mud tyres

stanny_uk

right im new back to mtb and have just got me a new trek with bontrager xr1's on,,. i'm really gonna ride trail centres mostly i would of thought and found the xr1's at cannock last week pretty predictable and hook'd up fine at pace over marbels and stoney trail surfaces encountered so i thought hey that'll do...TILL TODAY!!! went out in slop round local fp and bridalway and canals!!! lethal in slop!!!! anybody give me a tire tip for the slop????

cooldad

Bontrager Mud X seem to be very popular.

angry_bird

Panaracer trailrakers. When I can be bothered to put them on they're brilliant, I've not found the need for them yet this winter though.

davewalsh

I've been very pleased with the Specialized Storm Control's that I'm running on the muddy bike at the moment.

robertpb

Spell-checkers are very popular as well.

Maximum slop Trailrackers, Mud X or Dirty Dans for mixed conditions or if you are a heavier rider Swampthings.

Catfish

Panaracer trailrakers are realy good tyres but can be a bit of a drag after a while because they do have so much grip, I run a Panaracer trailraker on the front because they are so gripy and a Specialized Storm Control on the rear, very good grip in the mud but not as much of a drag on a +2 hour ride.

Ghostt

Bontrager Mud X TLRs are very grippy and roll well. I'm more than happy to trade a little speed for winter grip (although they are by no means a slow tire) as it means I actually stay on the bike! Shame they only come in 2" width max, perfect on XC bikes. For more AM/DH duties I'd try a maxxis swampthing.

Northwind

<looks up Bontrager XR1>

You might not need a mud tyre tbh, just a sensible everyday tyre might do the job for you since what you have now really looks like a dry tyre. Mud tyres are a compromise usually, you're usually trading off rolling resistance and dry/damp performance.

Personally I just try and avoid any riding that needs a full mud tyre- when my local trails are that muddy, they're best avoided anyway to avoid trashing them. though o'course not everyone has so much choice. An everyday knobbly like a Minion, Nevegal, etc functions decently in all but bad mud, and then works better than a mud tyre on everything else.

Last, it's really hard to recommend a mud tyre because it depends on your mud. Loads of people like Mud Xs, personally I found mine absolutely useless on the front- gripped in mud, then found a bit of wet rock and it might as well have been glass. But that's just because of the local mix of mud and rocks.

Hob Nob

Been impressed with Storm Control's personally.

Anonymous

I just use Minion + High Roller most of the time regardless of conditions. Does fine in the mud or dry. Only unsuitable for tarmac and long flat dry dusty XC cruises. If I was mainly riding mud then maybe I'd consider a mud tyre, but I just ride a mix of stuff and conditions vary so much on the place and weather.

delcol

i used to run bont mud x on my hardtail, they are good tyres, apart from wet rock and roots,,

i swapped them out for minons and have left the minions on this winter, to be honest even with all this bad weather we had the minions have been fine.. one thing though they drag a lot more than the mud x. but then they are a wider tyre...

guy72277

I ride a skinny Bontrager mud x on the back for cutting through the mud to find some grip below. On the front, it's a 2.35 schwalbe nobby nic to "float" over the mud but give better braking performance where you need it at the front.

Skinny back, fatter front - that's my mud riding theory anyway.

I'm actually riding a 2.5 wtb dissent on the front at the moment. Total overkill, but I love it in the slop!

Matt88

+1 for mud x's. Brilliant grip in the mud and still roll fairly fast.

They are also fairly cheap for a good quality tyre, got mine for £46 for jejamescycles.

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/bontrager-mud-x-tubeless-ready-tyre-id40597.html

composite

I'm currently using:

Specialized Storm Control on the front - Great.
specialized Captain on the back - Rubbish.

lostboysaint

Mud X - fast rolling, as good a grip through the mud as Trailrakers, Dirty Dans and Storm Control but with better rolling and grip across roots. Use them (after experimentation with others) on both the Bandit and the Inbred.