I've got 2 hard days on an old school, big vert DH mountain on the new Assegai (front tire only - I've got a Mary out back going belly up real fast). Running it on the front of a Giant Glory. Set up tubeless on a freshly built dT FR570. Conditions are extremely non-buff. Steep, off camber, rooty, rocky, bouldery, etc. Non-parky if you catch my drift. Some slow tight tech, some wickedly fast, sketchy, open slope stuff - very drifty if you use just a bit too much brake, and even if you don't use much brake.
The Assegai replaced a Super Tacky DHF (DH casing of course). I've also run Magic Marys up front, and have one on the rear right now (but its dying a quick death - typical of Schwabs).
So, to the point... This tire rocks (up front, putting one out back soon). It grips extremely well. Even on the sketchy loose, open slopes, at high speed I was able to front brake hard with no washing out. It corners well. What I look for in a DH tire is grip and durability. This tire has plenty of grip, at least on drier conditions.
Setup. The tire is a kevlar bead, even in the DH casing, and is noticeably lighter (nice). It set up tubeless well and about as easily as possible with a tire insert (I run FTDs as my local hill eats rims). As above I ran it on a dT FR 570 which is about an i27. The tire is suppose to be made for an i30-35, but I've found this to be a non- issue. Heck, its about the same size as a DHF 2.5 and that tire has been on ridiculously narrow rims. I would not be suprized if I saw shots of pros riding this Assegai on the pro-popular dt EX471. Yeah, I suppose its not the size of the tire but rather the knob spread, but, whatever.
Roll. I hear it is a slow roller, but since I've run our mountain chainless, a slower rolling tire is welcome as it will save me brake pads. For buff park riding, where it might be pedally, the tire may be overkill. I will say it rolls no slower than a Mary however, and they didn't seem to slow down several of the pros who rode them. In fact, I could definitely feel the lightness of this tire when it came to pedaling the bike up to speed compared to a Mary.
Wear. After two long DH days the tire (up front) remains in great shape. Total vertical DH'd in two days was just shy of 30,000 feet. The knobs are very tall and even if they wear fast, they should last long as there is a lot of rubber there. We will see how they do out back.
Grip. Pretty much covered that above. But, I am use to a Super Tachy up front and I'm quite sure the durometer blend on the Assegai is not Super Tachy. Its been fine for the recent dry weather, but when the rain comes, and it always does, we will have to see how it does on the wet, off camber roots.
So, for DH, the Aggessai will replace the DHF up front. That is saying alot. I expect it will also replace my usual DHR2 out back. While the straight line braking of the DHR2 beat the DHF out back, I never did like its noticeably smaller girth at 2.4". The Assegai has grip similar to a Mary, but wears much better, and is noticeably lighter on the bike - so long Mary. From a practical standpoint, running the exact same tire on both ends makes life a lot easier. Keeping only one spare DH tire around will be nice.
I still feel mountain biking is all about the trail. Heck, I'd rather ride a Huffy on good trail, than, well you get it. Reviews are also very dependent on conditions. So, to add to this review I'll post a link to very nice video of the mountain, to give you idea of the conditions. Don't know the riders in the video, but wish I did - they make a nice flick, and appear to be pretty good on a bike.
Will try to post back when I run this new tire out back.
Now, if I only new how to say, "Assegai" !!!
The Assegai replaced a Super Tacky DHF (DH casing of course). I've also run Magic Marys up front, and have one on the rear right now (but its dying a quick death - typical of Schwabs).
So, to the point... This tire rocks (up front, putting one out back soon). It grips extremely well. Even on the sketchy loose, open slopes, at high speed I was able to front brake hard with no washing out. It corners well. What I look for in a DH tire is grip and durability. This tire has plenty of grip, at least on drier conditions.
Setup. The tire is a kevlar bead, even in the DH casing, and is noticeably lighter (nice). It set up tubeless well and about as easily as possible with a tire insert (I run FTDs as my local hill eats rims). As above I ran it on a dT FR 570 which is about an i27. The tire is suppose to be made for an i30-35, but I've found this to be a non- issue. Heck, its about the same size as a DHF 2.5 and that tire has been on ridiculously narrow rims. I would not be suprized if I saw shots of pros riding this Assegai on the pro-popular dt EX471. Yeah, I suppose its not the size of the tire but rather the knob spread, but, whatever.
Roll. I hear it is a slow roller, but since I've run our mountain chainless, a slower rolling tire is welcome as it will save me brake pads. For buff park riding, where it might be pedally, the tire may be overkill. I will say it rolls no slower than a Mary however, and they didn't seem to slow down several of the pros who rode them. In fact, I could definitely feel the lightness of this tire when it came to pedaling the bike up to speed compared to a Mary.
Wear. After two long DH days the tire (up front) remains in great shape. Total vertical DH'd in two days was just shy of 30,000 feet. The knobs are very tall and even if they wear fast, they should last long as there is a lot of rubber there. We will see how they do out back.
Grip. Pretty much covered that above. But, I am use to a Super Tachy up front and I'm quite sure the durometer blend on the Assegai is not Super Tachy. Its been fine for the recent dry weather, but when the rain comes, and it always does, we will have to see how it does on the wet, off camber roots.
So, for DH, the Aggessai will replace the DHF up front. That is saying alot. I expect it will also replace my usual DHR2 out back. While the straight line braking of the DHR2 beat the DHF out back, I never did like its noticeably smaller girth at 2.4". The Assegai has grip similar to a Mary, but wears much better, and is noticeably lighter on the bike - so long Mary. From a practical standpoint, running the exact same tire on both ends makes life a lot easier. Keeping only one spare DH tire around will be nice.
I still feel mountain biking is all about the trail. Heck, I'd rather ride a Huffy on good trail, than, well you get it. Reviews are also very dependent on conditions. So, to add to this review I'll post a link to very nice video of the mountain, to give you idea of the conditions. Don't know the riders in the video, but wish I did - they make a nice flick, and appear to be pretty good on a bike.
Will try to post back when I run this new tire out back.
Now, if I only new how to say, "Assegai" !!!
