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That maxxis tire they just came out with that no one seems to give a shlt about

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
Thanks. Great review.


What's your preferred technique for trimming tires, in terms of physically doing the cutting? I've thus far avoided it by just buying tires that work for what I want but on one of my bikes I'm running into a situation where nobody makes exactly what I want so I want to try some tweaking.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,010
1,145
El Lay
Thanks for the well-written review and tips on trimming.

I have been riding (well, was riding; injured at the moment) this tire for a bit, and agree with your results on cornering and braking.

Thing is, my "local hill" is ~700 feet of lung-busting non-steepness, so the quicker rolling DHF on front and back is still my standard.

But for any trip out West, I will be on the DHRII rear, and eagerly look forward to testing the tastefully trimmed (not shaved) DHRII on the front.
 

Optimax150

Monkey
Aug 1, 2008
208
0
Japan
What was the reveiw about? The old DHR or the Minon? Didn't say anything about the new DHR, just it has arrived and he's been riding them a lot.
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
The review was regarding the Minion DHR II. As opposed to the Minion DHF or original Minion DHR.
 

ustemuf

Monkey
Apr 8, 2010
198
15
Bay Area
i give a ****, which is why i have been running one on the back. i agree with your entire review and was really happy with how it has performed, even in the "dirt" at NorthStar. the beefy side knobs really are apparent. coming from a highroller in the back, it's awesome to have braking abilities again.

i was wondering why the heck i couldn't run it in the front. didn't look like you cut off too much, can barely even tell from the original. how much better did it even get from that small of a trim?

right now i have a HR II on the front, but i think after reading your review i might snag another DHR II and try the trim. thanks for writing that up.
 
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HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
Like it says in the review, the trim was to open up the side channel between the center and corner knobs to allow the corner knobs to really dig in properly. If that space is filled with stupid intermediate knobs, when you lean the bike, it ends up riding on those, and the edge of the corner knobs can't dig in and hold. Opening that space up helps the tire hold under aggressive cornering.
 

ustemuf

Monkey
Apr 8, 2010
198
15
Bay Area
Like it says in the review, the trim was to open up the side channel between the center and corner knobs to allow the corner knobs to really dig in properly. If that space is filled with stupid intermediate knobs, when you lean the bike, it ends up riding on those, and the edge of the corner knobs can't dig in and hold. Opening that space up helps the tire hold under aggressive cornering.
Yeah I asked a dumb question, I read now it's to make it similar to the channel on the DHF. It seems like such a little bit of that lower intermediate knob wouldn't interfere with the big ole side lugs if you're cornering hard, but it does make sense. I'll give it a shot, I have another DHR II on the way.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Yeah I asked a dumb question, I read now it's to make it similar to the channel on the DHF. It seems like such a little bit of that lower intermediate knob wouldn't interfere with the big ole side lugs if you're cornering hard, but it does make sense. I'll give it a shot, I have another DHR II on the way.

The correct answer is "less than you think" with regards to how much to trim. My first inkling was to cut off a good bit and honestly....it sucked. It made for a really squirrely transition zone and it lost a good bit of the braking traction. I have no idea what I cut off in terms of millimeters but just start sparingly. Somewhere along the lines of not quite as narrow as the rest of the knobs in the center strip. Leave those siped brake knobs just a tad wider.

As far as what I use.....I'm too stubborn to hunt down a tire knife for some reason but those things really are the shlt. I use end cutters from a hardware store. Not because they're better but just because I already own the end cutters and not a proper hot knife.

But like I said in the review: 'trimmable tires' don't usually mean jack to me because that's pretty much every crappy tire. But these are pretty badass and a little more worth it than most....especially for a front. As a rear, they're pretty good to go.
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
As far as what I use.....I'm too stubborn to hunt down a tire knife for some reason but those things really are the shlt. I use end cutters from a hardware store. Not because they're better but just because I already own the end cutters and not a proper hot knife.

But like I said in the review: 'trimmable tires' don't usually mean jack to me because that's pretty much every crappy tire. But these are pretty badass and a little more worth it than most....especially for a front. As a rear, they're pretty good to go.
I didn't know those were a thing but now I want one. Awesome.

I totally agree, the only reason I'm expressing the newfound interest is that, despite my typical aversion to big wheels and stupid new standards, I have a bike that I do think would benefit from 650b wheels. The upcoming Pacenti Mega Moto actually looks pretty good, except he's talking about adding some transition knobs to placate XC weenies or some ****, and I'd want those gone.



Edited to add picture of current version that doesn't look like it needs moar knobz but is evidently getting them anyway.
 
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kidwithbike

Monkey
Apr 16, 2007
466
0
Hoboken, NJ
I didn't know those were a thing but now I want one. Awesome.

I totally agree, the only reason I'm expressing the newfound interest is that, despite my typical aversion to big wheels and stupid new standards, I have a bike that I do think would benefit from 650b wheels. The upcoming Pacenti Mega Moto actually looks pretty good, except he's talking about adding some transition knobs to placate XC weenies or some ****, and I'd want those gone.



Edited to add picture of current version that doesn't look like it needs moar knobz but is evidently getting them anyway.

