Tyres for Tarmac and Muddy Towpaths

wolfsbane2k
wolfsbane2k Posts: 3,056
edited January 2012 in MTB general
Hi,

I'm having difficulty picking some tyres for this time of year that are suitable for both tarmac and towpaths/forest paths.
I've gone sideways too many times on corners/mud baths as the weather deteriorated as i head through a 1.5 mile forest part of my commute and a 1 mile towpath with 5 miles of tarmac on a set of Continental Travel Contacts ( perfect for summer). I've got a set of Maxis High Rollers, but they keep on buckling when turning on tarmac ( they came with the bike, very rarely used)

I also use the bike at weekends to go riding around the new forest, traversing between "fireroad/off road" sections via road sections, or the occasionally fully muddy trail at QEP.

I'm looking at Continentals' Country Plus City and Schwalbe's Marathons or Schwalbe Hurricane Tyre , but not sure which way to go. What do people recommend? Due to the flint in the new forest and the thorns in the forest, i'd like some puncture protection.

Running a 26" Kona Hoss 2007 hardtail.

Ta in advance!
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Comments

  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    are you sure your seating the bead properly on the High Rollers? They shouldn't be buckling on road use, they would be slow, but with enough pressure and the bead seated properly they should be alright.
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    HRs should work on tarmac. They'll not be great, just like any off road tyre really, they need dirt to work. Very good tyres off road however.

    I use them for a short bit of tarmac to get to my local tow path for a local little spin. Fine enough though I find a muddy towpath can be worse than mud on forest trails. I'd pick more road/off mix kind of tyres but I use my bikes mainly for off road fun.
  • robertpb
    robertpb Posts: 1,866
    The animal your looking for does not exist, there has to be a compromise or you'll have to enjoy sideways riding which most of us do this time of year.

    For riding on muddy trails with not too much compromise on the road I'd go with Mud X's which will cover your weekend rides as well.

    Once you get into the land of puncture proof you loose some grip and gain weight with also a smaller selection of tyres
    Now where's that "Get Out of Crash Free Card"
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    Kenda Nevegals are pretty good at both. The tread pattern gives a fairly solid smooth centre with plenty of grip on the edges. Personally I'd experiment with pressure before changing tyres. You can run mud tyres harder to improve their on road handling for example.
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  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    Mud Xs can be pretty scary on tarmac, once you get near 25mph they start to wander an awful lot, like riding on rubbery marbles.

    On mud they're excellent, of course.

    For what the OP has described I'd go for a racy XC type tyre, you could get something that would be faster on the tarmac, but it would be worse on the towpath.

    As already said it's going to be a compromise. Do you want to be slow on the tarmac or slip in the mud?
    MTB/CX

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  • pilch
    pilch Posts: 1,136
    Nobby Nics, great grip off road, roll pretty well on tarmac
    A berm? were you expecting one?

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