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After 5 runs on my local bike park last week and another 2 at Crested Butte on Sunday I had to up my pressure from 25/27psi to 30/32psi to prevent rolling in corners or constantly hitting rim. I have 29” 2.5 DHR II MaxxGrip DH casing front and rear with no inserts but it’s already been a very noticeable breakdown in the sidewall/casing support. I am 200lb in gear riding a downhill bike at decent pace but this quick of a breakdown for tires that cost over $200 is a bit whack so I’ll be looking to try Continental on my next set if only for the price.
Ran the 2024 edition of Michelin Wild Enduro MS (front & back) and Wild Enduro Rear for about 2-3months, some thoughts:
- Rear is fast, great for park, really liked this
- MS side knobs are wobbly, can't recommend this anywhere else except than when it really is loose, just didn't find the trust with this
- After a couple of tire swaps back and forth sidewalls feels like a wet noodle, seems to hold up OK when inflated tho
- No punctures, rim damage or anything @ 22psi front, 26-27psi rear at 85-90kg kitted, no inserts, riding that Finnish enduro root/rock heaven
Overall score 3,5/5
Decent tires, nothing mind blowing, that Michelin logo does look really good.
But now back with Cannibal front and Eliminator rear, Cannibal is much better in every condition than that MS, much closer call between Enduro Rear and Eliminator.
what size eliminator are you running to pair with the cannibal. I've been running the cannibal f/r but the rear dies quickly
Gravity T9/T7 2.3
Good for the everyday trail use and park but Cannibal is still my go to race tire in rear too.
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/26917337/
Easier to see the tread if you just view it on the Pinkbike gallery page since it blows it huge. It's from the Finals Photo Epic page.
As implied above, I think that's mostly to do with a deterioration of sidewall support.
While not DH, I'll offer up my weird tire setup as food for thought. This is what I do on both a 140/130 real bike and 160/145 mid-powered ebike. Carbon wheels on both.
On the front, I run DHR 2.4 EXO with a CC trail insert all year long. On the rear, I run DD or Conti Enduro casing without an insert, and I swap tires a bit depending on conditions: good moisture content and firm tread vs leafy or dry and loose.
On the rear, an insert does nothing for sidewall tears. And even with insert, I have to run enough pressure to avoid squirm in high-speed berms that I'm not sure I am getting that much from the insert in the way of ride quality. So I'd rather rely on casing and air to avoid flats.
On the front with the insert, I can run lower pressures without losing stability. I feel like it helps with traction and cuts out a little harshness in the hands. But, I think it's possible I could be getting more consistent tire performance out of the front tire over it's lifespan, because I'm relying less on the sidewall and more on the insert, and the insert doesn't loose stiffness the way the sidewall does. I've never heard anyone make this argument for inserts, but it makes some sense to me.
The caveat to this is that after a couple months of being ridden, if I try to remove and reinstall an EXO casing with a CC trail insert, there's a good chance the tire gets a wobble. I use bead cream, am very gentle, etc. I never get a wobble with a new tire. But a used EXO sidewall seems to have degraded enough under my 215 lbs and decently aggressive riding that it often just can't take the uninstall and reinstall. So, I have to commit to the front tire for the life of the tread. But because of local soil and such, neither of these bikes get ridden in the mud and I'm happy to run the same front tire all year. Different, bigger bike goes on trips and gets ridden in the wet, and I've got a different tire setup on it.
I realize my uninstall / reinstall problem suggests the sidewall is flexing and degrading, but I don't think totally disproves the theory that a lighter casing and insert might provide more consistent stability over the life of the tire than just a stiffer casing alone.
Would be very curious to hear any thoughts on this theory and setup.
I should point out that I was referring to the original generation Michelin Wild Enduro, not the new MS/MH versions…
This has probably been discussed at some point but i couldn't find much on it so hopefully someone can give their experience. I am running exo + maxterra assegai and dhr ii and was considering trying Conti Kryptotal enduro softs. I was wondering what anyone's experience is between the rounder profile of the maxxis and the more square profile of the kryptotals. The riding where i am is most of the time loose and dusty or loose over hard pack since as soon as it rains the clay turns into an ice skating rink.
Sounds like you should have an Argotal, Hillbilly or High Roller 3 up front, vs. Assegai/Kryptotal
Ill take a look at those but i do like the feel of the assegai. I know a bunch of people running either assegai or dhf.
A lot of talk about the Contis recently. I've ran the Kryptotal F-R Enduro Soft version for a few months since I was curious about them. Pretty easy to mount and inflate. The mechanical grip is there but the tire leaves very much to wish for in the wet. The soft compound is harder than both Maxxis Maxxterra and Schwalbe Soft in my opinion. The tires works well in the dry, but as soon as it gets wet the front really wanders around a lot. I hope the SuperSoft compund is better. The soft compound is definitly better for durability as a back tire than both MaxxTerra and Schwalbe Soft.
I've been experimenting with different tires and inserts for the last 2 years and I thought that the Conti Enduro casing would work good with inserts regarding pinch flat protection, I was wrong though. The "ligher casing insert thing" doesn't work for me at all and I don't see any other benefits on the overall riding quality imo. I've tried Rimpact, NP Ard and Tubolight HD & Diamana. I often run 27 psi back and 24 in the front.
