best tyre for the conditions on sunday national xc race.

cycleclinic

From time to time i find a race where the conditions are dire like on sunday in sherwood pines for the national xc race. I definatley did not have the right tyres for the day but the right tyre i do not have either. Going to build up a spare set of wheels with tyres for slipply mud as swapping tyres is a pain. The main problem i had was with my xc tyres which would have been great on saturday when the course was dry. The front wheel just skated around and rear fish tailed all over the place. Needless to say i did not do well Some of that will be my lack of skill as well but the tyres did not help either.

So i know a tyre with a more open tread pattern would work best but which one. Was thinking of conti mud kings or the the new vittoria gato tyres. I have had the first generation gear gato mud tyres and they were too narrow and offered no grip on anything slipply like a root. I think the newer ones are better. suggestions welcome as a repest of sunday is no wanted.

WindyG

I was going to say the Gato's I've found mine to be pretty good in mud, needed to find the sweet spot pressure wise.

From what I've seen and heard the conditions were about the worst many have seen. One of the Elite's in the top 20 had Thunderburt's on and was doing well on them a couple of people I know said that it matter what tyres they were on as long as the pressure wasn't too high.

cycleclinic

Well i ran 20 psi in my front and 23 in the rear. I had a sagauro tub on the back and a dugast fast bird on the front. The fat bird filled with mud so it was a ball of mud rolling on mud so that went well and rear filled with mud so it was a ball of mud fishtailing on mud so that went well. Laat year at ickworth house, a local race, conditions were similar in places and there were riders on dry weather xc tyres that had no trouble. Dont know how they do it i cant so i need help. Lets hope the next one is not a mud bath.

dm1672

I run these they stand up well use them at yair Forrest when I'm out and about and great in the muddy conditions we have at the moment.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kenda-nevegal-d ... 60236122uk

Also run panaracer CG and can't fault them either

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/panaracer_ ... tAodSlMAGw

That's my 2p worth

WindyG

thecycleclinic wrote:

Well i ran 20 psi in my front and 23 in the rear. I had a sagauro tub on the back and a dugast fast bird on the front. The fat bird filled with mud so it was a ball of mud rolling on mud so that went well and rear filled with mud so it was a ball of mud fishtailing on mud so that went well. Laat year at ickworth house, a local race, conditions were similar in places and there were riders on dry weather xc tyres that had no trouble. Dont know how they do it i cant so i need help. Lets hope the next one is not a mud bath.

I had a Ralph and a Ron on for Ickworth and found them not too bad I was climbing no trouble they were just a little loose on that downhill part out of the woods.

cycleclinic

Well at ickworth i had geax saguaro maybe i should try schwables like everyone else uses.

The Rookie

On one have the Geax mud tyres at a goof price right now.....

cycleclinic

I wonder if its lower than trade ill have look.

cycleclinic

they have the 26 inch version at a silly price. it is the second generation tyre i think or ks it the first generation cant remember one of them was very skittish.

njee20

Difficult one. Something like a Maxxis Beaver would've gripped very well in the slop, but been very slow. I ran Rons (racing in the worst of it in the 1 o'clock races), and whilst they slid all over the shop I think they were a better choice than something grippier and slower would have been. It is a race after all - do you trade off speed on the grippier bits for sliding in the wet bits?

No correct answer, it's all personal after all.

cycleclinic

Well i have some gato mud tyres now. Heavy as hell and probably quite slow but hey i was not fast that day. I am going to pair them with those new schwable pro core inner tyres on 35mm wide rims and try 12 psi or something silly then go hunt some mud and see if i have control. It bound to rain alot at some point right?

I will also try the procore tires with some thing the rocket rons Or conti race kings maybe the low pressure will help them stick in the mud.

WindyG

The Gato i have is only about 560g as 27.5" 2.1, I run it tubeless

njee20

ProCore weighs a ton, and is designed for DH racing. Sod that.

gt-arrowhead

njee20 wrote:

Difficult one. Something like a Maxxis Beaver would've gripped very well in the slop, but been very slow. I ran Rons (racing in the worst of it in the 1 o'clock races), and whilst they slid all over the shop I think they were a better choice than something grippier and slower would have been. It is a race after all - do you trade off speed on the grippier bits for sliding in the wet bits?

No correct answer, it's all personal after all.

Maxxis Beavers are excellent in mud, and i wouldnt call them slow. I find them to have a really low rolling resistance. Infact they are still excellent doing XC in the dry/slightly damp, as i found out last summer.

Just on a note about the Nevegal linked up top, i tried the Nevegal at the back with a Blue Groove up front for XC. I really hated them both, the rolling resistance is too much for a 3-4 hour XC ride.

njee20

GT-Arrowhead wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Difficult one. Something like a Maxxis Beaver would've gripped very well in the slop, but been very slow. I ran Rons (racing in the worst of it in the 1 o'clock races), and whilst they slid all over the shop I think they were a better choice than something grippier and slower would have been. It is a race after all - do you trade off speed on the grippier bits for sliding in the wet bits?

No correct answer, it's all personal after all.

Maxxis Beavers are excellent in mud, and i wouldnt call them slow. I find them to have a really low rolling resistance. Infact they are still excellent doing XC in the dry/slightly damp, as i found out last summer.

In the context of XC race tyres they're very slow. I was surprised at how much so frankly. Grippy, and not heavy, but they are slow.

The Rookie

I can back that up, I was out with a friend on Thursday night, he has a 29er HT on Beavers and I have my 26er FS on a Ron/Ralph combo (damaged the rear Ron, so went for the summer rear just in time for a mud fest!), downhills I was having to brake to keep behind him. He was running 26psi, I was on 28psi (we discussed it as the effect of the different rolling resistance was that obvious and I thought he may have a soft tyre).

gt-arrowhead

Maybe its the pressures you guys are using them at. I like having mine at 35 PSI. They are the only mud tyre ive ridden so i have nothing to compare to really.

Grip is still excellent for me at 35 PSI, just doesnt like roots. But can handle stuff like axle deep puddles of mud no problem.

njee20

I agree. They're very grippy tyres. That's not been disputed. They're still not fast though. Few winter tyres are, I've had Black Sharks, Mud Xs, Fire Muds, Trail Rakers and Dirty Dans, it's always a trade off between grip and speed.

I run the Beavers about 20-25psi, as I do all my tyres. They give a very harsh ride compared to most other tyres of their weight, obviously a stiffer carcass. Bags of grip though, including on roots I found, but I'd trade that off for speed when racing.