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Bighorns, Bear Claws, Mudlites or Holeshot ATR

8.8K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  mrbobo  
#1 ·
Looking to get some new tires for my Prairie soon. I will mainly be trail riding in various terrains; rarely do I seek out mud to ride in but often have no choice. What are your thoughts?
 
#2 ·
Big horns are a tough long wearing tire but ive never been overly impressed them, ive driven several bikes with them, great when they are brand new but onces the sharp edges are gone off of them they push a little in turns and dont hook up nearly as well. What really turned me off of them was their performance on snow and ice, they are just to hard to hook up well

And as for mud lights Ive seen far to many issues them, would never run them

A friend had the bear law htrs and they seem to be a great tire, good all round performance, seem to be wearing well and no punctures
I have no experience with the holeshots

My next tire is going to be terra crosses
 
#3 ·
I will look at the terra crosses too. Weight is always a factor for me so finding the right combo may be tough. Right now it has Carlisle 489's and I cant get traction in any condition with them; I am still new to this quad so it may just be the way it is IDK?
 
#5 ·
I like Bighorns for most things, but when you do find mud once in awhile, they don't work well there. Thought they were ok in snow, but ice was a different story. Biggest problem with Bighorns is the price. They are still charging money for them like they are the only game in town. That used to be true, but there are lots of good tires on the market nowadays.

Terracross tires are a good all around tire when they are new, but they seem to wear a bit quicker.

A buddy of mine just bought the Maxxis Vipers and they are super nice. Kinda spendy though.........but worth it maybe if they do better in mud and ice than the bighorns.

I've got 1600 miles now on my STI Black Diamond XTR's and they still have 7/8" tread left. They are better at everything than the Bighorns, cost less, weigh less, and leave a unique tread pattern in the dirt (handy if your trying to see which trail your buddy took ahead of you!). When mine wear out, I will either get another set or get some Vipers.
 
#6 ·
I have a p700. I have big horns and atr on bead locks. The atr have a tendency to puncture and kinda wear fast. The big horns are rugged and work well in every condition in nh that I've rode in. If the terrain is rough go big horn. If its fast roads the atr are the way to go! The big horns rob power. They way 100 pounds with no wheels!
 
#7 ·
I run 2.0 Big Horns factory size,also I've run regular Big Horns factory size what a huge difference all around the 2.0 tread is trimmed way down and the fronts appear to be slightly smaller...every pound counts.try them you won't be disappointed! You gotta pay to play.
 
#8 ·
Yeah, the weight thing is really screwing me up. These utility tires are all pretty heavy from what I've been reading. Has anyone tried the GBC Dirt Commanders? They look pretty good and are fairly light, but are expensive.
 
#9 ·
I've run terracrosses for 1300 miles now. Hard rough West Virginia terrain. Never had a flat and for fast trail riding they r tough to beat. They r getting worn down a bit. I would estimate I will get 2k miles out of them. Couple of things though...they like to wander a bit at speed, especially on gravel type surfaces. They r horribly balanced also. They do not ride as smooth on hardpack as bighorns. My buddy has bh 2.0's on his ride and has ridden same trails with same miles. He has almost no wear on them. His 26 in here r at least 3/4 inch bigger than my 26 Terra's...maybe an inch bigger. His rides far smoother on cement with no vibration at any speed. I likely will go pitbull next time


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#10 ·
Lets be really honest here. There is a reason that Bighorns come up in every thread like this:

Bighorns last forever and wear like steel. Bighorns ride soft and smooth with no balancing needed. Bighorns are great on rock, dirt, light mud, and average trail conditions. Bighorns are larger than the stated size. I vote BIGHORNS!!!

Bighorns are the benchmark for a trail tire that all other tires are measured against. They are very expensive, but I truly believe they are still the best "all-around" trail tire out there.
 
#18 ·
They are a good tire no doubt, but I think Maxxis has outdone the bighorn with their Viper tire. It is better in mud and snow, should last even longer, and equally good at rocks, gravel, and high speed.
 
#11 ·
Check out the Maxxis 4speed tires and the new Holeshot SXS tires and those come in 25x11x12 rear and 25x9x12 fronts and nice tires from what I hear and do very well
 
#12 ·
I ran 26 mudlite XTR's on my brute. They were good except they had a 15-25 mph wobble on hard pack and pavement. I just put 27 big horn on my outty and they're are impressive. I avoid mud for the most part so I can't comment on that performance but they are defiantly the best ride I've got out of a tire. Huge improvement! It'll b hard to go with anything else.
The tire I was choosing between was the new ITP blackwater evo. Give them a thought. I just couldn't find much reviews on them
 
#13 · (Edited)
I bought the Bear Claw HTR's. Not the lightest or heaviest but I kept going back to them, I couldn't find bad reviews aside from questionable mud performance and the front trying to wonder at high speed (those may have been the original Bear Claws). I have never seen more than 2 inches of snow and it only lasted a day or two, so no worries there!
 
#14 ·
where did you end up buying them at? Been looking at getting a set for the wife's grizzly. 4wheelonline has them for $92 (25-8-12) with free Shipping.
 
#16 ·
Thats the exact price at 4wheelonline.com :)
 
#19 · (Edited)
OK, I am a bit disappointed in the Bearclaw HTR's!!! They look nice and certainly do better in trail conditions,and I'm sure they are tough, but not so good in soft wet sand. I have been riding in a creek behind my house that the 489's would just drive right through; well today I decided to test out these new tires and got stuck almost instantly, they just dig holes and sink the quad to the frame. I had to pull the winch 3 times in 15 minutes.
 
#21 ·
Were you in 4x4?
Air down the Bearclaws so the sidewalls will squish out like the 489's and they will work better. There is no "do everything" tire.
 
#20 ·
The vipers do look nice.....
 
#22 ·
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Grim Reapers. Seems they were pretty popular about a year ago. I've been out of the loop lately, so maybe there's something there I'm not aware of.

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#23 ·
I was definately in 4wd. To be fair I could have rutted the sand out during previous rides, just cant see under the murky water to tell. We have not had any rain to help fill them in if that is the case. So far they are better at everything except the whole creek riding thing. Not a big mud/water rider but I thought what the hell, let me try out the 4x4!!
 
#24 ·
Ok, I'll mention them..GRIM REAPERS!! I was in the same tire dilema last fall...got the 26" Grim Reapers, and I would not trade them for anything. Trails, slop, snow, mud.. they do it all. They are better in the mud than my Mudlight XLs were, and 100x better at everything else. At first, I thought I had a front tire going down, because it wasn't steering very well at times. Kept checking the pressure, all was OK. I finally figured out that it wasn't steering well when I was mashing the gas, at low speeds...basically,the Grim Reapers improved my traction , and I was slightly lifting my front end. And they ride really nice (8 ply radial). I put them on Vision Lockout wheels, and they just look SICK.