Mud tyres

Rodders1977
Rodders1977 Posts: 10
in MTB beginners
I'm after some advice on mud tyres for the wonderful English countryside. Will they make much of a difference on a muddy ride or will my usual cross country ones do the trick? I'm currently using rocket Ron's which were great in the summer but I've not exactly been great at getting out in bad weather. An expanding waistline and general lack of fitness is telling me to get out.
If they're a worthwhile purchase, can anyone recommend some 27.5" tyres please
Thanks in advance

Comments

  • JBA
    JBA Posts: 2,852
    edited December 2020
    Do you want mud tyres or mixed condition tyres that will be ok in mud?

    Full-on mud tyres are heavy and draggy. Great in slop but hard work otherwise.
    You may be better off with something like the Mazza or Martello from Vittoria, DHF/DHR combo from Maxxis, Butcher/Eliminator combo from Specialized or Magic Mary/Hans Dampf/Nobby Nic combo from Schwalbe.

    You need to consider where you will be doing most of your riding and base your tyre selection(s) on that.

    EDIT: Specialized currently have a sale on tyres - Butcher and Eliminator both available for £27.50 each.
    “Life has been unfaithful
    And it all promised so so much”

    Giant Trance 2 27.5 2016 ¦ Sonder Broken Road 2021¦ Giant Revolt Advanced 2 2019 ¦ Giant Toughtroad SLR 1 2019 ¦ Giant Anthem 3 2015 ¦ Specialized Myka Comp FSR 2009
  • steve_sordy
    steve_sordy Posts: 2,446
    I used to swap to mud tyres for the wet and snowy season and used Maxxis Medusa. They were not heavy duty DH tyres, but all the better for that. They sound like just the job for what you want them for. However, while mud tyres are great where it's muddy they are not great elsewhere. They can skitter about on rock, seem to have no grip at all on roots, and as JBA said, they can be a bit draggy.

    I said "used to swap..." I got rid of my usual 3-season tyre, the Maxxis Ignitor, in favour of the Continental Trail King (make sure it has the black chilli compound, BCC). To my surprise, the winter arrived and I was still riding sure footedly with the TKs, so I kept them on. I ended up using them all through the winter! :)<3

    If you are looking for one tyre that will get you through the winter slop, yet still give good grip on rock and roots, AND be good throughout the summer, then the TK is very much one to consider. :)

    On the MBR forum (sadly now defunct), the TK was a much favoured tyre, ridden by people from all over the UK. The only dissenter was a guy that rode on granite the whole time, he said that he only got 1000 miles out of them. I used to get 3x that in a mix of forest, trail centres and a small amount of tarmac. Don't forget, if it doesn't say BCC, then it isn't. Also, if it has a wire bead then also it won't be BCC.

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