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Hans Dampf or Trail King?

22K views 132 replies 42 participants last post by  sundace 
#1 ·
I'm looking for a new pair of shoes for the Chili. I have been a fan of the Specialized tires, specifically the Butcher SX. The Butchers are not the best rolling tire, wear very quickly, but have not let me down. They are good and durable, and don't have transition knobs. I tend to square off corners and compress hard to get the tires to dig. I recently replaced the front tire with a Purgatory Control 2.3 and a Ground Control 2.3 GRID and was blown away by the weight savings and the decreased rolling. I felt like I was on a new bike. However, when we hit Holbert, the front tire (675 grams) did not inspire confidence. I felt like I had to hold up a bit and smash stuff. Not to mention, the 2,3 Specy tires are tiny and my Chili just looks plain strange with XC like tires :)

Both the HD and TK seems to get rave reviews. I would go with either the 2.4 UST TK or the HD TSC front, PSC back, EVO, snakeskin, blah blah blah. My main concern with the HD is the weight, something like 785 grams??? I have also seen them come in at 890 grams?? So which is it?

I have never been a fan of the TK line of tires, but after seeing Rock Dudes bike at Knollfest, the shear massive size of the TK would be nice, and it looks aggressive. Rock Dudes brand new TKs looked brand new at the end of the weekend while RDHs HDs looked like they had a good months worth of riding on them.

You guys have seen the terrain we ride, what do you think?
 
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#107 ·
Has anybody cut a pair of HansDampfs?

I like the tire, until the speed picks up then i find it tends to wash out with the front seeming to go away the most.

I know that Danny Hart ran his SuperGravity versions with the intermediate knobs cut.

Been thinking about trying this myself.

Thoughts?

michael
 
#118 ·
BigBettys are my goto DH tire.
When it does get a bit wetter, then a MM goes on front.
If it is wet but not mud, then a MM on the rear as well.

My normal hill is clay, so they don't run in the wet...
...the BB does great on the hard-pack clay, limestone and loose slate, but with enough left that it will bite nicely in damp conditions. it will pack up quickly if the conditions are too wet, but it does quite well on wet rock and roots (rubber choice as usual plays a role)

michael
 
#120 ·
Have done a cut, but did the "Danhny Hart" cut - where you remove the 4 "intermediate" knobs in the alternating block
Gives a nice open channel between the side and centre.
Trimmed about 2/3 of the way down.
On initial ride, I like it, but I have not ridden them in anger yet.

Will take a pic, and hopefully if we get a bit of sun, be able to go for another ride. Will report back when the mud firms up.

michael
 
#128 ·
hey guys!!!

i am about to buy a big betty 2.4 for the rear.

till now i run a 2.35 hans dampf pacestar, but it wore out fast and it wasn't very pliable.

questions:

1. is the 2.4 bb wider than the 2.35 hans dampf? i am quite close with the hd in the rear triangle.

2. is the big betty (folding , not tubeless edition) tubeless ready? the site doesn't indicate it.
 
#132 ·
Taking a closer look the two tires seem to have similar volume. The tread pattern on the BB makes it bigger than the HD.

The HD is the better roller between the two. The BB feels like a much more aggressive tire. It is a much better breaker as well. Right now I am running the BB up front and HD out back. Seems to be working well.
 
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