I run Continental cross king and mountain king on a 100mm travel bike. My bike feels a little underbiked for me for the wiss but then again I know folks riding the place well on fully rigid bikes so maybe anything goes!
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Ran a Rekon 2.4 as a rear and a Minion DHF 2.5 up front this eve. I was pretty impressed with the Rekon actually, not quite as much bite as an aggressor but rolls so much faster almost everywhere. I rode a pretty steep trail this eve and it was pretty decent. I get what you’re saying about always pedaling on your terrain so I’d definitely opt for the Rekon over the aggressor fwiw.
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Have you tried a DHRii on the front? Apparently a popular pairing with the newer Dissector out back.
I might try this combo once the current DHF/Aggressors wear out (27.5 2.5WT on my trail bike). The DHF/Aggressor is a solid combination for all the stuff I ride (Nox, Allair, Wiss, High Rocks, High Bridge, Round Valley, Allamuchy).
SS HT has 29 x 2.4 Rekon/Rekon They are fine for all of those trails, but thinking about putting something even faster rolling on when these wear out.
The Dissector seems to be a newer maybe better agressor as a rear, and the DHR2 seems to roll a bit faster than the DHF. A buddy of mine runs this combo, I may see if I can borrow them for a ride or two
Assegai may be just a bit slower than I want, if that even matters
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Mondraker Dune 27.5 - 160mm all-round.
Summer: Front Maxxis DHF, Rear Maxxis Minion SS/Agressor
Winter: Front Maxxis Shorty, Rear Maxxis DHF/DHR
Cushcore/Rimpacts also.
I do almost all of my “weekend” riding in the Frederick Watershed which is–from what I gather–very much like Pisgah. Nearly everyone I ride with runs Maxxis Minions (29 x 2.3 or 2.5 with the Exo casing). I’m the odd man out: I just can’t do it. It’s like having snow tires on my bike.
I run 29x2.3 Specialized Fast Trak on the rear, and 2.3 Specialized Ground Control up front. Since east coast technical stuff is all rocks all day, you need the GRID casing. Otherwise the rocks will open up your sidewall like a cheap windbreaker caught on a nail.
Note: I’m not the lightest or most skilled rider I ride with, and I get fewer flats than folks in my group that run these freeride monster tires. I’m actually faster through the twisty stuff. Literally the only conditions I feel like a “beefier” tire would give me an advantage is in deep mud.
I think @Cleanneon98 and @DocSavage have the right idea–a lot of folks figure more is more, and why not pick the “most capable” tire if you’re not aiming for a podium, but I do think sometimes the inclination to over-tire is a real thing…
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Maybe. My guess is that you have way more rocks and I have way more gravity to contend with. I’ve ridden a lot of east coast but almost none in MD. I started riding in upstate NY with a lot of rolling terrain and descending that still required pedaling to maintain momentum. In WNC it’s typically a long grind of a climb followed by a fairly long (true) descent.
Tires are so good now compared to even a few years ago, even “over-tiring” would be a hard sell for me at this point. Your riding style, preference and trail choice are all determining factors. If you missed it, I’m also into running relatively fast tires given my goals for the occasion.
Conversely I’m also a big fan of tire inserts, lower pressure, wider rims and WT tire profiles at this point. When I go back to XC style treads, it takes me a bit to find that traction loss point, but the rolling resistance improvement makes other aspects of the ride pretty fun so… to me tires are just a case study in compromise.
Anyway, I’ll report back when I test some more tires!
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Curious where you ride? My buddy’s XR3 were nearly bald hence the lack of tread lol. They seem like a decent pick though
I had an XR3 on the rear. Traction was fine, but same issue, tread wore out quickly. Switched to a Cross King. Longer tread life. Rolling resistance seems pretty good, and I think I prefer the traction vs the xr3.
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Mostly the north of England plus Wales and Scotland. Variety of ground, locally it’s either limestone (smooth and lethal when wet) or gritstone (a type of very coarse, rough sandstone). Tracks are a mixture of old packhorse routes which have a surface like broken pavé or grass/mud/grinding paste. None of your hero dirt! Usually get a couple of years out of the Bontys, maybe 3-4000km per year. My riding’s mainly old skool long distance XC rather than technical downhill/enduro.
Did have a Maxxis Minion on the rear of the HT when I bought it but didn’t like it at all, felt very “squirmy” at all pressures.
It’s all personal preference though and I don’t have the funds to be trying out a different set of tyres every couple of months so since I’m happy with the Bontys I’ve no real need to change.
Thanks for the replies guys.
