Narrow & Wide. Is this a good combo on an MTB?

[DR ◣◢]

Over the weekend I damaged the sidewall on my trusty old Hans Dampfs. Not impressed to be honest but it turns out when I purchased them I opted for the normal Snake Skin sidewalls which offers ok protection instead of great protection. 

 

So off to the shops I went to ensure I could still ride on Sunday but I couldn't find anything in the shops in JHB other than a 2.6 Butcher and 2.3 Purgatory. My bike can max handle a 2.4 in the back and I thought the 2.6 front (more like a 2.4 but higher) would be cool. 

 

However.... Apart from making my bike look like a "stanced" Polo from Brakpan I also found the handling to be weird with the narrow & wide combination. Maybe it was just too extreme of a combo but I couldn't get the bike to sit right into corners, especially the ones pointing down. The grip on the butcher is great though and so is the purgatory. 

Technical climbs with tight corners also felt weird. 

 

Expensive mistake for me. Will keep the purgatory as a spare for the Spez in the house and I've advertised the butcher.

 

Do you run a narrow wide setup? 

Why?

Does it work well for you?

[Thermophage]

What sidewall did you get in the Spez tyres, because GRID is going to be very similar to Snakeskin.  Love my 275x2.6 Butcher Black Diamond casing out back down south. Straight line grip is unreal and it rolls just fine (or I'm a sucker for 60km rides on big bikes).

So yeah as for narrow/wide....don't believe the width or try to compare the widths from manufacturer to manufacturer - so we all just need to actually be careful doing this. See it too often and few ppl have bothered to verify the manufacturer's claimed width.

 

Maxxiss (pre 2.5 WT) had a habit of measuring up way narrower - well at least on my vernier anyway.

My Schwalbe Magic Mary (Supergravity and Snakeskin [sSkin is poo except maybe up front]

I had measured at their advertised 2.35).

My recent Spez purchases, Butcher BD and Eliminator GRID and BD have all measured up pretty close to the 2.6 advertised actually.

 

At present I'm running my old front Mary 2.35 SG out back and a Spez Elim 2.6 up front. In love is all I can say. I ran em the other way round for a few weeks, but the Eliminator down here doesn't make nearly as nice a rear tyre as it does a front one on our general hardpack with kitty litter over the top.

I can't pretend I notice a diff between wide front narrow rear or the other way round.

 

Pity you can't fit that Butcher in the rear...its bloody great

[porqui]

And I thought it was all about gearing ?!

[LazyTrailRider]

At present I'm running my old front Mary 2.35 SG out back and a Spez Elim 2.6 up front. In love is all I can say. 

 

The 2.6 Eliminator on my bike is also the best front tyre I've used. Very strange that it's marketed as rear-oriented...

[Chadvdw67]

2.5 Minion DHF in front, 2.5 Ardent on the back, works well enough for me

 

Edit, it's a 2.4 Ardent at the rear

Edited October 29, 2020 by Chadvdw67

[Grease_Monkey]

The 2.6 Eliminator on my bike is also the best front tyre I've used. Very strange that it's marketed as rear-oriented...

 

In more loamy conditions it is the ideal rear tyre combined with something in the front with larger lugs that are more spaced out.

 

In SA though, I find the Eliminator to be the perfect front tyre. The lower lug height and consistent spacing between lugs make it a very predictable tyre but still fast rolling in loose over hard conditions. I run the 2.6 Grid in the front, 2.6 Black Diamond in the rear. Spacing for the rear is a bit tight when it's muddy, but okay in dry conditions. 

[DR ◣◢]

Good feedback so far. 

 

If anyone is looking for a Butcher Grid 2.6 x 29 with 28km done let me know. Wasn't a cheap exercise at all.