Winter Tyre Combinations

blackhat

I have got a pair of MudX, pair of Kenda Nevgal and pair of Rocket Rons! What the best winter combo with these or should i start again? Bikes a Scott Scale 35 Hardtail, local use mainly on XC singletracks, bridleways etc

Cheers

cooldad

Winter as in wet, muddy, snowy, frozen?

blackhat

you got it and it's here now

DCR00

if you were going riding at all this week, i would prob use the MudX

ddraver

Proper mud, use the Mud X, Just general winter stuff, Maxxis High roller on the rear, ADvantage on the front.

IMO....

blackhat

so far it's Mud X all round which are very good but there only 1.9 so feel a little skinny. What about combining with the Nevigel either front or rear? Surely it should be the skinny Mud X front and something a little bigger back as ddriver suggestes. Would the Nevegal work on the back?

Mccraque

I always run a mud x on the back of my bike in the winter and pretty much leave the front tyre as is (I run a Conti Rubber Queen all year round on the front - swapping between fast rolling Crossmark in summer and 2.0 Mud X in the winter.

I find I don't get as much air time in the winter as in the harder summer months so the volume is not quite so much of an issue as it would be running a less volumous tyre in summer.

I've got Rons on my race bike at the moment but if this rain keeps up they're off pretty soon....

Northwind

Nevegals as standard clog like mad with sticky mud, but you can edit them slightly... Basically chop off every second transition knob, and what you get is a lot like a Maxxis Ardent with taller knobs. Works much better in mud.

I'll not have a Mud X on the front again, works really well til it doesn't, but it just refused to grip at all on some stuff- never had a tyre so bad on wet rock.

musclechat

yeah, i think so , use the Mud X, Just general winter stuff, Maxxis High roller on the rear, ADvantage on the front.

blackhat

Thanks for your imput so far...

went out for a good ride today with the kendas and they soon clogged up and wouldn't clear and it wasn't that muddy!

So i'll ditch the kendas for now and try a MudX on the rear and look for an ADvantage or Rubber Queen for the front and see how that goes

robertpb

MudX works very well on the back but on the front I use a Dirty Dan and if it's really bad a Trailraker.

blackhat

Can someone explain why the advice is a MudX (2.0 pretty skinny) on the rear and something bigger/fatter on the front when Motocrossers have just the opposite with a thin nobbly on the front and a big fat nobbly on the back?

Northwind

Pushbikes aren't moto-x bikes. If you've can pedal out at least 40bhp then you might want a bigger rear tyre.

paul.skibum

skinny tire sinks into mud and finds the solid ground below better - fat tyre floats so spins uselessly in the soft cr*p - not sure about a fatter front for winter mud particularly - never been a big believer in the fat front, thin rear is king rule.

giantAstax

I run Bonty XR Muds front and rear and they're great. Just debating when to fir them. Only took them off in July due to the wet weather :shock:

I'll see how I go later today.

blackhat

Ok Northwind i see the logic and no i can't pedal 40BHP but surely a fat front will plain around when you hit mud? In looking for an allround winter tyre combination whereever your going your gonna hit mud at some time so a skinnyish front would be better...

Northwind

blackhat wrote:

Ok Northwind i see the logic and no i can't pedal 40BHP but surely a fat front will plain around when you hit mud? In looking for an allround winter tyre combination whereever your going your gonna hit mud at some time so a skinnyish front would be better...

It Depends, is the short answer. Different approaches, and different sorts of mud. Like, you're spot on that a narrow tyre can cut mud better, and a big tyre might float over it. But some mud is deep enough that you'll cut and cut and end up with your hubs in it, where a fatter tyre might actually find some support. Other mud is dense enough that a fatter tyre can still find some push in it (thick organic forest floor mud frinstance, the claggy black stuff).

So you get different sorts of mud tyre... And you get the choice of whether or not to mud up at all, since it's still normally only a proportion of your riding. (if you live somewhere that all of your riding is best done with a mud-x or something, then... well, that's unfortunate!) So you get that compromise too- I'll not use a Mud-X on the front, frinstance, because it's great for a minority of my riding but pretty crap for the majority.

So it's mostly about finding something that suits your riding. This is why I recommend the Conti Baron so much- it'll never be totally inappropriate and it'll always be at least fairly good, so it's a sort of lowest common denominator.

MDobs

I've just got a maxxis medusa 1.8 to try on the front as I was using panaracer cg soft condition 2.25s last year and wasn't that impressed as I thought they didn't clear that well. To go with it I'm going to run a 1.8 panaracer fire xc pro on the rear. I'll then mix and match a bit to see what works for me.

Sleipnir's Master

blackhat wrote:

I have got a pair of MudX, pair of Kenda Nevgal and pair of Rocket Rons! What the best winter combo with these or should i start again? Bikes a Scott Scale 35 Hardtail, local use mainly on XC singletracks, bridleways etc

Cheers

Return the Kenda's every pair iv'e had split at the walls well before the tred goes.
Just got a set of DMR Moto 2.2's £18.75 on reserve and collect with halfords. Was impressed with the grip in the wet.

Tom Barton

The conti Baron = best alround tyre (with more of a nod towards the winter) going! I'm a convert! Still pretty quick (for a knobbly tyre) in black chilli version too!

blackhat

Great, have now got loads of suggestions for a front tyre, ADvantage & Baron both have 2 votes, while Rubber Queen and Dirty Dan have 1 vote. So will look for an ADvantage or Baron but have only narrow 17mm rims which may be an issue.
Will stick with the Mudx on the rear for now and see how it goes.
Unfortunatley brought the Kendas last year so can't return them

ilovedirt

Advantage is a crap front tyre. I run one on the rear with a tacky minion on the front.

Northwind

Nothing wrong with the nevegals anyway- the reason the sidewalls go before the treads is just that the treads are longer lasting than most equivalent tyres. If you look at the tyre life as a whole, they're more longlived than most (and certainly competitive with similiarly weighted tyres)

Rubber Queen isn't a good choice for a tyre that'll see a lot of mud IMO. Pretty good at everything else.

blackhat

errr have hit a wall, rims too narrow for Advantage & Baron and in light of Northwinds comments will now stick a nevigal on the front and see how that goes.

All i want is a set of winter tyres that will do everthing, wet mud, shale, gravel, rock, snow, ice, sand, that i can stick on in autumn and take off in May...is that too much to ask?

benpinnick

Too thin? What rims?

Northwind

Yah, what rims? 17mm isn't neccesarily too narrow for a Baron or a 2.25 adv (not that I'd fit the latter for this)

ilovedirt

They're probably fine unless they're silly thin...

benpinnick

17mm will work ok. I run barons on an 18mm rim no problems.

BigAirNig

Maxxis Advantage on the rear with Onza Ibex FR on the Front ..... rockin'

blackhat

Have been sold on the 'Black Chilli' compound for a front tyre and been on the Conti website and the choice seems, M King II 2.2, R Queen or Baron? Queenie and Baron are labled trial/all mountain and are heavier than the King II which is labled XC....any feedback on the King as the Baron has the most votes so far?

Cheers, i know i'm making too much of a big deal i just need to keep the amount of tyres i have hanging around to a minimum...

Northwind

Baron is the winter tyre out of those 3. Rubber Queen is a decent hard-use allrounder, but if you go for the 2.4 it really struggles with mud- too big to cut, but not knobbly enough to float-and-paddle, and it's cloggy to boot. Superb at smashing across rock gardens and suchlike though! Mountain King 2 I haven't used but is supposed to be their everyday trail tyre.