rear wheel spinning out in mud

hanscc

i've recently upgraded from a heavy £400 hardtail running Continental Vapor tyres to a canyon full suss with rocket rons. Been riding in a whole lot of mud lately (thanks to the good irish weather!) and on the new steed i seem to be spinning out the back tyre loads whereby it gets lodged and spins and i cannot move forward. Previously i was trudging on through. I've had less than 10 rides on the new bike so still getting a feel for it, could it be setup - lighter bike, tyre pressure, rear full suss distributing weight differently or are the tyres perhaps just not best for our gluey mud? any thoughts appreciated

campbellrae1

The tyres ain't good in the mud, unfortunately I've not yet come across a tyre that is good at the full range of conditions we get in the UK and Ireland. A set of mud tyres to see you through the winter could be a good idea.

ddraver

Mud Tyre would be the easiest fix..

People tend to like the Bontrager Mud X, the Maxxis Swampthing for light XC whippets or the Panaracer trailrakers for epicaly gloopy mud (but nothing else!)

You may also want to look at your technique though, riding in mud is difficult! You need to keep power to the back wheel constant and very smooth and constantly shift weight onto the back for grip (moving it forward again when you re going). Keep practicing and it will come, but it can be one of the most frustrating things ever if you re having an off day!

lostboysaint

ddraver wrote:

Mud Tyre would be the easiest fix..

People tend to like the Bontrager Mud X, the Maxxis Swampthing for light XC whippets or the Panaracer trailrakers for epicaly gloopy mud (but nothing else!)

You may also want to look at your technique though, riding in mud is difficult! You need to keep power to the back wheel constant and very smooth and constantly shift weight onto the back for grip (moving it forward again when you re going). Keep practicing and it will come, but it can be one of the most frustrating things ever if you re having an off day!

That.

The Trailraker offers astonishing grip in the mud but is seriously slow everywhere else. MudX is the best "all-round" mud tyre.

paulbox

Check out the Schwalbe Dirty Dan's from On-One, currently knocking them out half price(£19.99).

I bought some last week, not tried them yet but they have nice big blocks with good spacing so hoping they should do the job in the conditions you describe.

http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/x-country/dirty-dan/

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYSCDTYDAN/ ... lding-tyre

Stu Coops

Are you spinning to small a gear as if your in the granny ring and up high on the sprockets ya rear wheel will spin rather than grip, better off being in the middle ring and pushing a bit harder but the outcome is your wheel is moving a bit slower so more chance of gripping

Big Question

ive put a pair of maxxis medusas on mine, they offer plenty of grip in the mud, clear well and there quite4 low volume (biggest 2.1) they are also very light. They are more of an xc tyre though, saying that i ride the peaks and no probs.

Maybe try medusa rear/swampthing front if you want more volume up front

hanscc

thanks for tips guys. Have come to the conclusion that it is mostly down to technique as suggested (and on that particular day i hadn't noticed half the field lodged against the rear wheel). As stu coops suggested have tried to get out of the granny gear and push a higher gear and while a total leg suck the extra power makes a big difference. Also, someone pointed out i am putting in too much effort from upper body and not engaging my core and spinning from the hips and can't believe the difference it makes. Not strong enough to maintain as yet for long but certainly helps when you need to put the effort in on muddy bits or tough climbs.

ilovedirt

I think tyres make as much of a difference as technique does for riding in mud. Get some mud tyres. The continental vapor is a hardpack/dry weather tyre, it's certainly not a mud tyre, so no wonder you're not getting any grip!

diy

Try more or less PSI depending on if you can cut through to hard pack or simply need to increase contact area.

Try getting you bum further back in the seat.

Try to pedal in smooth circles

benpinnick

In this order I would:

Change tyres
Put saddle further back on rails.
Run your rr shock harder in the mud.
Consider raising the stem if you have spare spacers above the stem currently.

Bonty Mud X would be my choice, as they are not sketchy on the dry stuff, unlike many mud tyres. Also, although thin is generally better on the mud, the Mud Xs are thin already, so I would go with the wider size.