefer to save my rims. Spent a couple days with a maxxterra Assegai front, too sketchy for me, what a relief to get on brand new maxxgrip version. Rear is a test pilot DHRII 2.5 maxxgrip. Besides it being a pre-production 2.5 I'm speculating that it's either not truly a maxxgrip or it's an attempt at a longer wearing maxxgrip. One thing is no signs of wear, the other is lack of grip. Mullet conversion is next...
Pic of bikes involved.
Yes, I agree that we're hearing a lot of different perspectives on the same tire. If I can expand on what I said earlier, I think it's actually a combination of what others have said.
As a rear tire, I get a lot of squirm and fold from the Conti DH casing is I don't run extra pressure, about 3-5 psi more than I would on a Maxxis DH casing. But as a front tire, it feels wooden and transmits a lot more trail feedback compared to a Maxxis. It still managed to grip fine, I never had sketchy moments, but as a front tire it ended up feeling like someone had cranked up my compression a couple clicks on my fork.
I suspect the wooden feeling I'm getting from the front tire has less to do with the casing (which I think is relatively soft) and more to do with the compound Conti is using on their SS tires. We've heard in this forum that Conti is using harder rubber over the top of softer rubber (the opposite of what most multi-compound tires use), and I think that's probably why the rear SS tire seems to last forever but the front SS tire seems to feel wooden and harsh. I also know the DH team riders are getting special ultra soft compound tires from Conti for racing, which serves as perfect confirmation bias for my theory.
Some quick hits on the Vittoria tires I've played around with over the past couple seasons - all XC / Trail stuff I've ridden on my Honzo & Tallboy. All tires are the graphene / 4C compounds that go with the XC (120 tpi) or Trail (60 tpi) casings. I'm not sure if there's a difference between the compounds on each tire though my assumption is that the XC tires get a harder compound than the trail tires. I've got essentially no experience in actual muddy conditions as our trails aren't able to be ridden in the wet.
Mezcal XC (2.6" 120 tpi) - I think this is a fantastic tire as long as you set expectations appropriately. FWIW I only used this as a rear tire on my hardtail. Rolls super well, brakes and corners fine for an XC tire. A good comp would be an Ikon but I think this has better traction in corners. I spent a week in Italy flipping back and forth between hating how much I was sliding around on loose and moderately steep trails and being thankful for the tire on the steep climbs.
Barzo XC (2.6" 120 tpi) - used as front tire on my Honzo. Rolls fine and has decent cornering grip for an XC tire. Braking traction is not good, and I don't see a reason to run this tire except maybe in soft mud XC riding, though I never actually used it for that. It's a pretty similar tire to the old Forekaster though I don't think that's a compliment.
Both the 120tpi tires required 30psi to not roll the casing constantly, which I hate. I'm sure the thin casing reduces rolling resistance, so that may be a tradeoff that's worth it for you. With that said, both tires held up and I never got a flat while running them (30 psi certainly helps here though). I was able to run my normal 24-25 psi in the 60 tpi tires without issue.
Syerra Trail (2.4" 60 tpi) - Kind of a niche tire, just a touch more traction and rolling resistance than a true XC tire. I think this makes sense as a front tire, less so in the rear when you could run an actual XC tire if you don't care about traction or a nobbier tire with minimal sacrifice in rolling resistance. This may sound dumb, but the only thing I really disliked about this tire was that it only came in black (when all the other tires have grey sidewalls) and there's a giant red hot patch that I sharpied over.
Agarro Trail (2.35 60 tpi) - Basically a grey colored Rekon, which is a tire I really like. You can just copy / paste Rekon reviews here.
Martello Trail (2.4" 60 tpi) - I don't have a ton of time on this tire yet on the front of my Tallboy, but it's certainly a viably option. It's a little too much tire for most my local trails (which are not steep) but would be at home somewhere with a bit more grade as a front tire for a short travel bike like my Tallboy or as a rear tire on a 140-150mm travel bike. You won't confuse it with real DH treads like the Kryptotal or Assegai, particularly in braking traction, though it's still adequate. Cornering traction breaks away somewhat predictably - it's not like you're locked then a moment later the front wheel is gone - again it won't be confused with a DH tread. I haven't ridden this in mud, but with how many closely spaced nobs there are there's no way this tire can clear mud well. For a Maxxis comparison, I think it slots in around the Dissector in terms of traction, thought it behaves a bit differently due to the transition nobs. I still haven't ridden the new Forekaster though I'd be curious to see how the traction & rolling resistance compares.
Having lots of fun playing with tires now that I can can vary from my race setup. On the Sentinel, I’ve swapped from the Conti DH (agree with @TEAMROBOT that they feel kinda wooden in the front) to Radial Albert 2.6 US front and Albert 2.5 soft in the rear. They seem to roll faster, grip better, and add a coil-like feel to the bike that I wasn’t entirely expecting when hitting square edges or root balls. So far, my only gripe is that the 2.6 Albert doesn’t come in Trail casing. The Gravity version is probably unnecessary for me, but the deeper lugs and wider spacing of the 2.6 seem like a better front tire option than the 2.5. I’m also not having issues with squirm on landings or in corners like some are, which maybe has to do with running the stiffer casing.
