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Complete Guide to Downhill Rubber

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
Rode that shorty in some mostly dry dirt that was definitely harder than its intended use...worked pretty damn good...it was awesome in the loose rocks...threw it on last week because it had been wet but I ended up not being able to ride until this week and it was pretty much bone dry again...almost took it off but Im glad I didnt...with the semi slick in the back it was pretty fast too...
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
Anybody else who was running slaughters tired a minion ss?? Ive been running one and its pretty good but I cant decide if one is better or not...I kinda feel like the minion doesn't have as good of climbing traction as the slaughter and I don't get as much feeling when transitioning to the side knobs...kinda hard to explain but I feel like the minion doesnt have as much of a pronounced difference in feeling between the center tread and side knobs... kinda feels like the slaughter drifts more initially but then hooks up harder...

Also Ive been riding about a 1/4 as much as usual the last few months and have been slightly off my game so it's kinda hard to judge whether I'm just not pushing as hard or what...also with the climbing traction I've been off the pace a bit so maybe Im just not carrying as much momentum as usual...interested in hearing other peoples opinions on it...

Reason for trying it was I was killing the braking edge of the sideknobs on the slaughter super fast...the minions have a bit more rubber there so they seem to have been holding up better...
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,068
1,307
Styria
I never got it why they are there at all, they are totally contradictionary to what you told the world was done right in your DHR2 review :brows:
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,068
1,307
Styria
I may be stupid but at least I'm consistent.
And so far nobody proofed otherwise, regarding your tire tread wizzdom of course. :cheers: :nerd:

It's a shame the Slaughter tiny wheel version is still not available in the old world, trails are dry, no snow to be seen this winter.
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,068
1,307
Styria
You're not really in Syria are you?
The last time I checked, no, definitely not. Too many first world problems like where to buy the latest shit in homoeopathy, landlords trying to keep out hikers and bikers from the woods, comedians trying to become the next President around here. And of course Arnie!

Not to forget my personal struggle to buy overpriced Taiwanese rubber products for by industry's standards mediocre 26 wheels.
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
Cut deez nuts off
Honestly I dont know if it's a bad thing...it feels more consistent than the slaughter..Im going to have to mount a fresh one and try it back to back....definitely think they should have spaced the center tread a bit wider...it's dryer and looser than last week when I posted about the climbing traction...now I can definitely say it doesn't climb as well...

Wish they used Larsen TT center tread with minion side knobs....Ive been wanting that tire for years...that or just rerelease the larsen in 650b exo...

Have one of the new 2.5 Minions to try...The shorty finally let me down yesterday now that its back to bone dry in the most marbley loose over hard corner...was hooking up great until it wasnt...
ss-slaughter.jpg
 
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kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I don't get as much feeling when transitioning to the side knobs...kinda hard to explain but I feel like the minion doesnt have as much of a pronounced difference in feeling between the center tread and side knobs... kinda feels like the slaughter drifts more initially but then hooks up harder...
To fix this^^^^^^^^...................


Cut dem nuts off.
 

DaveW

Space Monkey
Jul 2, 2001
11,216
2,740
The bunker at parliament
I don't even know what brand that tire is, but the little tiny transition knob makes me laugh.

It's a new tyre from Maxxis.
The 2016 Kona Explosif's came with them front & rear this year.
If I brought a bike that had them on I might try 1-2 runs with one on the rear but I'd never run one on the front.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,224
4,479
It's a new tyre from Maxxis.
The 2016 Kona Explosif's came with them front & rear this year.
If I brought a bike that had them on I might try 1-2 runs with one on the rear but I'd never run one on the front.
side knobs inspired by the original tioga psycho :P
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
For anyone interested in the new 2.5 Minion "Wide Trail" on regular rims (i25) I got one last night...pretty much identical in size to a 2.4 HR2 so it should work well...was going to try it tomorrow but it's raining now so I'm going to leave the shorty on....
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,523
19,531
Canaderp
@wydopen What casing are those in?

I need some serious input on 27.5 tires. I want to go back to the Minion, but using their small 2.3 sized tire kind of sketches me out. I love the volume of my 2.4 Ardents. Something similar but with Minion tread would be great.
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
@wydopen What casing are those in?