While I am interested in a big blocky tread for a 27.5, upon a second look, I still think those Pacenti side knobs are angled too far out, and would need pretty radical lean angles to get them to engage.
 

Pslide

Turbo Monkey
Great review Kidwoo. I didn't realize Maxxis had released the DHR2. Looks like they got this one bang on. Now they just need to combine the Minion cornering knobs with the original HR center for a fast rolling option. Or bring back the Bling.

As for tire cutting, I've tried a lot. The big heated element carving guns they use for car tires are useless on bike tires...they are too big and deform the small knobs too much. Depending on what I'm cutting, I'll use some type of snips, sometimes a sharp blade, and sometimes a dremel with a small sanding wheel. I recently modified every knob via Dremel on the Bontrager FR4 to try and make it work...goes relatively quickly but you ingest a lot of bad smelly stuff.
 

Raingauge

Monkey
Apr 3, 2008
692
0
Canadia
Nice review. I'm going to have to try these out this summer. I was going to go with the DHF front and rear that everyone else uses until I read this.
 

Ithnu

Monkey
Jul 16, 2007
961
0
Denver
i give a ****, which is why i have been running one on the back.
i was wondering why the heck i couldn't run it in the front.
I can't stand HRs, haven't even bothered with the HR2s. I agree with you, DHR is wonderful having some braking power on back. And I got curious and ran a DHR on front...definitely doesn't roll as fast but I found it far more predicable in a corner than a HR and on par with the DHF. Strange huh? But that's me, some think I'm crazy but a few agree. For you others, it's worth a shot.

I always felt the DHF needed a bit more bit in the transition from the center to the side and the DHF2 seems to have addressed that. I'm going to try DHF2, DHR2 on both ends of the bike. I think Maxxis made improvements on both.

To each their own.
 

S.K.C.

Turbo Monkey
Feb 28, 2005
4,096
25
Pa. / North Jersey
Woo, THAT was hands down one of the best tire reviews I've read since... well, your last review of the HR2... LoL.

It pretty much has everything riders need and that custom trim for the DHRII to make it behave more like a DHF when using the DHRII as a front tire was brilliant. I'm willing to bet the guys at Maxxis saw that and freaked b/c if I'm right, your cut is probably EXTREMELY similar to what they have laid out for the DHFII...

...and by the way - it may seem like the DHRII has gone unnoticed by the masses, BUT not by the guys who count on tires the most.

Bryceland at Ft. Bill a few weeks ago:

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/fort-william-bumper-world-cup-bike-gallery-2012.html#slide-4



...from the looks of it he appears to be running a 2.4 DHRII in back and a ST 2.7 Minion DHF up front...
 
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ustemuf

Monkey
Apr 8, 2010
198
15
Bay Area
I can't stand HRs, haven't even bothered with the HR2s. I agree with you, DHR is wonderful having some braking power on back. And I got curious and ran a DHR on front...definitely doesn't roll as fast but I found it far more predicable in a corner than a HR and on par with the DHF. Strange huh? But that's me, some think I'm crazy but a few agree. For you others, it's worth a shot.

I always felt the DHF needed a bit more bit in the transition from the center to the side and the DHF2 seems to have addressed that. I'm going to try DHF2, DHR2 on both ends of the bike. I think Maxxis made improvements on both.

To each their own.
DHF II ?? huhhh??

i was going to run a 2.7 DHF up front to match with the 2.4 DHR II in the rear... but i'm going to try this trimmed DHR II up front first now instead.

where is this magical DHF II you are talking about? Link?
 

S.K.C.

Turbo Monkey
Feb 28, 2005
4,096
25
Pa. / North Jersey
Optimax and ustemuf - the DHFII is in development at this time and is unavailable, at least as far as I know. I think Ithnu may have made the incorrect assumption that since the DHRII was out the DHFII had also been released, but this is not the case... yet.
 

Ithnu

Monkey
Jul 16, 2007
961
0
Denver
Optimax and ustemuf - the DHFII is in development at this time and is unavailable, at least as far as I know. I think Ithnu may have made the incorrect assumption that since the DHRII was out the DHFII had also been released, but this is not the case... yet.
Yeah, thought they were both out, I thought I remembered seeing spy shots of them a while ago.

Jeebus you guys jump on miss information fast!
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Given you had some issues both with HR2 and DHR2 which one of them seems better cornering wise and on what surface? I feel like I should be able to read that from your review but cant seem to compare it and since my current HR1 is bald and sends me off the track waay to often I need to find something new.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Given you had some issues both with HR2 and DHR2 which one of them seems better cornering wise and on what surface? I feel like I should be able to read that from your review but cant seem to compare it and since my current HR1 is bald and sends me off the track waay to often I need to find something new.
You normally ride in a bunch of wet stuff right?

I'd say hit that HR2.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
I would say moist, for wet I still prefer spikes, not enough skill for that pro idea of running HR everywhere. Though this season was dry-ish but that is mainly due to the fact that I will probably spend a lot of time in Maribor this year.

Still I need to try them. Will probably stock up before the next trip. Thanks
 
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