Wet weather tyres

Cheesecake13

Hi All

Firstly I'm new here so just checking in to say hi. Secondly I'm having a tyre debate which follows...

I hadn't hit the trails in around 12 years and then decided it was time to have a go again. Around 2 months ago I purchased a 2012 Cannondale SL5, thought it was a nice enough frame to upgrade as I went along and got back up to speed. I've been to Swinley Forest (Surrey) a couple of times and it's preformed pretty poorly in the wet!!!

The issue (apart from my lack of skill currently) is the tyres which are Schwalbe Rapid Rob, 2.1"...summer tyres basically! Shocking in the wet!

I'm looking for a good set of wet weather tyres for good traction on the slippery roots etc as well as through the boggy mud. Any ideas would be very welcome please? I appreciate theirs not a quick fix as such and my skill/technique will need to improve also but would be good to have a few ideas.

I've been given a few ideas already which I'll hold back for now as keen to get a fresh perspective.

Thanks in advance :-)

The Rookie

I'm not a Swinley man, wait for those who are to confirm, but you won't go to far wrong with Bontrager XR4's. Personally I like Panaracer Fire XC Pro as, while they are not outstanding in any one area, they don't fail in any area either, great allrounders.

cooldad

Nothing will help you on evil wet Swinley roots. They have your name and number.

Cheesecake13

The Beginner wrote:

I'm not a Swinley man, wait for those who are to confirm, but you won't go to far wrong with Bontrager XR4's. Personally I like Panaracer Fire XC Pro as, while they are not outstanding in any one area, they don't fail in any area either, great allrounders.

Thanks for the info. I heard they're both good tyres. Would you run them both front and back?

Cheesecake13

cooldad wrote:

Nothing will help you on evil wet Swinley roots. They have your name and number.

Haha I think you might be right. Do you ride there a lot? It's been great fun, with a little more traction it'd be better though...my bikes survived a few crashes but my 30 year old bones might not survive many more!!!

The Rookie

I run Panaracer fire Xc pro at both ends, 2.1's, I have a 1.8 for when it gets gloopier that goes on the rear and when it's really muddy a Fire Mud. Never run an XR4, but people I ride with have....

Nothing really grips wet roots, you aim to hit them in such a way that it doesn't matter.

30, your just a kid!

Cheesecake13

The Beginner wrote:

I run Panaracer fire Xc pro at both ends, 2.1's, I have a 1.8 for when it gets gloopier that goes on the rear and when it's really muddy a Fire Mud. Never run an XR4, but people I ride with have....

Nothing really grips wet roots, you aim to hit them in such a way that it doesn't matter.

30, your just a kid!

Thanks, I really appreciate your help.

Oh and yes I'm doing alright at 30...after 12 years out I feel a lot older but hoping I'll be back up to speed soon.

Thanks again :-)

Cheesecake13

Any Swinley fans around?

I also heard that Continental Verticals weren't bad for the front and perhaps coupled well with Maxxis High Rollers on the back. Any thoughts on this?

I'm basically really out of touch and not sure whether to stick a 2.3/4 on the front and a 2.1 on the back or whether to go for 2x 2.2's!

cooldad

Cheesecake13 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Nothing will help you on evil wet Swinley roots. They have your name and number.

Haha I think you might be right. Do you ride there a lot? It's been great fun, with a little more traction it'd be better though...my bikes survived a few crashes but my 30 year old bones might not survive many more!!!

Fairly often - it's a few minutes down the road.
Have a look in London Calling in Rides - most weeks there's something organised (badly) at Swinley, Surrey Hills or Caesars Camp or Aston for the more heroic types and odd trips to Wales etc.
Nothing too serious, and it's a rule they have to wait for me so pretty slow as well.

Cheesecake13

cooldad wrote:

Cheesecake13 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Nothing will help you on evil wet Swinley roots. They have your name and number.

Haha I think you might be right. Do you ride there a lot? It's been great fun, with a little more traction it'd be better though...my bikes survived a few crashes but my 30 year old bones might not survive many more!!!

Fairly often - it's a few minutes down the road.
Have a look in London Calling in Rides - most weeks there's something organised (badly) at Swinley, Surrey Hills or Caesars Camp or Aston for the more heroic types and odd trips to Wales etc.
Nothing too serious, and it's a rule they have to wait for me so pretty slow as well.

Sounds good, thanks for the tip. I'm enjoying Swinley, it's a good place to learn with the various runs and trails. Hopefully with new tyres will be new confidence and more speed. I heard there were some good places in the Surrey Hills too.

Again, appreciate the help.

cooldad

Yeah, between us we know most of the best bits. Lots of good stuff in SH but it's best to go with someone who knows the place as it's huge and you can spend days riding around and find nothing.
Lot's of lesser known trails at Swinley as well - you can string a 15-20 mile ride together without repeating anything and avoiding fireroads.

widge34

Specialized storms. Better than bontys Mud x. They give me so much confidence.

Cheesecake13

cooldad wrote:

Yeah, between us we know most of the best bits. Lots of good stuff in SH but it's best to go with someone who knows the place as it's huge and you can spend days riding around and find nothing.
Lot's of lesser known trails at Swinley as well - you can string a 15-20 mile ride together without repeating anything and avoiding fireroads.

I agree, so much to do at Swinley. When we arrive there seems to be a lot of people around, full car park etc but on the trails we rarely bump into anyone.

