Mud Tyres

skyblueamateur

My handling skills offroad are absolutely shocking.

Would I find more grip by changing to mud tyres from intermediates even in summer or am I being mental?

roger_merriman

SkyBlueAmateur wrote:

My handling skills offroad are absolutely shocking.

Would I find more grip by changing to mud tyres from intermediates even in summer or am I being mental?

What surfaces are you struggling with? CX mud tyres tend to be open but not toothy tread.

What tyres do you have at the moment?

skyblueamateur

I'm currently running a pair of Continental CycloX King which came with the CAADX last year.

I'm fine on Greenways, gravel and dry dirt but as soon as I get into the woods or anywhere technical I start to struggle and feel vulnerable.

I'm certain my lack of technique and picking a decent line is the problem but my thoughts are if I can find more grip then it will help.

I currently run at 45-50 psi

imposter2.0

Unfortunately, no tyre will compensate for a lack of skill. Either way, 45-50psi is excessive for off road. I rarely run more than 30psi on mine, less in the wet...

skyblueamateur

I suspect you're both right. Thanks.

I pinched flatted a few times in the local woods and in my first race hence the higher pressure. Should I perservere with a lower pressure?

roger_merriman

Imposter wrote:

Unfortunately, no tyre will compensate for a lack of skill. Either way, 45-50psi is excessive for off road. I rarely run more than 30psi on mine, less in the wet...

What type of off road though? 30psi is around the same that I and many others use for our MTBs which will for most part have suspention and tyres pushing 60mm wide, with reinforced sidewalls.

To ask a cx tyre which tend to be lightweight to run at the same pressure on remotely the same sort of off road if the OP is riding the local woods then a higher psi would seem wise, admitly I'm heavy but using the CX on admitly more MTB than CX highways and byways I run 60psi the tyre still has a fair amount of give but will not pinch flat bar rider error ie high speed square edges etc.

clearly racing around a wet park/field though much lower can and is better to be used.

imposter2.0

You can't really compare 30psi in a 32mm CX tyre to 30psi in a 2.25 MTB tyre.

roger_merriman

Imposter wrote:

You can't really compare 30psi in a 32mm CX tyre to 30psi in a 2.25 MTB tyre.

to a degree you can, the MTB tyre will have a larger volume and stronger sidewalls, to ask the CX tyre to operate at the same pressure on similar uses such as riding around local woods, clearly can be done but with some caveats namely unless your careful pinch flats or even dinging a rim are possible, and even likely.

if someone is CX racing then yes low psi is a good idea, but rolling around local woods much less so.

Davey37mtb

Have you thought of going tubeless? i tend to run around 22-25 psi even on rooty stuff

skyblueamateur

I have but have been put off by my mechanical ineptitude.

Would tubeless be suitable for training as well?

I have dropped the pressure to 40psi and have found a lot more confidence. May try 35psi in the local woods and see whether I can get away without pinch flatting.

robertpb

I've been running low 20's in the front tyres on my MTBs since the early eighties with 2-3psi extra in the back, never had more than 28psi in the back.

On my cross with WTB nanos 40mm on 22.5 internal width rims tubeless, (they come up to 43mm on these rims) I'm running 24psi front and 28psi back on MTB runs.
I weigh 62kg in the shower.

Chris James

30 psi is pretty low for trundling through the woods etc. I only go below 30 psi in a race on a muddy course - e.g. I would be nervous going below 30 psi if there were tree roots around that I could flat on. The risk of pinch flats would be too great to offset any small grip benefits you would get unless you are actually racing - I weight 11 stones 10 by the way, my heavier friends run higher pressures than me.

For general off road stuff then 40psi sounds okay to me for 35mm tyres. I've run much the same using Land Cruisers (which have very little grip!) and managed okay on mountain bike routes. You don't need mud tyres just for grip - the main advantage of mud tyres over intermediates is that the mud tyres are better at shedding mud, rather than them having massive lugs that make you corner like on rails.

SkyBlueAmateur - what aspect are you struggling with? If the back wheel skids a bit then it isn't the end of the world, in fact sometimes it can be helpful to get round corners speedway style. If you relax and shift your weight to maximise grip and keep pedalling then some wheel slipping doesn't worry you after a while.

Obviously your front wheel stepping out on a corner is more serious, but techniques such as tripoding can help there.

I wouldn't bother changing your tyres, I would just ride a bit more on loose surfaces and I am sure you will improve. Perversely for a roadie, I have better bike handling in cyclocross than I do on the road, I think that s because it doesn't hurt as much if you crash off road. You have to push things a bit to discover where the limits are.

skyblueamateur

Thanks for the replies.

It's difficult to explain really but think most can be put down to confidence.

I struggle picking lines and really struggle with deciding what's rideable on a descent.

I had quite a big off when hitting a divot in the woods and going over my handlebars which I think shook me up.

Getting back into it slowly but surely and am hoping to do a few races this year early on in the season.

antsmithmk

Practice practice practice. Foot position for cornering, coasting etc all crucial. As it your weight distribution. Your thigh should be on the saddle at times. Also shift your weight back when going up or down hills.

kevinharley

Experimenting with tyre pressures is worth it to try and find that sweet spot between not pinging off the rocks and roots (pressure to high) and not pinch-flatting (pressure too low). You do have to concentrate much more (I find) on picking the right line on a CX bike than eg a MTB hardtail, and also in focusing on your body position and moving your weight around ... if you are confident in 'going light' when hitting rocks & roots, you can get away with lower pressures.

Might be worth going for a bit more volume if you can ... greater comfort and more grip. I've found it significantly more confidence-inspiring running 40c tyres recently than the 35c ones I used to use.

Better quality (softer compound) rubber might improve things too ... if they are OEM tyres, they can be a bit plasticky compound, with not a lot of grip, which can feel very sketchy at higher pressures.

You might also benefit from going for a slightly shorter stem and slightly wider bars (or flared bars), which put you a bit further back on the bike and give you a bit more control ... but that would cost you a bit, and I'd try the other stuff first ...

AllezAllezAllez

Yesterday I took part in my first Cross race (RD 1 of the Yorkshire points series on Skipton) which I loved and loathed in equal measure. I didn't think my HR would go that high!

In places the course was muddy and I was like Bambi on Ice for most of the corners and off cambers sections. Typical Roadie I guess and I need to get more practice in those type of conditions.

On a similar question, what is the lowest pressure you would run on clinchers before you start to risk pinch flats? Also, would you run different pressures front and back?

Thanks
Lee