Tires Nexen or Maxxis
They are nice tires that roll really well. Mud and other soft ground can be an issue with the low tread and cornering can be a bit iffy with minuscule side knobs and rounded profile.
If you liked the XR4 the Rekon is probably the closest, or Ardent. It's worked well for me everywhere I've taken it from Duluth to Moab, and everything in between.
Dissector front, Aggressor rear. All the grip you ever need unless you are a DH pro - and way faster than DHF/DHR
The Assegai has the best climbing traction I've ever had (used to run DHRIIs, which would be a good option as well).
After some time, I’ve discovered the Dissector is particularly sensitive to tire pressure. After I dropped the pressure a couple of psi (I’m running the 2.4WT version on a 35mm inner width 29” rim, and have settled on 24-25psi), the Dissector is running great.
I've gone from XR4s to DHR/DHF. If there is an increase in rolling resistance, the only place I think I notice it is when I'm on a very gentle downward slope, and I wonder if I'd accelerate due to gravity a little faster on the XR4s. On the other hand, when I'm doing steep technical climbing in the saddle, and putting down the kind of power that made the XR4 lose traction, the DHR has never spun out.
Having ridden the XR5, XR/SE4, DHF, DHR2, Dissector the XR5 is closest to the DHR2 3C EXO. If you liked the XR5 as a front, you'll get along really well with the DHR2.
Looks like the dhr2/aggressor would be the closest match looking at the tread and tread size. You could go with the slightly slower (contentious claim on here) but more common front dhf/aggressor. I prefer the dhr2 over the dhf but giving the assegai a try once trails are opened here.
Ardent rolls well but is lacking in traction. If you want to take corners fast, I would stay away from Ardent in the front - there is a dead zone between the middle and side knobs that will feel vague especially when cornering.
Those tires are Nexen N7000's. A few of my cheap clients ran those and N3000's on their cars, years ago, I'd say late 2000 early 2010's. Cracked sidewalls, deformed tires, bubbles in the sidewall, and ridiculous amounts of road noise after a season of use, poor grip in pretty much anything except hot dry asphalt. I hope you have better luck with them than some of my clients.
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