[Closed] Weather's turned - so mud tyres...

Front tyre - Geax Datura from On-One. UST, great in mud, good on everything. £14.99!!

Rear was always a mud-X , now called an XR mud [url= http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/bontrager-xr-mud-tyre-team-issue-tubeless-ready-26x1-8.html?gclid=CKil86jQxbkCFbMbtAodmg8Afg ]£23.99 at Pedalon[/url]

Mud-x or whatever there called knowadays, might not be the best, but all round they work bloody well and don't feel like your dragging like a dead donkey behind you (ala Trailraker)

Trying out a Maxxis Beaver, but two ride in and it's too early to tell

muddy mary's?

Mud-X, very light, grip for days, shed very quickly, as recommended to me on here, I bought them last year and didn't look back.

It's not that bad down the Wyre yet Votchy! Surely? Was only down there a week ago!

Anyway... Tried just about every "mud" tyre combo you can think of, and came to the conclusion they're mostly all one trick ponies. Good in really muddy conditions, too much of a compromise elsewhere. I include the Bonty Mud X in that as though its less mud specific than some, it's very narrow and doesn't perform that well elsewhere IMO.

My absolute favourite tried and tested 26" (I'm having to find new alternatives for my 29er) Wyre winter tyre combo has been a 2.1" Dual compound Maxxis Medusa on the rear (rolls way better than a Mud X, handles non muddy trails better, but has loads of edge bite) and a 2.35" Single Ply Minion up front (I used super tacky for the extra grip but it was obviously a bit slower than a 60a). Found this combination to be very predictable and highly capable.

Also, due to having moved to 29ers now, if you were interested, I actually have this exact combo (and a couple of other random 26" tyres) kicking about spare in my shed right now...

I love my Bonty Muds are they rubbish on wet roots or is it just me?

zippykona - Member

I love my Bonty Muds are they rubbish on wet roots or is it just me?

Bonty Mud X are good on roots when new, but the sipes on the end of the nobbles wear very quickly, especially with any road use, and they lose their root traction. still good in mud though. Last year my mud X wore out, but my Daturas still have the sipes intact. Ive been really impressed with them.

I don't believe theres any tyre that handles wet roots well.

I used a Hans Dampf on the front with a Conti Baron on the rear for most of last year and the winter. Not the lightest tyres, but the Baron got me ridiculous amounts of traction in the filth.

I'd suggest Conti Barons in black chilli as working very well in mud, well on anything else and rolling and wearing well. The downside is they are expensive and hard to set-up tubeless.

I changed my bonty muds for ignitors when the summer came.
Soon changed back though as the muds roll so much quicker.
They are Brill in the mud,roll fast, light weight , tubeless and not too expensive.
I now run them all year on my 3 bikes.
The best tyre ever?

Any advice on mud tyres that are over 2" in width, say 2.2?? I know mud tyres aren't supposed to be fat, to cut through the mud etc but my A.M. rims aren't designed for narrow rubber. Smallest recommended ones are 2.25.

Shame as I love mud x tyres. Still have one in the garage but can't use it.

Any ideas?

Its full on wets for me this w/e for Enduro1. Swampy front datura rear. Sod the fact they are hard work, rather stay on the bike!

Dantsw13, datura on front? The grip is all in the centre, not a lot on the sides, so doesn't look too good for a front to me - although not tried it! Certainly rip up the trail on rear, my scars are still visible on long myndd from last nov:-)

Dirty dans - great when pointing downhill but really poor pedalling traction.

Whaaaat? 😀

I think you mean "440-450g, the grip of a long mud spike up and down but much faster rolling than anything else offering the same grip".

Or maybe you have the heavy DH version in mind 😀

I would go with a Dirty Dan or Mud-X. Dirty Dan if you are adverse to pies and the thinner sidewalls won't concern you or Mud-X if you value a thicker sidewall and aren't bothered about the extra weight. I feel the Dan gives more grip and clears slightly better than a Mud-X in very thick/ heavy mud while both seem to roll equally well (i.e. better than other mud tyres).

The other beneift of the Dan's is low prices on various online German stores wrt some of the other mud tyres available

I also like the bonty mud x .
Looks like they'll be going on earlier than anticipated. 🙁

Conti Baron black chilis for me- like a Swampthing, only good. Far better grip on dry things, pretty much identical grip in wet things, and a hell of a lot faster. Shame about the poor sidewalls (despite fairly high weight they're paper-thin and wear out fast) but otherwise [i]completely[/i] brilliant.

Mud X for XC stuff maybe but they're pretty poor at times, very compromised IMO.

