Your favourite all rounder cross tyres?

GGBiker

What would folks recommend as an all rounder clincher tyre, ie for the beginner who will only have one set of wheels and wants a "fit and forget " tyre for varied cross conditions? Also interested in what pressure you run them at without too many problems?

I'm thinking of Michelin Mud 2, Clements MXP or Challenge Grifo or Limus? Any experience with these?

Do folks use latex tubes and/or sealant ?

Paul 8v

I had a mud 2 all last season, no problems even on the muddiest of days. A really good tyre.

For summer I have racing Ralph's as they are nice and fast in the dry/loose stuff and roll ok on tarmac (Bike does an 80% offroad / 20% on road commute) but will be switching back to the mud 2 for the wetter months racing

mattrixdesign2

Well on my first "cross" bike, a TriCross and the first thing I did was to fit some Challenge Grifo's.

A reasonable compromise, knobby enough for off road, centre style tread for on road, but not great for the muddiest off road, and squirm and wear on the road. I kept them on even when doing club road rides with everyone else on narrow slicks, held their own but you have to put a bit of extra work, but not too bad. Thing is you won't get a perfect all rounder.

Now its summer, I am running some well worn wheels with well worn Conti GP4000s, but I have another set of wheels with the Grifo's on for some XC commuting.

When the Contis finally give up, I am going to opt for some file tread "gravel race" type tyre. I fancy a set if these...

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/artic ... ear-41341/

....just what I have been looking for, OK they won't be good in wet mud, but should serve me well on the road, with some exploring off road. Interested if anyone had used anything similar?

mattrixdesign2

Sorry, just realised I read your post wrong! I am talking cross and road conditions.

Ignore my nonsense

tgotb

Depends what you want to achieve. An "All-round" tyre - Grifo, Clement MXP, Vittoria XG Pro etc will be faster in most conditions, but potentially a bit sketchy when it's really muddy, whereas a true mud tyre (Clement PDX, Challenge Limus etc) will be grippy in all conditions, but best in the mud. Either will get you round the course in any conditions, if only because you can always get off and run.

I'd be inclined to go for something like a Grifo, on the basis that I'd learn more from having slightly sketchy traction in the mud than I will from riding knobblies when it's dry. But if you want to have the grippiest tyre possible and worry about everything else, you might want something more mud-oriented.

With sealant and a good tubeless system you could get as low as 20psi or even lower (I was racing at 17-19psi with Clement PDX on Iron Cross rims last season), with an inner tube you probably want to stay a bit higher. After a while you get a feel for it, but with tubes basically as low as you can go without bottoming out the rims. With tubeless/tubs you can bottom out the rims to an extent, though you can still get pinch flats if you take it too far. Definitely worth getting a digital pressure gauge, the gauges on track pumps are often very inaccurate at those sorts of pressures.

devhads

I've got Grifos and they're a good all rounder although I did race them in proper mud last year and found them a little too sketchy. As TGOTB said you can always get off and run and depending on your level of skill even a grippy mud tyre might not be enough to keep you on the bike in some conditions. Anything from dry and hard to wet grass and slightly muddy they're fine. In a straight line they're pretty quick and have low rolling resistance. I haven't used any real mud tyres so can't comment on whether the more aggressive lugs would slow me down enough to opt for them as an all condition tyre.

I'm going to get Limus for this years muddy races as I really like Challenge tyres. They're really supple and with latex tubes can be ran at low to mid 20s psi without pinch flats. Not as low as you could run tubs or tubeless but if you want to stick with clinchers and tubes I think they're the best you can get.

crossed

I've been running a set of Racing Ralph's since the start of the year, they roll fairly well on the road and give pretty good grip off-road. One thing they do struggle with though is very muddy conditions.

I've been running the front tyre tubeless and had the pressure as low as 20psi but normally settle for 30-35psi when I'm riding on and off-road. One of these days I'll get my finger out and set up the rear wheel to run it tubeless, it's not like it's going to be much of a problem, I only need a valve and then I'm good to go

FransJacques

Panaracer Cinder Cross - b/c it's fat with a big air volume which is good for MTB trails. It has an aggressive tread that's better in mud than a Grifo or Grifo-like tread.

The Cinder Cross is one of the widest tyres I've come across so more polyvalent than a 32c or 33c cross racing tyre.

True mud racing tyres tend to be thinner to scythe down thru the mud to grip whatever is underneath. You don' t want to float on mud, you want to cut a thin, low-resistant line through it.

Let us know what you get.

GGBiker

Leaning towards michelin mud 2 or challenge limus, think I might wait and see how the continental cyclocross race tyres that came with the bike perform first, if they're ok then I might just need a tyre for very muddy conditions. They have a wire bead and weight nearly 500g each but it'll hardly matter to a beginner!

FransJacques

Limus are a great tyre but are not that great on hard-pack or pavement. But if you really don't ever want to change tyres and plan on riding all season then they're the ones to get.

In racing, it seems every year the sept and early Oct races are on file treads or Grifos as the most, then all of a sudden you're straight to the Rhinos/Limus. Almost no middle ground in the UK.

antsmithmk

Conti cross kings are good for wet mud