front tyre for winter

sofaboy73

went to put my winter tyres on last weekend and have somehow lost the maxxis minion i normally use on the front. was going to order another, but thought i would cast about for alternate ideas for a replacement first.

i read in the peak disricts so it's on lots of mud, lots of rock and the odd patch of sandier stuff. i usually ride fairly agressively on a 160mm travel bike and like to run the front pressure pretty low.

any ideas?

dtp

I'm running an On-One Chunky Monkey at the moment which would be a similar width as the minion (2.4"). It's the super sticky variant, and seems to handle wet rock really well. Seems fine on sand too, although i've not ridden anything particularly sandy. It's cheap too.

Haven't really tackled any serious mud with it though, I would've thought something narrower might be better there if you follow the advice you seem to see on the forums.

dusk

Hans Dampf? nice and big so you can run low pressure for loads of grip

step83

im a bit curious on this, ive popped a rubber queen on the back but not sure if the pana XC is going to cope over winter

jimothy78

Step83 wrote:

im a bit curious on this, ive popped a rubber queen on the back but not sure if the pana XC is going to cope over winter

I really like the Panaracer Fire XC, but if you get mud like we do round here, then you'll find it clogs very quickly when it gets properly wet. Something with larger blocks and bigger gaps between them is the order of the day.

I've just stuck one of these on the front of mine:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/inte ... -prod53629
Haven't tested it properly yet, but the tread pattern looks like it should shed well and the (claimed) 50a compound should provide plenty of grip.

carbonkid

Stick with what you know if your happy with it.you wont get much better than a minion

grantti469

another vote here for on ones chunky monkey. I'm running the trail extreme version on the front and its super grippy even on wet rocks and roots. super big volume and copes well at lower pressures.

Green Meenie

Been running a Chunky Monkey on the front over the summer and loved it but tried it out in the mud recently and it clogged within in seconds. Going to swap to a more winter orientated tyre asap as we live in the mud here in the welsh valleys

jimothy78

Green Meenie wrote:

Been running a Chunky Monkey on the front over the summer and loved it but tried it out in the mud recently and it clogged within in seconds. Going to swap to a more winter orientated tyre asap as we live in the mud here in the welsh valleys

Local woods running really nicely this morning, Steve
Looks like that's all gonna change this week though

Green Meenie

Local woods running really nicely this morning, Steve
Looks like that's all gonna change this week though

lol yup, mud galor after the next 5 days of non stop rain

.blitz

sofaboy73 wrote:

went to put my winter tyres on last weekend and have somehow lost the maxxis minion i normally use on the front

If you like Minions try a Specialized Butcher Control. They're like Minions but better in every way

* accurate sizing the 2.3 Butcher is the same width as a 2.5 Minion but without the tall, heavy sidewalls
* 50a compound is griptastic without being dragtastic
* 750g for a Butcher - lighter than any Minion
* £30 - bargain

sofaboy73

.blitz wrote:

sofaboy73 wrote:

went to put my winter tyres on last weekend and have somehow lost the maxxis minion i normally use on the front

If you like Minions try a Specialized Butcher Control. They're like Minions but better in every way

* accurate sizing the 2.3 Butcher is the same width as a 2.5 Minion but without the tall, heavy sidewalls
* 50a compound is griptastic without being dragtastic
* 750g for a Butcher - lighter than any Minion
* £30 - bargain

looks like they could be a bit of a winner and worth a try.

how does the 50a compound compare with the super tacky on the minions (if you've treid them) - do you notice much difference?

peter413

They loose out slightly to a 2.5 ST but are grippier than the 2.35's I found. Butchers are the best all round tyre I've ever used for an AM bike, only time I change is to mud tyres. If you feel like you want slightly softer knobs you could look at the SX casing, the side knobs are 45a but honestly the extra lightweight and suppleness of the Control casing makes it pretty unnoticeable, I actually found I was faster with the Control.

.blitz

sofaboy73 wrote:

how does the 50a compound compare with the super tacky on the minions?

Crucially they don't have the same draggy feeling that an ST does on hardpack/uphill pedally bits. They roll along easily like an Ardent but grip better than a 60a Minion. As peter413 says there's a slight loss of ultimate grip in marginal situations e.g. OMG off-camber sections and smearing off greasy roots/rocks etc but the rest of the time they're amazing tyres.

sofaboy73

peter413 wrote:

only time I change is to mud tyres.

what do you use as your mud tyres?

what's the mud shedding like on the butchers? as i plan to use them in winter in the Peak district mud will not be in short supply!

peter413

Usually Continental Baron's on the AM bike because they work really well on hardpack, roots and rocks as well but if it's really really muddy or snowy then I'll stick some DH mud spikes on.

The Butcher's shed mud really well, better than a lot of similar tyres, they just obviously loose out a little to a dedicated mud tyre.

sofaboy73

sounds like a winner and i'll give the burcher a whirl then