On the SST, I swapped my front WTB Macro fast rolling to the high grip version of the same tire. Fast rolling Macros front and rear felt just a hair sketchy when committing to corners, but it feels perfectly dialed with the increased traction up front - just a hoot on fast XC-oriented stuff. I also have WTBs new Peacekeeper to try, which may be a great complement for a Vigilante on the heavier wheelset.
Has anyone run a soft magic Mary radial in the rear yet? Wasn’t super happy with the soft Albert in the rear for loose steep stuff so I switched to a soft tacky Chan which is fine, but I do miss the radials.
Thanks for sharing your experience and insight. If you like the Rekon, I would highly recommend trying out the updated Forekaster when you get the chance. To me it corners, brakes, and climbs noticeably better than the Rekon without giving up much (anything?) in rolling speed.
I've been running it on the rear of my 130/140 bike with something new we're cooking up on the front. It's great for a speed-focused trail bike.
Good stuff, glad you mentioned the front tire info, not keen on experimenting with my front tire besides tread to suit terrain. I'm not gnarly enough to justify a dh casing up front since DD came out. Discussing this with my son and he just says "I just run such high pressure that all my tires feel wooden". 🤪
Good luck finding a 29 DHR II maxxterra 2.5 DH here in Whistler. I ordered one before the trip but it ended up on the boat and didn't arrive in time. Bummed with the hole above the bead on my 27.5 version of the 2.5 DH. Reminded me of how I got one ride out of a WTB Verdict on the front on the version before they added the protection, same kind of hole as I got on 2.5 DHR. I like that Verdict up front for the home looseness but hoping that the new Shorty 3 (Mobster!?) will be my next tire.
I only rode the supertrail variant but it will surely have more grip than the Albert. The question is if you like the rolling resistance. On the ebike it's no problem.
Been running a radial Magic Mary trail up front and a Kryoptotal Rear DH soft in the back on my enduro bike and the difference in feel and grip was enough to make me a true believer. Glad that we've seen radials on world cup XC bikes too. I think they make just as much sense there considering the super low pressures those guys run. Schwalbe needs to release some rear-specific (Hans, Tacky) radials yesterday! The Xynotal on my 130mm bike is at the end of it's life, but I'm waiting to do a Hans radial in the rear.
The initial range they went for with the Radial Tires is pretty curious to me. Seems like they could have done more tried and true mainstay patterns instead of one (and a half) new tires and also the oldest tread in their lineup.
I saw some forekasters mounted on bikes at my LBS, and i was really surprised at how low volume they appear to be. I was surprised that they had released a 2.1, but then i saw it was the 2.4 and didnt know what to think. Maybe the 2.6 is the way to go? Looks like a great pattern though
Whoa, a new tread for short travel trail bikes?! You have me excited! I am on DHF + Forekaster on the same travel bike and it rips. A new tire (like a DHF2 with wider center tread) would hit the spot 🤌
The 2.40 is lacking some volume, but mine measure out to 60mm (2.36") on a 30.5mm rim. For the speed bike, I'm okay with that.
thats pretty reasonable for the purpose. Good reminder that appearances can be deceiving, i think maybe im used to looking at big old side knobs which make a tire look big regardless of the size of the casing.
I think a lot of reviewers made two mistakes: 1. Doing a review after 1 ride (they need some break-in) and 2. Not running enough air. That's where they are a game-changer. No inserts needed. Fast roll-speed for the category without sacrificing traction or protection. For an enduro bike, I am not going back to non-radials because I don't want to go back to inserts. 33psi in an Albert feels like 27 psi in any other DH casing, except then I need a 200g insert in there as well.
During all of these July 4th sales, I missed a set of Kendas I've wanted in a particular combo
Anyone know where the Conti enduro supersoft tires are for sale?
Anyone have opinions on Pirelli's Enduro Race tires? Heard they were stiff.
I'm just here waiting on an updated Magic Marry with the Tacky Chan side knobs. Radial casing would be cool. Id like to see faster rolling radial trail tires for the rear to match up.
On my trail bike I run aggressive front tires to compensate for my lack of skill and fast rolling rear tires to compensate for my lack of fitness.
Has anyone here tried running a Kryptotal Re as a front tire?
I am currently running a Kryptotal Fr, which I generally like, but I find it breaks loose a tad unpredictably on the dry, loose, marbles that we get in the summer. My theory is that Re might have more cornering bite in those conditions due to no intermediate knobs.
A DHR II up front is common, but you rarely see a Kryptotal Re up front (I noticed Ed Masters was running it at one point, but not anymore, and haven’t seen anyone else do it). Is there any reason the Kryptotal Re would be poorly suited as a front tire compared to a DHR II?
Yes, 2x in a row due to availabilit of the exact model (compound, casing etc). Work great for me, but never tried the Fr so maybe I'm missing out!!
Don't you patch up tyres?
Post a reply to: Tire chat (nerds only)