Northwind - I spoke to rob scullion (conti rep) at eastridge at the weekend as I wanted to know if the ust baron was ever coming, I was after these for the beefier sidewalls more than better tubeless compatibility - apparently uk were the only country to order them so they didn't even bother producing them, he's now ordered a larger quantity and apparently they are coming. The standard Baron sidewalls aren't great for me, he showed me his enduro set up which apparently dan atherton has been using (when he's not on blacked out maxxis). 2.3 mud kings with the centre knobs trimmed down 3mm, pain in the arse but he said the cut tyres weighed in at 950 ish grams, with dual ply carcass and working tubeless (despite not being tubeless ready officially) it seemed like a pretty good hard riding intermediate mud tyre. The option in this tread pattern/casing will be the super gravity magic mary which are hopefully out soon.

Superfli - the Datura has knobs further round than most mud tyres. Last year in Morzine I ended up with it as a front in the dry and had no issues at all!

Painey - The Datura is a 2.2

I think you mean "440-450g, the grip of a long mud spike up and down but much faster rolling than anything else offering the same grip".

Nope, I mean exactly what I said, have run them on both FS and HT and they seem to hook up well when not pedalling but as soon as you need to pedal through stuff I get very poor traction, a problem I never had with the swampys or trailrakers, have tried different pressures with them and not found one that works for pedalling through stuff (wyre forest mud)

I don't believe theres any tyre that handles wet roots well.

I still use a set of trailrakers that I've been running for about 6 years now - it has to get pretty wet for me to bother changing tyres 🙂 If they weren't so blinking expensive I'd have tried some others by now, but they do the job well enough.

How bizarre wrt the Dirty Dans 😕

How can a tyre descend well through mud but not grip well during pedalling through mud? If anything I would expect a tyre to be pretty stable under pedalling when your weight is nicely balanced over the bike but get a bit more iffy descending when staying balanced and maintaining good technique may get more challenging especially with a bit more speed. That is a strange observation but I guess if they don't work for you then they don't work for you.

I certainly find them and the Mud-X much better in Winter than a Trailraker or Swampthing where speed and drier weather/ rock/ root grip starts to get compromised. I ran the Dans with a reasonably high pressure to keep the shape in the thinner sidewalls and keep the benefit of the spikes (low pressure may make them deform and effectively flatten out the spikes- just a theory, certainly not fact 😀 )

Rear was always a mud-X , now called an XR mud £23.99 at Pedalon

Nice price but the 1.8" version lacks volume and is best avoided unless you are a six stone racing snake. The 2.0" is a much better bet and goes on really easy tubeless. Used mine all over the place - Surrey mud, up and down Snowdon, the odd trail centre - and coped fine in an XC mincer sort of way.

I've been enjoying the volume of my 2.3 Purgatory's but think I'm going to have to put the Mud X on the back. Would be good to get a decent volume tyre that coped well with UK winter gloop.....

Would be good to get a decent volume tyre that coped well with UK winter gloop

I didn't think it's rained that much!

Hang on a minute? Mud? I've still got Small Block 8's on and they're fine

You bunch of jessies! 😀

Maxxis Beavers - I hope as I have just ordered a pair (26") to replace some aged trailrakers. Not too pricey either...

Mud-X rear / ST minion front for me on the XC slopbike. Out last night and Summer already feels like a distant memory.

Just trying to decide if its time to change the Ralphs tonight. 🙁 Still it was a fun summer while it lasted!!

Mud X-bosh 'em on & leave 'em on all year-best allround tyre I've found yet. Tubeless or tubed-both fine.

Front tyre - Geax Datura from On-One. UST, great in mud, good on everything. £14.99!!

I've heard a rumour that another heatwave is on it's way next week though, so who knows what I'm going to be using......

Minus 5psi in you current tyres and just carry on

Specialized Purgatory's the best I've tried all round in the winter.

Works almost as well as trailraker/Spesh Storm/ XR Mud in the adsolute gloop, but without beign utterly lethal on the 50% of the ride which is inevitably mildly moist or dry, CX raceing in a field or certain DH tracks excepted when did you actualy last do a ride that was actualy deep claggy mud from start to finish?

Cheers stevede, Pete mentioned something along those lines too, should make a great tyre better.

do nobby nics work in the mud?

Yes. Very well. [url= http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k361/a90227/nobby-nic-performance-dc-26-x-225-wire.html ]rude not too....[/url]

NN clog up in heavy mud.

NN clog up in heavy mud.

I was hoping not... Only 29er tyre with volume that I thought wouldn't clog.....

Binners, I wouldn't use that performance compound in the wet

NNs don't grip very well in mud, up until the point they clog, at which point they don't grip at all. Or at least, 26ers are like that, 29er might be brilliant. (bet it isn't)

NNs don't grip very well in mud, up until the point they clog, at which point they don't grip at all. Or at least, 26ers are like that, 29er might be brilliant. (bet it isn't)

****

bollox

Anyone tried Geax Gato's? Looks like a good winter/mud tyre.

