Assegai no grip zone

Damn I consider the Assegai as ann all-lean angles mega gripper, have you ridden a DHF? 

 

I tried an Assegai on my last bike and felt the same way; the cornering grip was a step down from the Minion DHF that I had on before that. I'm still stuck on the DHFs. I like the 3c MaxxGrip ones the best (softest compound).

I've had great luck with the Specialized Cannibal. I know running Specialized tires isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the slightly stiffer carcass means you can drop a psi or two and help with some of the sensation you're talking about (along with a grippy compound). They work great for the summer dirt surfing here in Colorado. Not to mention they're a few dollars cheaper, which never hurts. 

This is wild and speaks to different people’s experiences.

I dislike the DHF because I don’t think it offers any improved cornering grip and the grip that is there is vague and hard to tell when you’re near the limit.

The Assegai on the other hand has better grip overall and I can tell better where I am at relative to its break free point.

The only downfall to me about an Assegai is its rolling speed.

I wouldn't go as far to say that the Assegai has a no grip dead zone as you're leaning it over... I find it pretty agnostic to lean angle when compared to other tires (DHF for example).  That being said, there is a type of loose over hard condition where the assegai is not quite at it's best.  I have a non-engineering or scientific theory that it has to do with a combination of: knob support, overall width, knob arrangement/direction.  

These absolute shit show, golf ball sized gravel loose over hard, or deep loose/powder loose over hard or any loose over hard surfaces with over 1/4" of build up over the trail bed are not the strongest suites of the assegai.  In those situations, the highroller 3, krypto F/R and any tire with a bit stiffer knob support, taller knobs and narrower (situationally depending) will perform a bit better.  

For me, the Assegai is the jack of all trades that does most things better then most (if not all) but it's weak point is extreme loose over hard outlier conditions.

how people can ride the DHF on the front is beyond me lol  - I Had so many near-death experiences on those.
Been a big DHR2 on the front for years but on conti's now.

Yeah I feel like this post is a setup for average dudes to admit they’re afraid of the DHF! 

I am afraid of the DHF.  
 

This is my experience as well the only other negative I have experienced on multiple occasions is in deep trenched chutes it like to grab the edges a bit more than other tires and throw your balance off. 

I have been running the high roller 3 for a couple of months and it works better in the loose over hard conditions by far. I haven’t ran it in all conditions yet but have been really happy so far.

What pressure are you running and how wide are your rims? Have you tried lowering the pressure in this tyre at all?

Same here. I don't run Assegai anymore though due to it doesn't shed mud as well where i live/ride. Michelin DH22 sits between the Assegai and HR3 on that aspect as well as rolling resistance, but is just as grippy and well damped as the Assegai.

I gave up on Maxxis. I think some people use them because they are always on special. I am using Conti Kryptotal soft in DH casing on the DH bike and ones without DH casing on a 150mm e-bike. Much better tyres but a lot more $$. My all time favourite was the Conti- Der Baron Project. 

The difference between the OG 26x2.5 DHF and current day 2.5wt DHF is wild for those old enough to have ridden both.
My enduro Chainsaw came with a DHF and that thing could not be removed fast enough, utterly terrifying experience 

I used to not like DHF style tires but then I got better and prefer them now.  The Assegai's problem isn't a no grip zone, it's that it doesn't communicate to you where you are on the side knobs, and it also has too many knobs leading it to float over loose rather than dig in.  That float is probably what you're feeling as a "no grip zone."  Same thing with a Kryptotal Front for me.  They're great for hardpack and rocks, but really struggle in loose over hard, especially if there's small bits of gravel.

I am a much bigger fan of tires with a gap but wider spaced knobs that tell you what they're doing and punch down into loose over hard.  Thankfully there's several good options now: Argotal, High Roller 3, radial Tacky Chan, etc.

I use to run Assegai's exclusively up front as there seems to be grip regardless of the lean angle, but similar to what others have said, I found that it doesn't have a sharp bite when leaning it over. I'm also afraid of the DHF up front, but the Argotal is my new favorite front tire when it isn't hardpack. I'd like to try the High Roller 3 out, but not too motivated with how long the Super Soft lasts as a front tire!

This last few comments are very spot on.  I've recently put on an Assegai after 2-3 seasons exclusively on a DHR 2 upfront.  For me, the all around grip is much higher with the Assegai but I sometimes lack the sharp bite mentioned when you engage the DHR 2 side knobs.  I think this tradeoff is worth it after some adjusting.  One thing I've noticed is a lot less unintended front wheel slides in corners.  Every few weeks when really pushing I'd end up not leaned over enough on the DHR 2 and have an unexpected wash that was usually recoverable.  The Assegai tends to feel slower to steer.

Haha! Well, I'm certainly an average guy (or below,) but I feel like I can put a little more push into the front wheel with DHFs and they'll push back. The Assegai just feels like it has a limit and that's it. To me, anyway. Keep in mind I ride on dry, hard terrain 99.9% of the time. I think it's the soft compound that helps more than anything. 

