Tyre Choice - Smart Sam/Magic Mary combo?

samfailed

I currently ride a hard tail in the UK doing mostly cross country stuff. Nearly everything I do is on natural trails and at the moment they are very slippy and have long sections of deep, sticky mud.

When I purchased my bike it came with Schwalbe Smart Sams on the front and rear but the more I've read up about tyre choices the more I've heard these are rubbish tyres for the conditions I ride. I've been told by people that they are great for hard pack and quite fast but can't cope with the slippy stuff.

I'm rubbish at this stuff and everything I've looked up online is highly confusing but the conclusion I came to is that at this time of year I should be riding on something like the Magic Marys to cope with all the mud. It's also my understanding that those tyres are more aimed at downhill/enduro so are they overkill? Will they just slow me down? Will they be faster or slower up a muddy climb? Perhaps I should be riding a Magic mary on the front and a Smart Sam on the rear for balance? For the winter at least?

mark_fogel

Magic Mary is an overkill for XC and way too draggy.... I would recommend something like a Maxxis Forkasters or Nobby Nics which are both lighter and roll better. Have a look at Vitorria Gato also very good for sloppy riding. Take that Smart Sam off and keep it for the summer (-:

The Rookie

Nobby Nics work well, a friend has the Forekaster and declared them the worst tyre he's ever ridden, must be at least Addix speed if not Addix trail compound though, not performance which is rubbish!

mark_fogel

The Rookie wrote:

Nobby Nics work well, a friend has the Forekaster and declared them the worst tyre he's ever ridden, must be at least Addix speed if not Addix trail compound though, not performance which is rubbish!

I would have to disagree, Forekasters work well for me (-:

billycool

Tyre choice can be a very personal thing.

I use Conti Trail Kings BCC (black chilli compound) as my alround tyre. Roll well, grip to most things and never had any issues. They do struggle in sloppy/muddy conditions, as would many tyres.

In proper deep mud, very few tyres cope very well. You really need a mud specific tyre, but they then don't roll well on the road or other terrain.

Everyone will have their favourites but you'll certainly benefit from a change.

samfailed

Update: I purchased some tyres to have a go at and first started with a Smart Sam on the rear and a Magic Mary up front. WOW! What a difference that makes! Descending is actually fun! SO much extra grip it felt like a whole different bike.

Tomorrow I'll testing out a Nobby Nic (2.25) on the rear and a Magic Mary (2.35) on the front.

The Rookie

Make sure you get the right compounds, here are a lot more than 1 Nobby Nic!

samfailed

The Rookie wrote:

Make sure you get the right compounds, here are a lot more than 1 Nobby Nic!

What's the difference between the compounds?

JBA

Grip, basically.
Avoid any of the 'Performance' tyres from Schwalbe. They are ok in the dry but terrible in the wet.
Get tyres from the 'Evolution' range. For the front you ideally want one of the Addix Soft tyres and an Addix Speedgrip for the rear.

(If you can find old stock of Schwalbe tyres look for Trail Star for the front and Pacestar for the rear.)

billycool

samfailed wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

Make sure you get the right compounds, here are a lot more than 1 Nobby Nic!

What's the difference between the compounds?

Taken from another site:

Compounds The durometer of the rubber(s) used. Typically ranging between 70 for hard-wearing utility tyres right down to 40 for DH-specific gravity rubber. Tyres can feature as many as three different compounds to help each section do it’s job better.

That is why the same tyre can cost a lot more in a softer compound and also if it is folding/tubeless.

Basically, softer tyres offer more grip but wear quicker.

The Rookie

BillyCool wrote:

Basically, softer tyres offer more grip but wear quicker.

They will, but the Schwalbe use triple compounds so that the straight rolling part is supported by a much harder compound which goes some way to mitigating it.