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
Spokeless is the future!
Anyone hear any rumor dates on the new Maxxis tire (the "not a DHF2")? I'm about to mount up mount up my last HR3, and like to keep a set of spares on hand. If the new tire is coming soon, I'll hold off on restocking.
I've already patented MST™ (Magnetic Spoke Tension) and USMT™ (Ultimate Magnetic Spoke Tension).
I think the "dhf2" will be more of a comparable tire to the assegai than the hr3.
I just ordered my DH tires for the summer but I'm also hoping the new dhf2 gets released
Serious question, but how long were you at Maxxis, A-Aron? It's gotta be close to 15 years, as I know you were there when we met at Interbike in 2013. That's a solid run at any bike company.
Ok but please do hurry. The only spare 27.5 I have is a 600g RaceKing and I don't know how long that will last me, or how it will feel to be less than half the weight of the front tire 🙂
That’s some good mathing Robot! I was there a total of 13 years across two separate stints of 5 and 8 years. It’s a long fucking time to do anything!
My wife landed her dream job which required a relocation to Nashville. I’m enjoying some time as a stay at home dog dad and slowly figuring out what’s next!
Nice. Congrats to your wife!
As you're exploring new options, I recommend BBQ in the meantime.
Congrats! Appreciate the insight you’ve provided as a long time lurker!
Agree with robot, buy a stick burner and don’t look back
Thank you!
Do you mean cooking BBQ or eating? Because we've heard the "Nashville 20" - as in you gain 20 pounds when you first move here - is a thing. You can't throw a rock here without hitting a BBQ, hot chicken, burger, or taco place.
On the topic of tires... the trails here skew more towards XC with some flow bits thrown in. I had Dissectors on my Stumpjumper front and rear, but even that tread is a bit too much for around here. Swapped out to an Ikon rear and Forekaster front yesterday, which was an improvement in rolling speed, but I'm interested in y'all's opinions on fast trail tires.
I've always been "meh" on the Rekon, but looking for something in that vein. Maybe a Dubnital or Wicked Will?
Only been there once, I think the best one I tried was Martin's bbq. Ate so many hot chicken sandos too.. 🐔
That’s been our favorite so far too. We’re only about 1.5 miles away.
Nashville hot chicken might be my favorite regional food, your wife picked a good gig.
I'm gonna try out the magnotal & dubnital on the tallboy this year, annoyingly reviews have been hard to find - NSMB have articles about the mag & trinotal but I'm thinking the testing conditions were not very representative of most places in the US. It's still digging season around here so it's gonna be a bit before I get some miles on them.
I'm right there with ya on the Nashville chicken. My guilty pleasure.
I've been a long time Forekaster + Rekon lover but this year I decided to switch it up a bit and going a similar route. Magnotal soft front and Magnotal grip rear. First impressions have been really positive. They roll like a rekon race and feel grippier than a Forekaster. Plus they come in tanwall which is nice. Looking forward to the mountains thawing so I can really give them a go on proper terrain.
Interesting! Keep us updated on the Magnotals. I'd love to hear some more real-world experience with them.
The only "review" I've seen of the new Conti tires are the GuyKesTV Dubnital review and his Trinotal review where he mentions the Magnotals. He didn't love the Trino or Magno but that the Dub was good if you ride it for what it is: fast but not much grip.
I was considering Magno/Trino but also thought that some combination of Krypto Trail Soft up front with Magno or Trino in back would work well. That would be conceptually a little more similar to my DHF/Aggressor setup I run currently: a lot of grip of front with much less in back. The DHF/Aggressor is last year's tire setup and is worn out at this point.
Lots of options and I can only ride one bike at a time...and things are expensive enough that I don't want to be stuck with tires that don't perform well!
Im interested in lighter tires, too. I run trail casing butcher/eliminator right now, and i think id like to try something faster during the summer. I was thinking about eliminator/dissector on the front, but not sure what to pair with it in the rear. Whats up with the purgatory, would that be a good rear tire to pair with an eliminator? Would the magno's be comparable or a little faster? Are forekasters similar to the magno? I saw some forekasters at the lbs and they looked tiny, like an old 2.0. i dont really have much experience with faster tires and im kinda hesitant, i dont know how much grip i can reasonably give up?