I'm on a Magic Mary up front on my new bike and I don't like it much at all. I'm going to F around at the bike park this summer and I'll probably find out. 

Assegai is just kind of numb, works at all angles, but isn't the best at any of them.

Not sure if it's the casing (feels different than previous maxxis dh casings), but I'm really liking the dh highroller 3 right now. Bites like a dhf in corners, but still conforms to off camber roots and such nicely.

I went through like 3 levels of understanding with the DHF. At first the dead zone between center and cornering knobs was scary. Later I found it gave good feedback for when the bike was leaned over  and I was on the cornering knobs. Eventually I found I no longer needed the feedback the channel provides. I feel like I got to where I understand what the Assegai and other tires with transition knobs are doing as I ride.

The Assegai in my experience is all the grip for a while, but then no grip with no warning. It's super consistent, and there is no transition slip area to the side knobs, but then you over tax it, it just let's go with no warning. I run conti now, the Argotal on the front and Kryptotal Re on the back, but if I had to stick with maxxis it would be High Roller 3 front and rear because I hate the DHR II

The original post feels like a prank because there is no front tire with more consistent grip than the Assegai because it was specifically designed to eliminate the dead zone between the center grip and the side knobs.

Before the Assegai, the primary Maxxis DH front tires were either the DHF, DHR2, or the High Roller 2, each of which featured a large gap between the side knobs and center knobs. As others have mentioned, it's that gap that creates the "dead zone" between hooking and sliding on the DHR2 and High Roller 2, and especially on the DHF. In comparison, the Assegai has knobs everywhere and grips pretty evenly as other lean angles (as others have mentioned). Because the Assegai knobs are tall, soft, and everywhere, it kind of feels like a tractor tire: slow rolling, a little numb, and grippy as hell on most surfaces.

The flip side is that a tire with lots of knobs everywhere can't punch into soft or loose conditions as well as a tire with fewer knobs that are more spaced out (like a mud spike, a DH22, or a High Roller 3). It sounds like this is what the OP is experiencing- an excessive feeling of float in loose conditions at certain lean angles due to the crowding of knobs on the Assegai. There is still a small channel between the side knobs and the intermediate knobs, so there is still a little bit of bite into loose conditions when you go past the middle of the road lean angles and lean all the way on the side knobs, but in loose conditions it's never going to be anything like the bite of a true loose conditions tire.

This is simply the way of the universe. It's like choosing between flavor or calories in food, or choosing between speed or fuel efficiency in a car. You can have one or the other, but not both. So the question is: which one do you want?

I ran an assegai max grip DD for years, but tried a kryptotal super soft DH last year and won’t be going back. I was experiencing so many front wheel washouts and the sensation of skating through corners with the assegai, and couldn’t believe how much more confidence inspiring the kryptotal feels. So much more trust in that tire due to its predictability. 

In my experience there isn't a tire that will make loose over hard feel good, imo its one of the hardest conditions to ride well. Loose over hard is a condition I ride a lot and have found the assegai to be pretty good for it, Im not a fan of it in mud. There could be other set up things that can cause front end wash outs but ill stick to tires. IMO the dhr 2 is a decent front tire but I have found it lacks bite on turn in lean angle, it does feel incredible in berms and brake well. I am a big fan of the DHF in dust or hardpack, it absolutely hooks cornering but requires assertive riding and getting the bike leaned over, if you don't it has a really pronounced transition slip zone. 

I wouldn't rely on the HR3 to eliminate the dead zone...

For me I'll stick to the all-round tire like the kryptotal fr or assegai. Simply because they're good in most conditions.

Why do I not switch to HR 3 or Argotals in loose conditions? Because for me it makes sense to stick to the tire that I'm used to. I know when it starts loosing traction, I know how far I can lean it and for me, that is far more important.

If it's been raining for weeks and conditions are as bad as it can get, I'll still use a loose conditions tire because it doesn't collect the mud and it keeps me rolling. But honestly, this happens once in two years or so.

Still waiting for this Maxxis Tire to be released. They‘ve been running it in the whole 25 Worldcup Season already:

comes out in the next few weeks im told

Same. But I also really like the bite of the HighRoller 3. Those are my go to front tires. 

Pretty much any tire is going to have a worse no grip zone. 

OP do you think it was the dead zone or the loose over hard that got you? i have HATED my assegai in loose over hard. $30 base Dissector performs better in loose over hard than assegai. HR3/Hillbilly/etc are all better tires if youre dealing with loose over hard conditions. 

I ride in santa cruz and there are a lot of high consequence turns at the end of chutes. People drag all manner of duff and rock and sand and dirt down the chute with them and it piles up in the corners. Assegai performs amazing all-around until these catch berm slough pits.