I need some serious input on 27.5 tires. I want to go back to the Minion, but using their small 2.3 sized tire kind of sketches me out. I love the volume of my 2.4 Ardents. Something similar but with Minion tread would be great.
They are EXO which for me is plenty. I just mounted it though and I'm a little leery about the profile on i25 rims. Super round. Casing is about the same size as the hr2 2.4. Treads a full 2.5 but it's much rounder. If I can get my bike dialed before my kids wake up in Goin to try it right now. If not I'll let u know how it feels after I ride it tomorrow. It looks huge compared to the minion ss 2.3 in the rear.
image.jpg
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
I think the 2.4 hr2 is hard to beat. I love that tire in 60a. I don't understand how people think it's sketchy. Things on rails for me.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,523
19,531
Canaderp
@wydopen how'd they do? Though I think those widetrail tires would be much too round on my rims.

I've got DHR II's in my shopping cart, maybe I'll just go with those?

Are the 2.3 DHR II's a little bigger in volume than the DHR in 2.35?
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
@canadmos It wasn't bad actually but I need to ride it on a different trail for a good comparison...what I rode was super steep and always is somewhat sketchy feeling....maybe my braking traction wasn't as good but it felt ok in the turns...

How wide are your rims?...If you want something a bit wider than the 2.3's the hr2 2.4 is pretty big and its nice and square.....I havent ran an original DHR in years..
 
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wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
They are EXO which for me is plenty. I just mounted it though and I'm a little leery about the profile on i25 rims. Super round. Casing is about the same size as the hr2 2.4. Treads a full 2.5 but it's much rounder. If I can get my bike dialed before my kids wake up in Goin to try it right now. If not I'll let u know how it feels after I ride it tomorrow. It looks huge compared to the minion ss 2.3 in the rear. View attachment 121609
Remounted my 2.4 Hr2 and realized the profile really isnt that different between the two...guess I had it in my head that the "wide trail" was gonna be super round
photo.JPG
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
Is the wide trail thing any lighter?


If not, they made them why exactly?
Actually I forgot to post that...yea it feels pretty light...definitely feels flimsier than the HR2 or shorty I compared it to...also it was the loosest fitting 650b maxxis tire Ive ever mounted...went on with no tire levers and I had to pull the valve core to seat it with the compressor...I usually have to put some force into breaking the bead loose when changing a tire but this thing popped right off...

The reason they made it was because the only previous maxxis tires that worked as a front tire with i30 rim was the 2.4 Hr2....the minion 2.3 was unrideable in my opinion...On my 26" bike I had the light-bicycle rims which at the time were i27...I never had any problems with tires...when I went to 650b I wanted the same ones but at the time their only strong rim was i30...I got it and it was fine with my usual 2.4 Hr2...when I tried a 2.3 minion I literally washed the front end 3 times on my after work loop which usually feels like Im on rails...I posted about it before but basically the casing sticks out farther than the side knobs...I went back to i25 rims and couldnt be happier

Honestly I think they finally caved in to my barrage of email asking them for a wider minion and semi slick...I used to email them once a month asking and what do you know a year later they release them...although I was asking for the semi slick to be a larsen tt center tread with highroller side knobs..
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,523
19,531
Canaderp


Side view of these 27.5 DHR 2's, in 2.3 sizing. Not as big in volume as my 26" 2.4 Ardents, but bigger than 2.35 Minion in 26"..I think.
 

MmmBones

Monkey
May 8, 2011
272
84
Porkland, OR
I have been running some 26" x 2.5 Shorty WT's on Blunt 35's (30mm internal width, made in the USA) and they work really well. I use pressures that I usually run in 2.35-2.5 DH tires and they don't have any scary tire roll when cornering hard. I tried them on 23i rims but the roll was very noticeable unless I ran higher pressures. Installation required removing the valve from the stem to seat the bead but they both sealed up nicely once seated. Interestingly, the tires don't have a WT "Dentist Identification" patch amongst the numerous other logos
1212de60-7a07-4173-beb9-990e47def611.jpg

^ Here are the 2.5 WT Shorty's mounted to 23i (left) and 30i (right) rims.

I have some 2.4 DH Shorty's and they appear to be the same tread and the casing is almost identical in size, but the EXO casing seams to stretch out more than the dual ply when inflated and end up a couple mm wider.
 
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canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,523
19,531
Canaderp
very nice and all, but son, i am disappoint in your utter lack of logo alignment.
Lets go with: due to the sticker placement on the rimz and tirez, these have been nano-optimally aligned for maximum gyroscopic efficiency and balance of the rotating assembly.

In other words, ENDURO BRO YOLO.

(will fix).