@DaveWh I’m just too OCD to run two different brand tires, but I’m still not sure on the XR3. The XR4 doesn’t feel slow, at least in a 2.4 at my pressures, so I’m not sure if it’s worth stepping down in a sense. Maybe just do XR4/4 again or try a 5 up front but seems like the 5 would be overkill for what I ride and I just need technique. Or maybe I could try the 3 out back just not sure how much faster it’ll be practically speaking
@bobw curious why you mix tires, kind of same question as above: why not just do an XR3 or XR4 front and rear same tire? Is it to be able to break the back loose first or does it actually feel/perform measurably faster?
You need more grip on the front so that will be, for example, a 2.3" XR4. On the back you don’t need as much grip so an XR3 will do, it also doesn’t need to be quite as wide so I’ll use a 2.2".
On the flat/going uphill your weight is further back so you’ll get a bit extra grip from that but also the rolling resistance won’t be quite as much as with a knobblier tyre so that’s a benefit. Going downhill it’s the front tyre that’s doing most of the work and the one that you really don’t want to wash out.
There are a few tyre “sets” around that have front and rear specific tyres. If you look at the tread patterns on those you’ll see that the rear specific one will have a lot of studs in the centre, so much in some cases it’s almost continuous - that gives you better rolling resistance. The front tyre on the other hand majors on studs away from the centre line so you get grip when you corner. I know these are fat bike tyres but possibly easier to see the difference - https://45nrth.com/products/tires?category=fat-tires look at the patterns on the Flowbeist (front) and Dunderbeist (rear) tyres. Incidentally on my fat bike I run 45nrth Vanhelgas which are directional but I run the rear tyre “backwards” - the studs have one face that’s vertical and normally should face to the rear when at the bottom of the tyre but I have the ramped face to the rear as it’s less aggressive and so doesn’t dig into soft snow quite so quickly. That means I’m able to ride longer before having to let air out. That’s the theory!
All that’s before you get into the subject of rubber compounds 
Because of what I ride, I tend to go with the lightest tread I can get away with because low rolling resistance is more important, rather useful more often, to me than high grip. If the majority of my riding was aggressive riding at trail centres then I’d have different priorities. The Maxxis Ikon is popular with a lot of ITT riders, very similar in tread pattern to the XR2.
Generally, as riders, we are lucky in that there’s such a good choice for whatever type/style of riding you do. The problem is actually picking one (or two).
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Maybe i can find an XR3 and pair it with the existing XR4 I have up front. I don’t want to go too XC leaning for a tire since I don’t really have an XC bike (fuel ex, not top fuel) so seems kind of silly to put race tires on a party bike. Then again I don’t really know if the XR3 is a true XC tire, maybe light trail?
Weight wise the XR3 is only 35g or so lighter than the 4 so also not sure if that’s enough to care about
I’m a Conti fan boy and haven’t seen them mentioned with too much passion yet. I live in a pretty flat part of the country so I’m a fan of a Mountain King up front and a Cross King out back. The MK just got updated and I have not ridden the new tread pattern. I love the black chili on damp rocks and roots and I don’t think that aspect of the Conti MTB line is talked about enough.
It’s odd because I’m all Conti road all day every day but their MTB stuff just never really tickled my fancy. I think for the longest time their tires were not TLR so I just never kept up with the models and the reviews about them. I tend to see all the main brands mentioned often like Maxxis, Victoria, Michelin, even smaller ones I never heard of like Terravail and Enzo, but conti seems to be swept under the rug.
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You could opt for the Minion DHF instead. It rolls quite a bit faster than the Assegai, and it’s a staple for a reason! I run mine in the “flimsy” EXO casing, but with Rimpact tire inserts (100grams), and it’s like riding with velcro in turns
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Totally different animals but I’ve used the Ardents which has that bit of an empty transition zone and didn’t like it. The DHF amplified this and I think I prefer something with even knob spacing like the XR4 below. I also hear the DHF is best if you’re really leaning into those side knobs and everything I ride is a bit more intermediate so not sure that’s the best tool for the job for me since I’d spend most of my cornering in that empty transition zone
There’s definitely some truth to that “empty” zone before the DHF grips. But I find it to be minimal. Never have an issue with the tire slipping before hooking up. And I don’t think you have to go at light speed with massive bike lean to take advantage of the cornering grip either. They seem to work best on hard and loose over hard. I don’t think they are good in muddy or loose sandy conditions.
The Aggressor is a great tire too. Especially as it is a fast rolling tire, but still retain decent braking and cornering abilities.
