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Complete Guide to Downhill Rubber

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HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,592
2,028
Seattle
kidwoo said:
After 263 years of trying to make bike tires they might have finally done that.

make a bike tire I mean

You can tell by the braking edges vs. sipe directions they still don't know what they're doing but it looks like a promising accident.
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Wow yeah those look like they might actually work.

I wonder if they have casings or rubber worth a shit.
 
JustMtnB44

JustMtnB44

Monkey
Sep 13, 2006
857
124
Pittsburgh, PA
I need new tires for my DH bike and haven't bought any for a few years. Did they suddenly become hard to get? I'm looking around and there are lots of Enduro / beefed up trail tires but what about classic dual ply wire bead DH tires, is that not a thing anymore? There are a few but not as many as I remember.

I've generally stuck with the Minion DHF / DHR combo, is there a good reason to consider anything else? Those new WTB tires linked above look decent but aren't any cheaper than Minions so IDK.
 
dump

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,491
5,160
JustMtnB44 said:
I need new tires for my DH bike and haven't bought any for a few years. Did they suddenly become hard to get? I'm looking around and there are lots of Enduro / beefed up trail tires but what about classic dual ply wire bead DH tires, is that not a thing anymore? There are a few but not as many as I remember.

I've generally stuck with the Minion DHF / DHR combo, is there a good reason to consider anything else? Those new WTB tires linked above look decent but aren't any cheaper than Minions so IDK.
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Where are you looking? This is what you're describing.
https://www.jensonusa.com/Maxxis-Minion-DHF-26-3C-DH-Tire
https://www.jensonusa.com/Maxxis-Minion-DHF-275-DH-Tire
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,807
5,640
Ottawa, Canada
So it looks like the (winning) pros have turned to e-bike technology to win...

(hint: it's the rear tire). supergravity casing to boot... he must have had an insert in there. With that spray of sealant in the upper woods section, there's no way he would have been able to finish the race (and win it!) without an insert... no?!

moar linkys
 
toodles

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,858
5,229
Australia
slyfink said:
With that spray of sealant in the upper woods section, there's no way he would have been able to finish the race (and win it!) without an insert... no?!
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I'm 99% sure that wasn't sealant - that was steam from the puddle hitting his rotor.
 
Bikael Molton

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,088
1,235
El Lay
Looking forward to gday mate, though I’m not sure how diff it will work from a DHR2 other than longer lasting side knobs.

Also looking forward to trying a folding assguy this winter.
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,807
5,640
Ottawa, Canada
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,807
5,640
Ottawa, Canada
djjohnr said:
Yup, I was looking at the wrong article. He was on DHFs at Maribor - https://m.vitalmtb.com/features/WINNING-BIKE-Loic-Brunis-Prototype-Specialized-Demo,2672
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I find it odd that they chose to run DHR2 in Leogang and DHFs in Maribor. I thought the DHF was more of a dry-condition specialist, while the DHR2 is more of an all-conditions type tire, and that the DHF rolls faster? As I recall, conditions in Maribor were more mixed, and there were a lot more roots.

I wonder if it's because the braking was more important in Leogang and the DHR2 brakes much better than the DHF?
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,807
5,640
Ottawa, Canada
slimshady said:
I think they privileged speed over grip there. The track is pretty tame, with the notable exception of that rooty section in the middle and the "shimano stair" where Loris went down.
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You're referring to Maribor? Loris went down there too?! (man... I should maybe think of replacing him in my Fantasy Team...)
 
slimshady

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
Dec 20, 2007
5,735
3,588
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
slyfink said:
You're referring to Maribor? Loris went down there too?! (man... I should maybe think of replacing him in my Fantasy Team...)
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Sorry, bad quoting + worse reading = shitty answer :banghead:. I mistook the DHR2 for the DHF, and I was talking about Legoland.

Now going to your original post, I thought DHF offered better traction on corners while DHR/DHR2 rolled faster. The F in DHF allegedly means "Freeride", while the R in DHR stands for "Racing".
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
42,149
13,358
Squirtin ketchup n' mustard on charred flesh
slimshady said:
Sorry, bad quoting + worse reading = shitty answer :banghead:. I mistook the DHR2 for the DHF, and I was talking about Legoland.

