Levo Gen 3 OEM tyres

[Binhill1]

There’s nothing like a tyre thread to get people going!

Ultimately, like so many things in biking (and life!), do and use what works for you, for where and how you ride.

I’d never bin a tyre that came on a bike without at least giving them a go, but I know what works for me on my trails and that’s all there is to it really.

I don’t expect to project my favoured tyres onto anybody, and I don’t expect people to tell me I purchased the wrong tyres or I’m a crap rider either. Even though I might be!

A ride on a crap tyre is still a ride, so all good, as long as you keep your teeth and bones intact.

Only one I regret buying was a ebike specific Swalbe on front. It will go on back when I need one there. I'm gradually taking it easier as I get older so a lot of what I read on here is irrelevant to me. Or maybe after 37 years offroad cycling I am just really good at it

 

[George_KSL]

T9 Butcher might also be good for someone budget conscious (..is that a thing for people in Specialized E-bike section though :- ) ?:
1) It's cheaper to begin with than competition, although in EU with the constant tyre discounts from big German e-shops, this is bit of moot point.
2) It lasts lot longer than other sticky tyres because it's both slightly higher durometer, compensated by the slower rebound, but it's also single-compound, so no matter the wear, it retains similar ride quality. That cannot be said for a lot of Tripple-Compound tyres like my older E13 TRS Race, which I otherwise liked, but the stickiest compound was literally few mms on top of side knobs... it was gone while the tyre still had 80perc. of its life. The Butcher for all its budget design, is smartly designed.

I do get the 2.3(really, same width as 2.5 Assegai), vs high-volume 2.6 version dilemma, same with other brands, Assegai 2.6 being only Maxxterra (and special harder durometer Maxxterra than the 2.5 version, they don't even mention it!) and Kryptotal 2.6 only existing for RE version, not the Assegai-like FRont version.

Specialized Butcher is maybe the only high-volume tyre you can also get with strong sidewall (Gravity version) and sticky compound. It may still not be best choice for aggressive riding, each time I tried the 2.6 version I loved the comfort but clenched my teeth railing the corners.. the balloon volume just don't imply much confidence, maybe on 40mm rim, but those are gone mostly.

 

[InRustWeTrust]

Complete redesign in 2022 and waaay better so throw out what you remember. The only carryover is the name. Try a Butcher T9 up front and you might be pleasantly surprised. They also cost way less than many other leading brands, at least here in the US.

ok, I'll save them and test when the tires I have now are worn out

 

[Aussiefx]

Who uses the Spesh Butcher and Eliminator that come with the Gen3?

Are they any good?

I used to ride various Maxxis on my previous analog MTBs but was never really happy with any of the combos I tried. I was blown away by how much better the OEM combo on the Levo was. So much so that when Specialized were having a buy one get one free sale, I stocked up with a couple more. I love them.

 

[gibbers]

Wanted to swap mine out when i first got the bike but once riding them they are fine. I have read they are not so good in the winter but im more than happy to keep them on for the summer and wear them out until the worse weather arrives!

 

[Ark]

Btw, is there dh-version of Assegai/DHR2 with anything else than MaxxGrip?
MaxxGrip at rear wears too fast.

There's wired dual compound listed but i can't find it anywhere in Europe.

no.
double down seem more than up to it though imo for the rear.

 

[brigcampbell]

I was able to order directly from their website. I'm in the US

Homepage

 

[Kimmoi]

no.
double down seem more than up to it though imo for the rear.

Just ordered DHR2 HD Dual compound from Germany. Wired version.

 

[Coedwig]

I have the stock tyres and had an off in the wet on gravel. Not sure if it was the huge sidewind or the tyres losing grip either way I’ve a broken elbow as a result.

What tyres are best on wet rock and roots? Not much mud where I ride but plenty of stone and lots of wind and rain.

I was thinking Schwalbe or Continental but which ones?

Cheers.

 

[kawamaha]

I was thinking Schwalbe...

Magic Mary ultra soft or Maxxis Assegai maxxgrip

 

[Kimmoi]

I have the stock tyres and had an off in the wet on gravel. Not sure if it was the huge sidewind or the tyres losing grip either way I’ve a broken elbow as a result.