I’ve been on ground controls front and rear but just mounted the new eliminator up front for a bit more front end grip.
I have run several versions of Butcher/Eliminators on my Sentinel and Spur. Now I have a Purgatory grid trail t7 on the back of my Spur, paired with the old Butcher grid t7 2.3 on the front. I don’t like the grid casing at all, feels sketchy. I bet an Eliminator grid trail 2.4 would feel way better in the front, or even double Purgatories, put a t9 up front. They’re a little skinnier 2.4 than the Eliminator 2.4. Dissector front, Purgatory rear might be nice. What bike are you on? The purgatory t7 rolls quite fast.
Also, that Magnotal trail casing will be stronger than specialized grid casing, Ground Controls only come in grid. I just ordered magnotal to run in the back of my Spur for “racing”, paired with a Purgatory up front.
Thanks for the info! Im on a marin rift zone 29. Im pretty light about 150, so the grid casings have been fine for me for my local riding.
Awesome. I can run pressures 1 or 2 psi lower in grid trail vs grid, works for me around the Montana backcountry to avoid getting stranded with flats!
Try Maxxis Rekon or The Brand new Dissector new tread patten Maxx Grip Double Down Maxx Grip (Front) /Continental Xynotal either (Trail/Endurance/Soft) casing and compound (Rear)
Im currently rockin Continental Xynotal (Enduro Soft) and loving it
I really like the wicked will. Fast rolling and you can get it in a variety of casings. Pretty happy with this on the rear and a Tacky Chan on the front for my trail bike.
Will Radial come to trail tires? A few people here say they don't feel slower, but I'm not so sure. My radials are on the ebike so I have no idea.
I'm also trying to decide what to put on my shorter travel bike.
I've ridden the radials and standard schwalbes on my trail bike (trail casings on both). They radials definitely roll slower but offer better grip in the wet. I'm sold on the radials for the PNW winters and super trail casings for the drier parts of the year.
I'd be curious how the Tacky chan radials perform, but not sure I want a more malleable casing on a tire that's main selling point is precision/locked in cornering.
i'd say it depends, they feel slower on smooth terrain, road climbs, as you get to roots, rocks they're faster as they "hug"the obstacle rather than wasting energy going around it by bouncing on it, that's my experience while climbing, downhill i'm faster as they track better and grip more while being more comfortable
You can buy trail radials right now, they're definitely slower though.. Dual Alberts?
Ive been running Forekaster/Ikon on the XC trails here, and I think its a really solid combo. Honestly surprised how much I can trust the Forekaster. The ikon also has a lot more braking grip than I thought it would, makes me think I could scale down to an aspen or rekon race in the rear and still be good.
Ha, the Albert is hardly a trail tire
Just one short ride in. Removed ground control + rimpact out front. Swapped with Eliminator no insert. Was 20g heavier compared previous tire set up. As expected, rolling resistance is one notch slower climbing but it then pays dividends on the way back down. Noticeable increase in grip and more defined cornering edge vs ground controls.
I feel like this setup pulls it out of the xc and squarely into the light trail category but liking it so far.
This has been covered a number of times, but I'll update again since there seems to be a lot of bad info about rolling resistance. @Evil96 is correct in his analysis. Over rocks/roots, etc. Radials will be more energy efficient because of their supple casings. And yes, on pavement or hard pan smooth trails, the Radials will feel slower since there is more contact patch on the ground. BUT the size of the contact patch is determined by the pressure run in the tire. You CAN increase the pressure in Radials much higher than you would in a normal tire of the same volume and same casing compound, but still have a more supple ride. That is where the lines are blurred. The contact patch will shrink to that of about a 'normal' tire but it will still be more supple, and the actual deformation of where the tire is actually bending on the road is low, so they're likely just as efficient. The Schwalbe World Cup XC racers were on Radial casings last year and had an amazing season. So Radial CAN be efficient. Just like tubular tires in road and cyclocross. You just have to run higher pressures than if you want the absolute max grip out of them. The issue however, with the high pressures in lighter weight trail/XC casings is that they can become 'bouncy feeling'. So it's a balance.
Post a reply to: Tire chat (nerds only)