Now going to your original post, I thought DHF offered better traction on corners while DHR/DHR2 rolled faster. The F in DHF allegedly means "Freeride", while the R in DHR stands for "Racing".
Click to expand...
F = front
R= Rear

colin bailey was racer guy through and through.
 
slimshady

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
Dec 20, 2007
5,735
3,588
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
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Bikael Molton

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,088
1,235
El Lay
My experience has been that DHR2s offer better braking grip at the expense of a little bit of rolling resistance vs DHF. The F and R designation is a cock up in my view, though KidWoo is right about the history.
I’d run a DHF in the rear and a DHR2 in the front gladly, the other way around not so much. I think they corner about the same.
 
maxyedor

maxyedor

<b>TOOL PRO</b>
Oct 20, 2005
5,496
3,141
In the bathroom, fighting a battle
Maxxis told us way back in the day when I worked at a shop it was Freeride and Race, though I think that may have been a favor to OEMs because a lot of them had specc'd the same tire at both ends. The DHR has only ever worked as a rear for me, where the DHF work on both ends, DHR2s up front was almost as bad as a Hookwork.
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
42,149
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Squirtin ketchup n' mustard on charred flesh
slimshady said:
Well, that kinda throws off everything I read about those tires.

Just an example:

https://singletrackworld.com/2017/07/review-maxxis-minion-dhf-dhr-ii-wide-trail-3c-tyres/

https://ridemonkey.bikemag.com/threads/difference-between-minion-dhr-and-dhf.176287/
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This person is a moron
Traditionally, DHF = Front, and DHR = Rear. Well actually, the ‘F’ originally stood for ‘Freeride’, and the ‘R’ stood for ‘Race’.

And Acadian rides fixies


so there


Both of those tires came out at the same time, a time when colin bailey was very much racing for team maxxis (a race team not a freeride team). The design of each lends itself very well to that front and rear designation (I said the same thing in that 2007 thread). The rear has lots of surface area on top of the knobs to roll fast, pivot on the rear wheel in tight turns, and front was obviously channeled out for cornering, with sipes on the center knobs to grip on banked turns. Just because a dhf works great on the rear doesn't mean anyting. All tires kind of work on the rear.

The dhr2 exists because the dhr1 was largely a piece of shit. Sucked for braking AND cornering, which is quite an accomplishment for a rear tire. So they made one that corners similarly to the dhf and has way more braking grab.
 
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kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
42,149
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maxyedor said:
Maxxis told us way back in the day when I worked at a shop it was Freeride and Race, though I think that may have been a favor to OEMs because a lot of them had specc'd the same tire at both ends. The DHR has only ever worked as a rear for me, where the DHF work on both ends, DHR2s up front was almost as bad as a Hookwork.
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"Maxxis" told you that or a 24 year old rep making $10/hr told you that?
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
88,944
27,129
media blackout
kidwoo said:
This person is a moron
Traditionally, DHF = Front, and DHR = Rear. Well actually, the ‘F’ originally stood for ‘Freeride’, and the ‘R’ stood for ‘Race’.

And Acadian rides fixies


so there


Both of those tires came out at the same time, a time when colin bailey was very much racing for team maxxis (a race team not a freeride team). The design of each lends itself very well to that front and rear designation (I said the same thing in that 2007 thread). The rear has lots of surface area on top of the knobs to roll fast, pivot on the rear wheel in tight turns, and front was obviously channeled out for cornering, with sipes on the center knobs to grip on banked turns. Just because a dhf works great on the rear doesn't mean anyting. All tires kind of work on the rear.

The dhr2 exists because the dhr1 was largely a piece of shit. Sucked for braking AND cornering, which is quite an accomplishment for a rear tire. So they made one that corners similarly to the dhf and has way more braking grab.
Click to expand...
look at it this way: there's a reason there's a DHR2 and not a DHF2.
 
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