What tyres are best on wet rock and roots? Not much mud where I ride but plenty of stone and lots of wind and rain.

I was thinking Schwalbe or Continental but which ones?

Cheers.

Specialized Cannibal. Much better than Maxxis Assegai MaxxGrip. Assegai may lose grip very suddenly even on a dry rock. Assegai is a good tyre but has one big fault: it might washed out suddenly without any warning on any surface. Haven’t figured out why and what causes that.
Cannibal is very logical and grippy tyre. No surprises.
Best front tyre what i have had.

 

[irie]

Specialized Cannibal. Much better than Maxxis Assegai MaxxGrip. Assegai may lose grip very suddenly even on a dry rock. Assegai is a good tyre but has one big fault: it might washed out suddenly without any warning on any surface. Haven’t figured out why and what causes that.
Cannibal is very logical and grippy tyre. No surprises.
Best front tyre what i have had.

Not an experience I have ever had with Assegais nor one that I recall having seen anyone else here describe.

What compounds and tyre pressures have you used, what conditions do you ride in, what eBike and suspension are you on, and how much do you weigh?

 

[Kimmoi]

Not an experience I have ever had with Assegais nor one that I recall having seen anyone else here describe.

What compounds and tyre pressures have you used, what conditions do you ride in, what eBike and suspension are you on, and how much do you weigh?

As i said MaxxGrip compound. 1.6bar is my pressure on front, same pressure with Cannibal. I ride in Finnish woods. Wet and dry. Rocks and roots. Mud and sand, etc. Enduro style riding mostly.
Bike is Turbo Levo, Fox 36 with Marzocchi coil internals. But that's not relevant; Assegai is not good as Cannibal, same gears. Weight is 72kg in my birthday suit.

As i also said, Assegai is a good tyre. But it's not good as Cannibal or Butcher. It does not have a any single better feature vs. Spesh or Schwable tyres.
And that sudden washing out is a big problem, i can't rely on Assegai.

Also Cannibal has better damping than Assegai, Assegai has good damping also though.

These are very personal things/experiences and i just wonder all that Assegai hype with my point of view.
It's good. But not great. There are many better tyres out there.

My point of view Cannibal is the best there is at the moment. For my ridings. Someone else thinks same way about Assegai.

 

[kawamaha]

There are many better tyres out there.

Many? Well, I have not tried that many tires, but the most important thing for me is the compound.
Assegai, DHR, DHF? I don't care much... Maxxgrip is the key
And if I would run 1,6bar I wouldn't have any grip. But I know there is no tire pressures that fits everyone...

Nevertheless I will try the Cannibal

 

[irie]

As i said MaxxGrip compound. 1.6bar is my pressure on front

1.6bar is 23.2psi.

I'm 76Kg on bathroom scales, Trek Rail with Zeb Ultimate A2 and Ohlins coil.

I first rode Assegai Maxxgrip with 24psi/1.65bar and found the tyre moved around too much, it felt 'squidgy'.

After increasing pressure to 26psi/1.8bar the tyre does not move around instead relying more on compound and tread for grip.

Edit: more

 

[p3eps]

As i said MaxxGrip compound. 1.6bar is my pressure on front, same pressure with Cannibal. I ride in Finnish woods. Wet and dry. Rocks and roots. Mud and sand, etc. Enduro style riding mostly.
Bike is Turbo Levo, Fox 36 with Marzocchi coil internals. But that's not relevant; Assegai is not good as Cannibal, same gears. Weight is 72kg in my birthday suit.

As i also said, Assegai is a good tyre. But it's not good as Cannibal or Butcher. It does not have a any single better feature vs. Spesh or Schwable tyres.
And that sudden washing out is a big problem, i can't rely on Assegai.

Also Cannibal has better damping than Assegai, Assegai has good damping also though.

These are very personal things/experiences and i just wonder all that Assegai hype with my point of view.
It's good. But not great. There are many better tyres out there.

My point of view Cannibal is the best there is at the moment. For my ridings. Someone else thinks same way about Assegai.

I've read your praise of the Cannibal on a few threads now, and am definitely going to try 1 (or 2?) in the next few months when the weather deteriorates a bit more!