I've had the same experience with other tires in the same casing category, before this I tried Maxxis Exo+ with insert to get the back wheel even lighter but it failed pretty fast. I'm now on the Specialized Butcher Trail T9 front and Eliminator Gravity T7/T9 back without inserts and I havn't had an issues at all with pinch flats or rim strikes with the same psi in the back. I recently cased a pretty big road gap in a bike park nearby and the tire didn't even flinch.
Really overally impressed with the Specialized tires or grip and durability.
I might have to give the super soft a try. Im trying enduro soft in the front first and dh soft in rear but might switch out the front to a dh super soft if that doesnt feel great on our trails. Never ride in the wet here cause the clay turns so slick its like riding on ice.
the argotal in SS is excellent in the wet.
Also be aware the conti carcass is quite stiff so you can use lower pressure to assist the 'soft'
What pressured do you think you would run with my setup? DH soft rear and Enduro soft front
What i think is irrelevent, Same with suspension setup.
Tyre pressure is very person related, how do you ride, where do you ride, weight, what wheels, bike type etc
Only you can answer that.
I often go as low as i can but so the tyre doesnt squirm under heavy load, if starts to move around alot, up the psi by 2 or so.
On heavily blown out tracks that gives alot of feedback, sometimes coming down in pressure can help aswell.
Makes sense. I already have a feeling im gonna end up starting around 25 front 26 in the rear. Maybe a bit less in the front and see what it does and go from there
Start with a Calculator, Many brands have them such as trek.
25 in front is quite stiff unless you are at the +105kg category.
25psi in the front on ebike + 102kg guy with maxxis DH is to soft, the rim is often getting hit and it moves around
25 psi with a conti DH is nearly to much.
funny that you mentioned 25 as its what i often run with conti's but proves how much the carcass makes a difference
My front tire is only an enduro casing which is why i wanted to start there vs starting too low. Im 170 lbs
I'm roughly 88kg (195) kitted up running 22psi, regular bike and specialized gravity casing, which is stronger yeah but feels like you are still going too high on pressure? But if it works for your terrain/speed/hits its all good.
I've been rocking specialized tires lately. Purgatory t9 grid trail, ground control grid t7 on the hardtail; butcher t9 grid trail, eliminator t7/t9 grid gravity on the trail bike, and cannibal t9 grid gravity front and rear on the enduro/park bike. Things I would like:
1. I wish they offered the ground control in grid trail casing. It's a great tread design for the rear on a hardtail/downcountry bike but grid casing leaves something to be desired even when running with cushcore
2. Expand the grid gravity tires to have more in the t7/t9 or even full t7 compound for longer rear wear in the bike park. I love the cannibals but the t9 rear is wearing quite fast
3. Offer an "in between" casing between grid trail and grid gravity, similar to Conti's enduro casing or Maxxis Exo+. Grid trail IMO is just a tiny step up from Exo in protection/strength but a good step below Exo+. Would be nice to not have to push around a 1400g tire front and rear just to get good casing support...
Thank you! I might try a bit softer then. Its a regular bike. To be completely honest ive always been running tubes at 30psi on exo + casings so wasnt sure how soft i can go. Being used to the tubes i figured i could start semi conservative but maybe 23 front 25 rear would be a better start. Gonna be my first time running tubeless and dont know why i didnt switch earlier
Hello tire nerds - I need some assistance, I was lucky enough to win a maxxis highroller 3 - 2.4” DD recently and I’ve no idea of its best use?
I love trying new tyres but I do enjoy myself some two wheel slide action - maybe it was learning to ride dh tracks on a hard tail as a youth or maybe it’s just because im Australian, i do not know.
Anyways this highroller looks very grippy - is it front only? Or is it not unreasonable to run it in the rear ?
I have two options on where it may end up - currently I have a dh bike with assegai/dhr2 combo, or an enduro bike running butcher/eliminator
Where does this tyre best fit?
Thats the new high roller right? Looks like it would be a good replacement for the assegai when riding in looser conditions
That was my initial thought aswell
I did the thing where I sheared some cornering knobs on a butcher t7, 250lbs combined bike and rider weight on rough granite. Xynotal trail and kryptotal-f enduro are on the way.
Rode a few laps on the new Schwalbe Albert radial tyre. It was bikepark so can't really comment on grip. But the main reason I'm writing is to warn you that finger tyre pressure checks won't work on this tyre with radial construction! At 25psi it feels way softer than the front kryptotal at 19psi, same volume and similar casing.
I've burned through at least 10 Specialized tires over last several years and have never ripped a knob. Anecdotally it seems to be more on straight T7 compound, and I typically run T9 only or the T7/9 Eliminators. These folks ripping knobs on T7s are significantly lighter than me (190lbs) and much less aggressive, so definitely the compound or some other issue.
Wonder if they had a bad batch of rubber recently since it seems to be very prevalent at the moment. I notice this on friends tires and out in the wild right now, but never mine.
If you like to slide around, I would recommend it for the front only. It takes more effort to get it to break free compared to a Minion. I'd say throw it on the the DH bike.
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