[Closed] Are mud tyres a myth? (To a point)

Isn't the Mud X designed more as a rear tyre - narrow to cut through the mud to the grip for traction?

To me a mud tyre is some thing that you gets you through thick mud, not over branches and rocky bits, so its all a compromise.

I put Bonty Mud X's on a few weeks back, and came to the conclusion it wasnt muddy enough at that point to warrant them. SO put Nobbys back on.

Mud X's will come out again when I think the grip v mud issue falls more in favour of the mud.

I use the same tyres all year round*.
If I had to ride in a huge amount of mud all the time( I don't) I would just get a fad bike.

*You decide

[i] A) Cause I is totally skilled and awesome
or
B) I am just tight)[/i]

I only ever use mud tyres for proper sloppy DH then it's fair game, other than that I ride rocky trails when it's muddy

i have just taken the Rocket Rons off and put the Beavers on - the Ron's are not great in mud!

A) Cause I is totally skilled and awesome
or
B) I am just tight)

Or C) (like me) CBA faffing with tyres

My Bonty Mud x are making my front end feel harsh and are sliding about on roots this year

Sounds like too high pressure - the harshness that is, roots have always caused 'em trouble like any other tyre.

I tend to use mine when the going's predominantly slop/gloop - last weekend they were spot on, this one not so good as a fair bit of trail had dried out. If I was going out today I'd probably put 'normal' tyres back on.

I use a Spesh Storm up front on my XC bike and frankly it'll cope with anything - it's a true four seasons tyre for me. The soft compound means oodles of grip in the drier months and it seems to clear well in the wet.

However, not much seems to cope with spongy, chalk rich soil round my way. It sticks to whichever tyres I use in a leech-like fashion and has all the traction properties of an oil slick. Hateful stuff.

Yep, mud x's are like any other tyre, pretty slippery on wet roots. They are also (in 26", 2.0 version) only 1.8's across so will seem quite hard due to the small volume.
The flip side is that they tend to give good traction, and shed mud very quickly so don't clog, and that's the real joy in using them if you ride on very sticky type mud.

Have dabbled with Medusas a few times but although they are phenomenal in actual mud I don't ride in enough it for long enough to justify them being crap everywhere else

A) Cause I is totally skilled and awesome
or
B) I am just tight)

C) (like me) CBA faffing with tyres

Or D) All of the above

Had mud X's on for first time y'day and found them good in mud but atrocious on any root unless dead flat. Even the faintest imcline and a root and they spun. Think my maxxis beavers were better. Can't wait for the 2.25 version of them.

Mud x is great on the rear, but I prefer something fatter on the front. I stick them on once it starts getting boggy.

Also it is worth considering that it can take a bit of time to get used to a new tyre even if it is 'better' for certain conditions.

I've always thought of Mud Xs as a sort of all round winter tyre i.e. adequately grippy when every thing is soaking wet.

I didn't think they made 'em narrow enought to be true mud tyres.

I wish I could find a tyre that would grip on wet chalk though 🙁

Recently stuck a big Betty up front which is supposed to be rubbish in the mud.... It's been a lot better than the wtb it replaced. Might all be relative?

Mate of mine keeps his Mud X on pretty much all year round.

I don't think any tyre is going to be great over wet roots, but reducing the pressure a smidge sometimes helps.

One of the main advantages of mud tyres for me is increased clearance (got some very narrow Conti Edge) and they generally shed the mud quicker than a 'normal' tyre.

These days I can't really be bothered to swap about, so I just ride whatever's on the bike. If I had to do another wet 24/12 or Dusk til Dawn type event I'd probably put the mud tyres on rather than keeping my normal tyres on.

D) All of the above

E) So paralyzed by the infinity of tyre choices out there that I end up just keeping the old ones on

I put my Mud X (4 years old) back on the front for yesterday as Delamere is now pretty muddy and it's loads better than the SB8 that was on before!
That said I still have the SB8 on the back as I'd rather have decent grip/steering on the front - not bothered about the back.

I use Spesh Clutch SX on my DH bike pretty much all year round. They seem to cope with most conditions.

They did clog up a bit at Aston Hill at the weekend, but otherwise were fine.

my Purgatory's are just about as good in the slop as the Mud X's they replaced, and much better the rest of the time. Nobby Nics aren't bad either IMO

horses for courses.

however yesterdays muddy, wet rooty, wet chalky, chilterns ride reminded me that its time to take that racing ralph off the rear and find something that will at least find traction in the mud.

snow & ice coming soon :o)

If it's going to be that muddy that you need a mud tyre (ie. especially clay soils) then the tyre won't be the limiting factor. Mud will make it's way on to everything and just make it impossible to ride without scraping sessions every 10ft.

I.e I don't bother - just work with all rounders. I've got a mud-x and I can't say conditions have ever been specific enough for it to stand out.