So what tyres are you using?

Cheesecake13

widge34 wrote:

Specialized storms. Better than bontys Mud x. They give me so much confidence.

The magic C word...that's what I need my tyres to deliver. Thanks for the tip

mrmonkfinger

Cheesecake13 wrote:

I also heard that Continental Verticals weren't bad

I have Vertical Pros (the posh version) on both ends, I like. I don't know what they're like in Swinley though, they work pretty good in FoD.

cooldad

Cheesecake13 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Yeah, between us we know most of the best bits. Lots of good stuff in SH but it's best to go with someone who knows the place as it's huge and you can spend days riding around and find nothing.
Lot's of lesser known trails at Swinley as well - you can string a 15-20 mile ride together without repeating anything and avoiding fireroads.

I agree, so much to do at Swinley. When we arrive there seems to be a lot of people around, full car park etc but on the trails we rarely bump into anyone.

So what tyres are you using?

I use Maxxis Ignitors, Exception series (soft compound) all year, work well enough for me and keeps life simple.

Cheesecake13

mrmonkfinger wrote:

Cheesecake13 wrote:

I also heard that Continental Verticals weren't bad

I have Vertical Pros (the posh version) on both ends, I like. I don't know what they're like in Swinley though, they work pretty good in FoD.

Cheers. I know I'm not going to get a great set of tyres for roots etc and that technique is the key...anything will be better than my current tyres though!

Cheesecake13

So what tyres are you using?[/quote]
I use Maxxis Ignitors, Exception series (soft compound) all year, work well enough for me and keeps life simple.[/quote]

I'll check them out...keen to get a pair sorted for the weekend after next when we head to Swinley or Surrey Hills. Hopefully this weekend I'll be on a few standard country trails to get back up to speed.

Cheesecake13

Anyone else got an favourite tyres for the wet? I'm also keen for advice on sizing...better to have a bigger one on the front like 2.3/2.4 for instance?

The Rookie

Wet what?
Rock, leaf mould, grass, thick mud, tarmac, sand, hard pack gravel?

cooldad

Swinley is a combination of man made trails, which drain fairly well, so stay hard, but fairly smooth and fairly slippery when wet, natural trail which gets muddy in parts, leaf mould in others but with enough grip and nasty slippery roots. So I go for grip. The mud isn't too bad most of the time, and a mud tyre would be mostly pointless.
Surrey Hills are mainly natural and parts don't drain very well so it gets a lot muddier, but otherwise same considerations as Swinley.
In a way similar to S Wales trail centres without the rock.

Cheesecake13

The Beginner wrote:

Wet what?
Rock, leaf mould, grass, thick mud, tarmac, sand, hard pack gravel?

Wet everything haha! I just want a really grippy tyre, I understand you can't cover all the bases. Mud and hard packed sand would be a substantial improvement in my current set.

The Rookie

Exactly, you can't cover all basis, so you want a grippy tyre on wet XXXX, tell us what XXXX is and we'll tell you what will grip it!

However I'll pop for Panaracer Fire XC Pro as being a good 'Jack of all trades' tyre though on any particular occasion it may not be the very best.

Cheesecake13

cooldad wrote:

Swinley is a combination of man made trails, which drain fairly well, so stay hard, but fairly smooth and fairly slippery when wet, natural trail which gets muddy in parts, leaf mould in others but with enough grip and nasty slippery roots. So I go for grip. The mud isn't too bad most of the time, and a mud tyre would be mostly pointless.
Surrey Hills are mainly natural and parts don't drain very well so it gets a lot muddier, but otherwise same considerations as Swinley.
In a way similar to S Wales trail centres without the rock.

I think you're right, the mud isn't terrible and most trails are compact but slippery. I think a good all rounder makes sense.

Cheesecake13

The Beginner wrote:

Exactly, you can't cover all basis, so you want a grippy tyre on wet XXXX, tell us what XXXX is and we'll tell you what will grip it!

However I'll pop for Panaracer Fire XC Pro as being a good 'Jack of all trades' tyre though on any particular occasion it may not be the very best.

Jack of all trades it is then. Cheers

Cheesecake13

I went for Bontrager XR4's after reading a few good reviews. Thanks for all who contributed...hopefully I can be of use in the future

Rushmore

I use Maxxis high Rollers for everything...

benpinnick

Im running Bonty XR4s at the moment (round Swinley). Cant see me changing them this side of summer. They're not wet tyres, but handle the slop really well.

Cheesecake13

Rushmore wrote:

I use Maxxis high Rollers for everything...

Heard they were good, may try them next...cheers

Cheesecake13

benpinnick wrote:

Im running Bonty XR4s at the moment (round Swinley). Cant see me changing them this side of summer. They're not wet tyres, but handle the slop really well.

Awesome, cheers. Good to know they've held up over that terrain. How often do you get down there? It's fantastic, loads better than what I used to ride on back in the day!!!

benpinnick

Cheesecake13 wrote:

benpinnick wrote:

Im running Bonty XR4s at the moment (round Swinley). Cant see me changing them this side of summer. They're not wet tyres, but handle the slop really well.

Awesome, cheers. Good to know they've held up over that terrain. How often do you get down there? It's fantastic, loads better than what I used to ride on back in the day!!!

Once a week if I can. I live about 500yrds from the southwestern corner.