My question is, are you just running a Cannibal on the front, or front and rear? If only front, what are you pairing it with at the rear? Some of the trails you've posted photos of previously look similar to what I ride regularly (roots, rocks, mud - all usually damp or wet!). I'm happy to mix tyres, but don't really like mixing brands.

The fear I have for a super grippy tyre is that some winter days when it's bucketing rain, I just can't be bothered with the mess and ride round cycle paths, fire roads and some roads - just to keep my legs active. I assume the Cannibal will have quite a bit of drag when riding on concrete?

The other difference is I'm 10kg heavier than you!

 

[Kimmoi]

I've read your praise of the Cannibal on a few threads now, and am definitely going to try 1 (or 2?) in the next few months when the weather deteriorates a bit more!

My question is, are you just running a Cannibal on the front, or front and rear? If only front, what are you pairing it with at the rear? Some of the trails you've posted photos of previously look similar to what I ride regularly (roots, rocks, mud - all usually damp or wet!). I'm happy to mix tyres, but don't really like mixing brands.

The fear I have for a super grippy tyre is that some winter days when it's bucketing rain, I just can't be bothered with the mess and ride round cycle paths, fire roads and some roads - just to keep my legs active. I assume the Cannibal will have quite a bit of drag when riding on concrete?

The other difference is I'm 10kg heavier than you!

I'm running Cannibal at front only. Because i do commute also, on asphalt. 5 times a week. T9 wears too quickly at rear i assume.
If i would ride only in the woods i definitely would run Cannibal at both ends.
Now i run Eliminator T7/T9 at rear. It's pretty good compromise with grip and wear resistance.
But with cannibal at front i have noticed that Eliminator slips time to time. With Butcher at front i didn't noticed that so much.

 

[Bones]

I'm picking my cannibal up today . I had too many washouts the other week in woods on my standard assegai. I eventually dropped the pressure to 16 psi with an insert but it wasn't perfect.

 

[George_KSL]

Cannibal only comes in 1400 grams Gravity casings, so unless compared to Assegai Maxxgrip DH, it's comparing two different tyres. T9 is also single-compound 50A durometer, while 3C Maxxgrip gets as low as 40 on Side Knobs surface. So if you were to run for example Assegai Maxxgrip Exo+ Gen2, which is 1250 grams at 29" but still very soft sidewalls, and run it at 20 PSI at front, it would collapse around corners MUCH faster than Cannibal.

None of that is fault of the Assegai, effectively the single best downhill tyre out there for most conditions. It's like the age old criticism of "not liking Minions". Which exact minions? There re 40 SKUs alone of them.
There is no magical Tyre. Everyone just needs to be concise about what compound & sidewall strength they need for their type of terrain and type of riding.

Kryptotal KFR DH Ultrasoft, Magic Mary SuperGravity Ultrasoft, Maxxis Assegai DD/DH Maxxgrip, Cannibal T9 Gravity, etc.. will behave within margin of error for vast majority of riders. Don't believe in placebo and don't attribute riding mistakes to tyre quality.

Someone needs to tell Greg Minaar about the dangers of Assegai washouts.

 

[Kimmoi]

Cannibal only comes in 1400 grams Gravity casings, so unless compared to Assegai Maxxgrip DH, it's comparing two different tyres. T9 is also single-compound 50A durometer, while 3C Maxxgrip gets as low as 40 on Side Knobs surface. So if you were to run for example Assegai Maxxgrip Exo+ Gen2, which is 1250 grams at 29" but still very soft sidewalls, and run it at 20 PSI at front, it would collapse around corners MUCH faster than Cannibal.

None of that is fault of the Assegai, effectively the single best downhill tyre out there for most conditions. It's like the age old criticism of "not liking Minions". Which exact minions? There re 40 SKUs alone of them.
There is no magical Tyre. Everyone just needs to be concise about what compound & sidewall strength they need for their type of terrain and type of riding.

Kryptotal KFR DH Ultrasoft, Magic Mary SuperGravity Ultrasoft, Maxxis Assegai DD/DH Maxxgrip, Cannibal T9 Gravity, etc.. will behave within margin of error for vast majority of riders. Don't believe in placebo and don't attribute riding mistakes to tyre quality.