I quite like the extra fun of running summer/general tyres in Winter anyway, and they certainly don't get clogged!

For me a decent mud tyre has to clear easily. Of course your type of mud also depends on how effective each tyre will be.

I run Beavers when the going gets sloppy. They grip on wet rocks and roots etc and most importantly clear very easily so you don;t end up trying to ride with two big heavy, sticky hoops of mud.

I used 29 Specialzed storm last winter as preferred them over the mud Xs. During a 12 hr race the Rockets rons (2013 version)coped as well when i swapped wheels mid race..

Looking forward to trying the new 2.25 beavers next month..

iainc - Member
my Purgatory's are just about as good in the slop as the Mud X's they replaced, and much better the rest of the time

Do you not find the Mud X clears a lot better? As I said above, one of my mates keeps Mud X on all year and several times we've been for rides where my Purgatory is completely clogged with mud (mud clinging to it deeper than the tread) while his Mud X's look virtually clear of all mud. Plus they are skinnier, so if they do clog, you don't run out of frame clearance.

stumpy01 - the mudx's do clear it better, but for the mixed natural stuff that I'm on, the Purgs, or even the N Nics are better for the overall ride. I found that the Mud X's rolled very well, but their grip outwith the gloop wasn't too inspiring. I also prefer slightly higher volume than afforded by a 2.0. Frame clearance with a muddy 2.3 Purg is fine on my Soul, although the bender fender does a lot of mud removal up front..

It probably depends a lot on the type of mud too 🙂

@kryton you ride Surrey I think ... it drains well around here, it certainly gets sloppy and clarty but our surfaces are mostly sand or chalk based, I don't think we get much of the "stop you in an instant" claggum that other parts of the country have to deal with. A reasonable all round tyre suffices IMO.

Personally I find xc mud tyres too much of a compromise. They're great for the one thing they do, which is riding through featureless orrible mud, but they're bad at everything else. Storms are better than mud Xs but still very limited. Frankly that sort of riding's so joyless it's a sacrifice too much, to be bad at all the good stuff in order to be good at the bad. YMMV of course! If I was to go on some of my local routes right now I'd probably want a pair of Storms but instead I will just ride something better.

There's mud tyres that are good at other things though, like the Conti Baron (and probably others). Tradeoff in weight and drag though but well worth it IMO.

Or, not-mud-tyres-that-can-do-mud, like a Purg or a Butcher or a Minion or whatever.

Mud tyres definitely not a myth. They exist. Whether they are any good for the terrain you ride on is completely different matter.

I find it depends on what type of mud, in the south east clay/claggy type mud nothing works very well, in the peaks soiley/loamy type mud I've had better results with mud tyres..

I put Halo Knobblers on over the winter - a proper 'bogger' mud tyre.

Yesterday at Swinley they were pretty crap around the hard surfaced 'Blue Trail' but pretty awesome when we went 'off piste' round some proper boggy trails.

Mythos weren't mud tyres, IRC made Mud Mads for mud.

@mattjg - epping forest.

Re pressures, I'm running them tubeless at 28psi, not that hard. I am commenting on night rides, so its probable that I'm not lifting the wheel as much as I might during the day due to invisibility of roots, leading to this percieved change in the tire's characteristics.

They guy riding with me is on a 29er so I think his ever present ability just to keep rolling is making me look like a klutz 😉

Trailrakers for deep winter gripped noticeably better than Mud Xs on my SS, but roll on tarmac like a steamroller.

I'll probably get a deep tread tyre for the geared bike (29er) until it gets uber-gloopy or I start nightriding again, then take out the SS on winter tyres as me + nightriding = gloop finder.

Horses for courses tho, innit.

fasthaggis
If I had to ride in a huge amount of mud all the time( I don't) I would just get a fad bike.

Probably a n00b question, but wouldn't a fat bike be worse in mud? I'm thinking a fat tyre that cut through the mud to get traction, but instead floats on top where it is most slippy? That's how I thought this stuff worked anyway.

Large contact area at significantly lower pressure, perhaps that helps. (Never ridden a fat bike myself).

Mythos weren't mud tyres, IRC made Mud Mads for mud

😆

It very much depends where you are and what you ride. If I exclusively rode natural rocky South Wales stuff or piney/ sandy forest singletrack or whatever then I guess I'd be sceptical of mud tyres. The local trails around us are already several inches deep in mud and often steep both up and down so a proper mud tyre really is needed. Unfortunately we don't all have the luxury of riding trails that hold up well in the wetter weather in which case a spikey, fast clearing mud tyre is a must

MudX all year round here, love em. 2.0's I think. Rear grip is awesome, front could be better but I've lived with worse. Had a purgatory but didn't like that much an ripped the sidewall so the x went back on. And they're light too. Win/win.