Tried a mates uni with a DHF and it rolled fast and was very grippy at the same time.
Just wondering is there a preference for the front or the rear tyre.
I’m currently running schwalbe tyres which are awesome but also I liking the way the maxxis roll.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
I think in theory front tires are preferable, in practice I’ve seen people happy with both dhr and dhf.
To confuse matters further, mountainbike riders also run both tires on either wheel, dhf front and rear, dhr front and rear, dhf front and dhr rear are all seen, only dhr front and dhf rear seems to not be done. (Some say the r stands for race and the f for freeride, not front and rear).
I’d keep it simple, you know you liked the dhf, so get that in your desired casing and compound and call it a day.
I remember Roger saying that a rear tire is the right for a unicycle due to carcass compressing while needed and not while breaking. But I’m not sure
+1 to this, I think when taking the physics of a uni into mind and unless you’re doing the most extreme of mini they will probably be really similar in performance.
I think that would be because the unicycle has both braking and accelerating forces, same as a rear tire on a bike. (That is why unicycles with a disk brake are spoked like a rear wheel)
I might be off, but I don’t think many bike tires are actually build directional in the casing, so for most this is more a theoretical consideration.
The reason I would lean towards front tires is them being a bit more designed for turning, but as said, a lot of (probably most) tires are commonly used on either wheel on a bike.
It seems to me that some muni riders prefer rear tires because they have center knobs that give better traction. This gives better grip when the slope is very pronounced whether it is downhill or uphill.
Anyway, some time ago @makym advised the maxxis minion DHR rather than the DHF for this reason. I had a DHF (29x3), and then I bought a DHR (29x3). I think both tires are great, but I think the DHR has better traction, for riding muni’s with elevation changes, it seems better. I’m not an expert on muni’s though.
DHR with central knobs
DHF
I mounted my 4.8" Minion DHR on my new Hatchet backwards to give me better grip while under load going uphill on snow packed trails.
I would think that a rear tire mounted in the proper direction would be preferred for serious downhill muni as braking is the main action and the tread forms catches that help keep a better grip while braking.
General riding would benefit from a tread with centre knobs where a smoother ride is a bigger priority than grip.