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The High Roller II is a popular trail tyre for a reason. It’s grippy in most conditions, corners brilliantly, and is happy being run front or rear. 109
VERDICT We tested ten set of tyres and these are our favourites (the rest of the reviews will appear online, soon). As we suspected before starting this test, there was no one tyre that stood head and shoulders above the rest. There were tyres that excelled in softer loamier conditions, tyres that flew up the climbs, and those that were indestructible on sharp rock. However, every tyre was compromised in some small way, and, therefore, finding the right tyre for you is a question of striking that balance between the riding characteristics you find important. Likewise, the terrain you spend most of your time on has a huge part to play – if your local trails are predominantly steep and rocky, with less emphasis on the climbs, then you’re naturally going to favour a tougher tyre that’s more resistant to pinches and cuts. Conversely, if your trails are more undulating you’ll be after something with less heft or with a lower profile tread so you can focus on maintaining speed. This goes some way to explain why you often find cliques of riders in an area all rocking the same tyre – once someone lands on a winning combination, word soon spreads and it can be hard to branch out and try something new. However, don’t be completely swayed by what your riding buddies say. One huge factor that revealed itself through our testing, was how different riders prefer different shaped tyres – even for tackling the same terrain. Now this might sound obvious, but bear with us… some riders responded better to a tyre with a rounder profile – the more gradual transition to the cornering knobs helps to build confidence and gives a more consistent grip on a range of terrain. On the other hand, some riders prefer a much squarer tyre with a definite transition to the cornering edges. This type of tyre rewards a more aggressive riding style, but it can be harder to get the most out of them and it can be unnerving if you aren’t used to it (and we’re not even going to start on how different rim widths can affect tyre profiles). There’s no getting away from it, we’ve had a lot of punctures in this test, but, interestingly, they weren’t restricted to the lighter tyres. A few of the flats were due to a combination of rider error and bad luck, but some were most definitely down to the tyres. Whether it’s because they encouraged us to hang things out a bit more and hit the trails that much harder, or if there was something else at play, one thing was clear – punctures suck, and those few hundred grams you’ve saved by fitting featherweight rubber are worth nothing when you’re at the side of the trail getting reacquainted with a tubeless repair kit. We’re not suggesting that you all rush out and fit downhill tyres, but at the same time don’t overlook those burlier tyres in the ranges. As manufacturers find new ways to make tyres more durable without adding excess weight, you might be pleasantly surprised by the additional grip and control available. Finally, one thing we can totally recommend, and that’s clubbing together with handful of your mates, and buying a few different tyres between you. Hand the tyres out and ride them for a few weeks, then pass them on to the next person – it doesn’t take as long as you think to swap tyres out, and by comparing notes against your fellow riders, you’ll gain so much more knowledge, get a great insight into why some tyres behave the way they do, and hopefully discover a tyre combo that works for you. THE COMPETITION To read the full review of each and every tyre you see below, keep your eyes peeled on singletrackworld.com over the coming weeks. Continental Der Kaiser Projekt 2.4 Protection Apex £74.95 Continental UK, conti-tyres.co.uk Specialized Butcher GRID 2Bliss Ready £35 Specialized UK, specialized.com/gb Kenda Honey Badger £40.69 Moore Large & Co, moorelarge.co.uk Vee Crown Gem £41.49 Upgrade Bikes, upgradebikes.co.uk Schwalbe Hans Dampf Super Gravity £64.99 Schwalbe UK, schwalbe.com/gb WTB Vigilante TCS Tough High Grip £45.99 Hotlines, hotlines-uk.com 110
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Into China. A bleary, jet-lagged st
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Wailing welding solos on the wah-wa
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Building Boris. Our afternoon visit
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Laying up the slices of carbon, rea
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Final holes are drilled, post mould
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Our final stop was to see the sampl
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JASON MILEs PHOTOGRAPHY ED ROLLASON
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TRAIL HUNTER EXPLORES THOSE MUST-DO
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That’s LegoLand down there in the
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Soon to be railing corners on the w
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We climb higher. Al leads the way,
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Pick a better day for weather, we d
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Balls. The walkers, sensing blood,
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RECOMMENDED HERE AT SINGLETRACK TOW
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TROY LEE DESIGNS RAID KNEE PADS Pri
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TOPEAK RATCHET ROCKET LITE NTX Pric
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WORDS CHARLIE THE BIKEMONGER ROOM 1
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KILLER HARDTAILS Wil and the crew r
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KONA HONZO CR TRAIL DL Price: From:
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NUKEPROOF SCOUT 290 RACE Price: Fro
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TRILLION CYCLES PRIME Price: From:
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Page 62 and 63: VERDICT In a marketing landscape th
Page 64 and 65: ENDURO BAG “To finish first, you
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Page 68 and 69: Bright coloured photo-gimp avengers
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Page 72 and 73: Illustration by BEATE KUBITZ 72
Page 74 and 75: Mmmm Guinness. We didn’t bother c
Page 76 and 77: CROWN COPYRIGHT The Knowledge Total
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Page 80 and 81: KEITH BONTRAGER “Strong, light, c
Page 82 and 83: Keith, we were talking about the co
Page 84 and 85: It’s 15 years since we last inter
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Page 88 and 89: And finally, Keith, you made your n
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Page 92 and 93: Hangover remedy: A single dose of s
Page 95 and 96: A Hopton, a skip and a jump. Hopton
Page 97 and 98: Essential fuel for any aspiring que
Page 99 and 100: HI-TECH RUBBER James Vincent and th
Page 101 and 102: STEP INSIDE MY LAB Tyred and Tested
Page 103 and 104: 102 The tough casing on the TRSr ty
Page 105 and 106: BEST SUMMER TYRE MICHELIN WILD ROCK
Page 107 and 108: 106 At 1150g, the Hutchinson Toro i
Page 109: BEST ALL ROUNDER MAXXIS HIGH ROLLER
Page 113 and 114: PREMIER DEALERS. Bike shops and bus
Page 115 and 116: DISCOVER AN EXTRA 32 PAGES OF EXCLU
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Page 119 and 120: Rise and shine! Our two guides pick
Page 121 and 122: After the descent we continue down
Page 123 and 124: Island hopping and a change of scen
Page 125 and 126: Snack-time, Azores style. Formosa f
Page 127 and 128: The Azores The Azores are a group o
Page 129 and 130: IAn BAILEY PHOTOGRAPHY IAN AND FRIE
Page 131 and 132: In the clearing, Matti, our guide,
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Page 137 and 138: Not the bars he had in mind. Hike-a
Page 139 and 140: A sprinkling of magenta on a cloudy
Page 141 and 142: What goes up… In proper ’90s st
Page 143 and 144: 142 Those fat tyres just glide over
Page 145 and 146: There’s far too much order in tha
Page 147 and 148: ChIPPs LAST WORD Event organisers a
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