Tyres....

[Martin PJ]

If you ask ten people about tires, you'll get ten opinions. However, all will tell you to go tubeless.

 

If you are skilled you can ride any tire, if not a nice grippier tire up is better.  I like the Conti X-King upfront, but that's my opinion.

 

Ride the lowest pressure you can without bottoming out your rim, this depends how light you are on the bike. If you like to smash through everything, then you probably not going to be able to go too light.

[Schnavel]

Crossmarks don't go around corners very well...

 

You should definitely get different tyres. As many have suggested, get a bigger tyre for the front and go tubeless

[Patensie]

I run a minion dhf/crossmax mix on my hardtail works well enough. Dhf is draggy, but grips. Crossmark must just keep up at the back. It is not a front tyre. I prefer the onza ibex to the dhf on the front (but many will disagree). There is always the magic mushroom mary...

[Yazpeter]

I read up alot on the minion dhf and many say they the ultimate front tyre ? Some pros run them. Can you confirm its that good ? After today's trail Im convinced it's my tyres as I kept slipping around corners even with lower tyre pressure.

[PhilipV]

Lets be honest, crossmarks really are crap if you give it a bit of spice in a corner.

But the best tyre in the world won't make a difference if your technique is bad.

[V18]

DHF is arguably the best front tyre if all out grip is your goal. It's a heavy tyre and the compound is prone to wear. It allegedly has a lot of rolling resistance. May not be the best choice for all. If enduro race days are your thing...sure. If you want a bit of all round goodness...keep that one for the shuttle day and enduro scene. That being said. I'd run it all year round because I'm lazy to change things up.

[Long Wheel Base]

I run crossmarks on my commuters, they bullet proof and roll really well on the road(for a mtb tyre). But that is all they good for IMHO. Tubeless is also not negotiable.

[Thermophage]

The DHF is good, the Spez Eliminator in Control casing is better. Very round in profile but sticks like snot and comes in 2.3 as well.

Meaning it has very consistent grip no matter the lean angle. the DHF has a so-called "death gap" between the centre and side knobs which for a less experienced rider may feel sketchy AF when you get there. You need to go past that point to corner on the side knobs which can feel very disconcerting. 

The Eliminator is now my tyre of choice front (and rear if it cam in 275 in the right casing).

They come in 2.3 and 2.6 in three different casings from floppy XCO/XCM (Control) to intermediate (GRID) to what I would love is Spez RSA had a clue (Black Diamond). SO same tread pattern, diff sidewall stiffness for different types of riders. Go to Spez Tygerberg, grab one and love riding your bike again.

[Chadvdw67]

Little bit of a thread jack, need some advice on the same topic, my bike also has crossmark 2 (29 x 2.25) tyres, tubeless has been done. Bike is a hardtail, I run the pressures at 1.8-1.9 up front and 2.0-2.1 at the rear, I am around 108kg and I enjoy some rocky trial riding, I am still pretty slow, and tend to ride fairly carefully, trying to choose lines etc, and the tyres have been fine up till now, my last ride had a couple near misses with the front end washing quite a bit. Seen on this thread that a couple guys run an Ardent upfront with a Crossmark at the back, how well does this work? Any other suggestions for a decent front that wont empty my bank account?

[Thermophage]

Little bit of a thread jack, need some advice on the same topic, my bike also has crossmark 2 (29 x 2.25) tyres, tubeless has been done. Bike is a hardtail, I run the pressures at 1.8-1.9 up front and 2.0-2.1 at the rear, I am around 108kg and I enjoy some rocky trial riding, I am still pretty slow, and tend to ride fairly carefully, trying to choose lines etc, and the tyres have been fine up till now, my last ride had a couple near misses with the front end washing quite a bit. Seen on this thread that a couple guys run an Ardent upfront with a Crossmark at the back, how well does this work? Any other suggestions for a decent front that wont empty my bank account?

As my post above. Specialised Eliminator 2.3 Control on the front. Ardent on the back. Toss teh Crossmark in the bin

[Jehosefat]

Minion DHF in the front seems like overkill if you are doing cross country. Personally I run a DHR front and Forekaster rear (I might try an Ardent on the rear once it wears out). This is probably slightly overkill but I'm doing it for fun not to win.

 

With this combo I know that if I take a dirt nap is almost certainly because I've run out of talent 

[Robbie Stewart]

Crossmark's are just plain rubbish tyres.

 

Get yourself some proper tires. As has been mentioned a couple times already, Vittoria Barzo / Saguaro combo for the win, both in terms of grip and fast rolling.

 

The END.

 

(I have experience on Maxis Crossmark's and currently run the Vittoria combo on my Hardtail)

[Robbie Stewart]

Specialised Eliminator 2.3 Control on the front. 

 

Do you know who sells them around here? (not that I have looked, but according to the Specialized SA website, they are listed, but not priced) - I am interpreting that as not in stock?

 

I need to replace my Spez tires, which are sitting on 4240 km and counting...my rear Ground Control is beginning to blister.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Do you know who sells them around here? (not that I have looked, but according to the Specialized SA website, they are listed, but not priced) - I am interpreting that as not in stock?

 

I need to replace my Spez tires, which are sitting on 4240 km and counting...my rear Ground Control is beginning to blister.

From any Spaz store, really. Best bet in CT itself is Revolution Cycles as they're more likely to have stock in store.