# Anyone have DHRII on the front?



## richj8990 (Apr 4, 2017)

I currently have four directional tires mounted and two are backwards lol. Just realized that. Both of the backwards tires are pretty worn so I'll just keep them like that until they are done, no big deal. Does kinda make me wonder how things would be if they were always properly mounted, and at one time they probably were but I really didn't notice a difference. But now that I'm looking at other tires when these wear down, one front and one back, I'm reading that some people deliberately but their tires on backwards, or they put a Maxxis Minion DHRII on the front. Some dudes run DHRII / DHRII. Why? Supposedly there are two advantages and two disadvantages with a backwards directional tire like a DHF (the DHRII on the front will be discussed later):

Advantage one: the paddle knobs backwards help climbing. This could be very interesting on an e-bike. Personally I'm much more interested in climbing with an e-bike than going downhill so this would be a big plus. 

Advantage two: more grip. More grip is always good, no?

Disadvantage one: higher rolling resistance due to the paddle knobs being backwards. On an e-bike, who cares, it's heavy anyway. Plus Maxxis Minions are heavy tires to begin with, so this disadvantage is a moot point.

Disadvantage two: braking is slightly impaired (although IMO it should be increased if the paddle knobs are backwards, because the wider bar-like start of the paddle is facing forwards and will bite during braking). As with the higher rolling resistance, this should not be an issue compared with the e-bike's greater weight. 


Now...compare the above to putting a DHRII on the front. The DHRII has wider 'brake' bar knobs in-between the paddle knobs, and smaller paddle knobs, that in the proper direction, do also point forward just like the DHF. Supposedly climbing and braking is better with a DHRII on the front (properly mounted). So would you put on the DHRII backwards also for climbing??? Do you think the DHRII, either forwards or backwards on the front rim, would climb better than a DHF backwards on the front rim? Why?

I'm also looking at the Maxxis Shorty but I think that would be on the back only.


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## mtbbiker (Apr 8, 2004)

My bike came from Intense Front DHRII EXO+ 29x2.6 and rear DHRII EXO+ 27.5x2.8. They came mounted normal and I never changed the direction of the tires. I experienced 3 flats on the rear tire. The rear braked great, never slipped on techy steep climbs, 2.8 is cushy, good hookup in turns. For me, I’ll be upgrading to DD casing and probably try another different rear tire. 

The front zero flats, SO CA trails (dry & loose) good turning traction, good braking, strong and compliant tire. It gave me no reasons to worry it would not hook up in a turn. Once worn, I’ll try a different tire as I like to experiment. 

Summary: rear IMO needs at least DD casing, but good tire. Front good tire, no complaints.


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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

We see that, occasionally a person mounts one **the wrong way** and discover the result is to their liking. Some tires will offer more grip to climb(my fun part, small challenges to myself). Some riders focus on braking power, there are no rules. Some use 2 front tires. Some use 2 studded, some studs front only. I have less pressure rear, i need max grip to climb. We have our own fun, speed is not on my list.


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## Forest Rider (Oct 29, 2018)

Tire on my dirt bike is mounted backwards (front). Seems to handle okay for my riding level.

A lot of road motorcycle tires appear to be mounted backwards (design is somewhat opposite). That seems mostly true of the train grooves, the differences of how a tire pushes through water vs. how the power wheel needs to have better traction vs. braking. I can't recall which direction though. But I had to research a set of tires cause they looked wrong. Come to find out, there were many questions posted to the internet of a few brands of tires that appeared to be different.

Point: maybe a rear tire will net better results when mounted in opposite direction when used on a front tire. Consider when we pedal, the trailing edge is meant to scoop the ground. However, the front tire should have the leading edge scoop the ground during braking.

Sounds like our opinion is similar as to why it could be better.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 1996)

richj8990 said:


> I currently have four directional tires mounted and two are backwards lol. Just realized that. Both of the backwards tires are pretty worn so I'll just keep them like that until they are done, no big deal. Does kinda make me wonder how things would be if they were always properly mounted, and at one time they probably were but I really didn't notice a difference. But now that I'm looking at other tires when these wear down, one front and one back, I'm reading that some people deliberately but their tires on backwards, or they put a Maxxis Minion DHRII on the front. Some dudes run DHRII / DHRII. Why? Supposedly there are two advantages and two disadvantages with a backwards directional tire like a DHF (the DHRII on the front will be discussed later):
> 
> Advantage one: the paddle knobs backwards help climbing. This could be very interesting on an e-bike. Personally I'm much more interested in climbing with an e-bike than going downhill so this would be a big plus.
> 
> ...


This is a great idea. All Santa Cruz Hightowers get shipped this way and before I realized it, I thought Hightowers cornered so well.

What was happening is the DHR IIs brake so well that cornering speed is very easy to control. The downside is straight line tracking and slow rolling resistance.

For ebikes, rolling is not a biggie. But the braking could be a very big benefit!!


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## jpzeroday (Jul 27, 2016)

I am running 2.6 dhrii exo+ front and rear with Cushcore on my Heavily modded Levo Expert. Both the cornering grip and traction under power are exceptional. I keep railing corners harder and harder and have not found the limit. No rear spinout on steep and loose climbs. And the additional travel and damping if the 2.6 v 2.5 makes the bike so smooth on the chunky. 

Tried a 2.5 dhf front and an aggressor rear. This was a poor combo. Aggressor rear is not a good match for eMTB, IMO.


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