hans dampf vs maxxis minion

Hans Dampf has really flexy sideknobs and knob vomit (kidwoo's words ) for center knobs.
I've heard they are not that great cornering tires.

If you wanted to use the Hans Dampf Supergravity, why not wait until the Magic Mary Supergravity is out? That tire has the sideknobs wrong way around, but at least they look pretty stout, bet they won't bend as easily as on the Hans Dampf.

Wear-wise I found the trailstar compound to wear much quicker than my current 2.5 evo dhfs. I remember them having a ton of traction compared to geax tires i had on previously(duh), but didn't have the predictability I really like about the dhf/ardent combo I have on now. Tire-wear alone made the switch to the dhf/ardents pretty easy, I don't like spending a lot of money on tires for my trailbike.

wow, theres a 400gram difference?

IH8Rice said:

wow, theres a 400gram difference?

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The Minions must be stuffed with coke

200grams per tire is still a lot

IH8Rice said:

200grams per tire is still a lot

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Naw, that's just one crazy night

SCARY said:

Well, cuz I heard they were good in the loose dusty stuff.Ive not looked into the Mary.

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They're phenomenal in loose dusty stuff. They are so unbelievably controlled once sliding. You should get a pair and just go balls out intentionally setting your bike into loose drifts whenever possible. Be sure to put a lot of weight on the front wheel when you do this. The more weight you push onto the front, the better they behave.

I'm not sure why (actually, I know exactly why and I doubt he's even ridden them) there's so much e-hate for the HD. I think it's a pretty damn good tire. Great grip, seems to wear well in my experience although I've mostly only ridden it in the front. I know quite a few people who ride respectably fast and seem to share the same opinion.

I'm running a front super gravity on my trail bike which has been seeing a lot of time on the valley trails at whistler and various other places around the area. No real complaints about it, it sealed up tubeless with a floor pump and no sealant, it still looks new after 15 or 20 rides, and it has that nice dead feeling of a DH casing tire. I also have a pair on my FR bike and a front evo on my wagon wheel, no issues with either of those but they don't have as many miles on them either.

Says the guy who lives in whistler and hasn't even pinned the run in to dwayne johnson yet.

Go to outerbike and we'll settle this desert style!!!!
by then I'll figure out what that means

the HD is very good on loose flat corners, but i have felt myself start to push thru the corner knobs as the trail gets more committed to the fall line.

the minion is great on steep fall line trails, but less engaged where the HD is most at home.

i think the HD is a solid choice for xc trails and big bermed bike park trails. less at home the rockier and steeper and blown out the trail gets.

really wish i could get 1000g 2.35 UST BBG and 800g 2.1 UST BBG. perfect blending of both. sad pants.

WTF is a BBG, who cares.........


This thread is about how awesomely the hans dampf stays controlled in loose terrain. Not even a fair comparison to a minion dhf........outdated relic.

harumph!

I've put some miles in on Hans Dampfs, my wife has a Super Gravity one as a rear tire on her DH bike, and a friend uses them front/rear on his DH bike.

For a DH tire, the Super Gravity version is probably 80-95% as durable as a standard dual ply DH tire, IME. As far as tread, the HD rolls pretty fast and works fairly well in most conditions I've ridden it (granted, that includes very little soft, wet, loamy). As far as cornering, I greatly prefer to cut the transition knobs. Opening up the transition area seems to help them corner much better, especially when the terrain gets loose.
And, compared to a standard dual ply DH tire setup, they do save around a pound off the bike when switching. As soon as the Magic Mary/Rock Razor Super Gravity combo is available, it's going on my DH bike.

As far as backwards sideknobs...the Muddy Mary grips like velcro when mounted correctly. When mounted backwards, the grip is terrible. When you guys look at knobs, remember, a tire is flexing and twisting quite a bit when you're actually cornering. If you look at pictures of people actually cornering hard on DH bikes, the tire has quite a lot of deformation, and not just vertically.

SCARY said:

Ive been on the minion forever.Just wondering how the dampf compares traction-wise.
Itd be cool to lose 400gs' of rolling weight if their were no real downside to it.

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You can crash and break parts and have personal tragedies to belligerently air out to total strangers on the internet on either tire. They'll both perform the same for that.

I have a Hans Dampf on my giner hardtail. It was definitely the best aggressive 29" tire out for awhile, though now maxxis offers 2.5" dhf, 2.3" DHR2, 2.3" HR2, so not anymore.

HD side knobs tear off easily. I normally start to lose sideknobs on DHFs on my DH bike, and they are way stiffer and better supported. HD is good, all around trail tire, but in no way a substitute for a DH tire.

kidwoo said:

Says the guy who lives in whistler and hasn't even pinned the run in to dwayne johnson yet.

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Is that a black? My tires are holding me back from riding anything harder than blues.

kidwoo said:

Go to outerbike and we'll settle this desert style!!!!
by then I'll figure out what that means

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I don't know, that seems like a lot of money to get judged by you in person. I can get it for free on the internet. That'd be like paying for porn and no one does that these days.

marshalolson said:

...
i think the HD is a solid choice for xc trails and big bermed bike park trails. less at home the rockier and steeper and blown out the trail gets...

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Been running the HD Super Gravity all season on my RFX, bike gets used mostly at Highland which does have big berms everywhere. Tires been great so far and the loss of weight from my old Michelin DH tires is very noticable. I never warmed up to the Minion but to be fair I only used it one season back in 2003 in what they called the SLOW REZAY compound and it was likely not the best conditions for it that year as it was likely the wettest/muddiest DH season in the past 25 years, ended up switching back to the Michelins as they were designed for wet/mud. These days I don't ride as much steeps/natural terrain as the drives are too far and Highland is so close, plus my 12 year old is a bike park junkie who hates the natural rough stuff but to be fair he's still on a HT.

dfinn said:

I don't know, that seems like a lot of money to get judged by you in person. I can get it for free on the internet. That'd be like paying for porn and no one does that these days.

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Come on, I'm bringin' whiskey.

We got winter plans to formulate.

dfinn said:

I don't know, that seems like a lot of money to get judged by you in person. I can get it for free on the internet. That'd be like paying for porn and no one does that these days.

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wouldn't the analogy be more along the lines of buying a hooker? vs. looking at porn for free?