Spesh storm 2.0 control on the rear, 2.3 Purgatory up front. Unless it's [b]really[/b] bad and have them front and rear...

Mud x for me both ends

What's the thinking on knobble size these days? Traditionally I'd anyways have gone for big chunky tread with large knobbles, but given modern tyre technology, different compounds & constructions, is there a better alternative these days? Anything with smaller tread that self cleans & rolls better on the not so muddy bits?

Or is just always a compromise that big chunky tyres will be good in the mud but hard going out of it, and the opposite for finer tread?

Have been using panaracer cg soft conditions for the last winter. Have been really impressed by them. Ok limited grip on wet roots but then other than st swampthings nothing much does. In all other conditions they are great and do seem to be faster rolling than various mates mud-x's.
Will hopefully not be putting them on for a month or so yet, Woburn is still pretty dry.

I've got Specialized Storm rears fit my bikes in the mud and will have a Purgatory front on one and a Ground Control front on the other.
Th rears should b fine, not too sure about the fronts though.

Purgatory front and rear here. Did well throughout last winter in the Surrey hills gloom, and the front stayed onthroughthe summer with a bling bling on the back. People over think tyres IMO.

Saying that though, I do wonder why I have around 25 tyres in my shed.

Do people change their tyres according to the weather then ? I leave mine on until they wear out !!

UST Maxxis high rollers 2.5 supertacky front, 2.35 rear. Pretty draggy but can't be arsed to faff about changing them for anything else and they seem to handle stuff all year round. I'll probably drop the pressures a bit though.

my A.M. rims aren't designed for narrow rubber.

Swampthing

"Do Nobby Nics work in mud?" - err, only if you want to cart half a field around with you..

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/78747112@N04/7545030800/ ]2XC2012 Rnd 3 ![/url] [/img]

I'll be trying Medusa's this winter.

If you're running tubeless and use relatively knobbly, relatively sticky tyres all summer you can cope remarkably well in mud if you drop the pressure quite a lot - that also makes them much better on wet roots. Skinny mud tyres seem to rail the muddy parts of the corner but try to kill you when you hit a greasy tree root.

Fatter mud tyres solve that but are a drag when it's drier, though no draggier than a fat non-mud tyre in the mud. Incidentally I have a couple of very lightly used Swampthings (2.35", single ply, 42a & 60a) looking for a new home, following that experiment!

I'll take em. Pics/price to markhoracekuk at yahoo.com ta 🙂

I wouldn't be looking at a proper spiky mud tyre until the top inch of compacted soil has 'gone'.

When it does, my 'belt and braces' set-up is a supertacky 2.35 high roller on the front and a well pumped up trailraker on the back.

The front is brilliant for steering, being grippy rather than 'diggy' if you know what I mean!

Trailrakers hardly ever fail to get through to something they can push against so are great 'drive' tyres for the back.

The lack of deep side tread on the rakers mean they let go before the high roller when the bike is cranked over, just as you would want.

I really like the Dirty Dan XCs. Grip really well, shed mud well, narrow enough that frame clearance is fine in really clay mud, roll better than any tyre with that many blocks should, light weight.

I've used a set for the last 2 winters and see no reason to use anything else this year.

What to go for though if your trails are an equal mix of mud AND rocky/loose rocky trails?

Anyone have any experience with Maxxis Beavers?

hora - Member

What to go for though if your trails are an equal mix of mud AND rocky/loose rocky trails?

Either some very capable everyday tyre- Minion or Butcher maybe, something that can cut it in mud- or, depending on how hard you are on tyres, the aforementioned Baron. But the sidewalls aren't that durable so that'll depend on your rocks, not sure I'd trust mine to last in slatey/otherwise jaggy stuff.

What to go for though if your trails are an equal mix of mud AND rocky/loose rocky trails?

I think Beavers are a better tyre than the Mud-x, better rolling and slighty more volume.

Oh FFS I meant to order Beavers and I've just gone and ordered a Medusa 2.1 (for front use).

Bad mistake?

I think Beavers are a better tyre than the Mud-x, better rolling and slighty more volume.

Got a Beaver (29er) on the back on my HT to try out. Looks bloody skinny, worked ok on Wednesday (v wet) & saturdays (v damp) rides..

Trailrakers hardly ever fail to get through to something they can push against so are great 'drive' tyres for the back.

Indeedy I'd agree but there also so bloody draggy that any benefit in the mud is off-set absolutely everywhere else (got 2 slightly used ones hanging up in the garage, if you want em). Which is why I recommend the Mud-x as being the best compromise.

Although mud-x are easier on the tubeless front, needed a compressor for the beaver