Someone needs to tell Greg Minaar about the dangers of Assegai washouts.

My Assegai is Maxxgrip DH.
It's not good as Cannibal. Or Butcher T9 Gravity. Imo.

Greg Minaar-card used. Again..

Edit: To some of us Assegai(or maxxis generally) is clearly "god", that's okay. It's their opinion, i have mine. I don't believe "gods".
What comes to "magical tyre"; Cannibal hits pretty close. In my opinion. You have tested it already, i assume?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

@p3eps - I run Cannibal F and R. Last weekend in tweed valley it was real wet. I ran Hillbilly Grid Gravity Front and Cannibal rear and worked very well.

Assegai MaxxGrip DD is approx 1360g and is comparable in weight to the Cannibal (mine weigh approx 1380g).

Both are excellent tyres (for anyone looking for or this category of heavy duty tyre) but Cannibal tops it for me. Better damping, more predictable grip, slightly chunkier block pattern. Almost half the price of Assegai.

 

[p3eps]

My LBS has a voucher for me for about £120 from when I bought my bike that I need to claim. That could buy a pair of Cannibals... and still have some change.
I have my old wheelset sitting vacant, so a set of better rolling tyres for my cycle path / fire road rides could go on them. I'd need a new rear rotor ( I have a spare front already)... but would have to swap my T-Type cassette back and forth as that'd be a big expense! Even a GX one is £270.

 

[kawamaha]

@p3eps ... Almost half the price of Assegai.

not in Germany. You can find Eliminator, Butcher... but the Cannibal I found only on the spesh site - for 70 euros...
Assegai DD is about 55 euros

 

[p3eps]

not in Germany. You can find Eliminator, Butcher... but the Cannibal I found only on the spesh site - for 70 euros...
Assegai DD is about 55 euros

I think the RRP is £50 in the UK, and you can probably get them on an offer with 10-15% off that. A quick google, and most sites are £45.

 

[maramouse]

Hi, on my Expert carbon, l used the classic Maxxis combo, assegai 2,5 and dhr2 2.4 double down, After Continental Kryptotal f&r 2.4 DH casing and now I installed a vee tire Attack hpl Gravity core 2.5 on the front with the Kryptotal r DH 2.4, next week I'l test It on Massa Marittima trails in Tuscany

 

[kawamaha]

Approx. 1000km on the Levo and still riding the OEM tires.
Recently I was in Finale Ligure with snow and muddy soil. I was really surprised how good they were.
Ordered new ones for a good price at kleinanzeigen (almost similar to ebay)...

 

[Binhill1]

Approx. 1000km on the Levo and still riding the OEM tires.
Recently I was in Finale Ligure with snow and muddy soil. I was really surprised how good they were.
Ordered new ones for a good price at kleinanzeigen (almost similar to ebay)...

Finale Ligure has a lot to answer for pal. I was on holiday there 6 years ago and hired a bike and guide for a half day. I was not well during night and in morning so opted for an Ebike , had never seen one before . Ten grand and 10,000 miles later of super fun .

 

[steve_sordy]

...................

Someone needs to tell Greg Minaar about the dangers of Assegai washouts.

 

[irie]

.... I just can't be bothered with the mess and ride round cycle paths, fire roads and some roads - just to keep my legs active ...

That's what I'm doing at the moment. The UK South Downs mixture of chalk and mud combined with heavy rainfall has defeated me.

Last time I tried was quite funny in the mud which was slowing me down to a crawl. So changed down, increased assistance, and went even slower with the rear wheel spinning in the deep mud. Finally gave up and walked a long stretch ankle deep in gloop*. Then the climb took so long that when coming down SW the sun was in my eyes and could see fuck all. CBA'd.

* but feet were dry and warm due to the Vaude gaiters recommended by Rob.

 

[Devils__Dandruff]

Who uses the Spesh Butcher and Eliminator that come with the Gen3?

Are they any good?

I’ve done 8 miles on my Levi comp and bike tyre spit unlucky maybe. but shit in my opinion