MTB mud tyres 2018...

[WindyCommon]

My trusty but old Bontrager MudX are looking a bit shot. What are people using for mud/wet/winter conditions nowadays?

Bike is a Specialized Epic 29er, and I’m ok with tubed or tubeless. Mainly ridden in the SE - Tunnel Hill, Swinley, Peaslake etc. I am principally a roadie so tend to ride with both wheels on the ground.

Thanks in advance.

[missing the VR6]

I'm too lazy to have a different tyre for different seasons on my MTB so go with either Maxxis High Roller II or Continental Trail Kings happy with both. Although I feel the Conti's roll slightly quicker.

[SAS Tom]

I’ve got Michelin Wild Mud Advanced on my 29” wheels. They are awesome, almost like there’s no mud at all. They are very very soft though and very draggy, feels like pedalling through glue compared to my 27.5+ dry tyres.

[gazza285]

Nobby Nics on wet slop, Racing Ralphs for the dry...

[Tall_Paul]

Maxxis shorty or schwalbe Magic Mary are two proper mud tyres, the shorty is a cut down wet scream which is a full on mud spike tyre.

Swinley should be pretty dry even when it's wet as most of the trail is the horrible red sandy brick stuff they've built it out of, think there's only a few proper mud sections.

[Celtic Dragon]

Specialized Slaughter on the front and Conti Trail king on the back for the winter clag here. Here consists of sandstone, farm fields and alluvial mud.

[Herman Toothrot]

Tall_Paul said:

Maxxis shorty or schwalbe Magic Mary are two proper mud tyres, the shorty is a cut down wet scream which is a full on mud spike tyre.

Swinley should be pretty dry even when it's wet as most of the trail is the horrible red sandy brick stuff they've built it out of, think there's only a few proper mud sections.

Indeed, agree on all points. My default front tyre these days is Magic Mary it's basically great in every condition grips on everything and feels nice (the rubbers very well damped, it helps smooth the trail) that I'm increasingly appreciating having had a season of experimenting with others that simply don't have this property.

Swinley today on the rear of my bike was a Rock Razor basically the opposite of a mud tyre & more than enough grip for sandy swinley, it's also good in the Surrey hills. Wouldn't use it anywhere with clay or other sticky mud.

My pick is if it's dry or well drained rocky sandy Magic Mary & Rock Razor combo it's a lovely combo Schwalbe trail star compound / orange has such good damping properties and the rock Razor rolls so fast.

If it's very wet roots muddy filthyness Magic Mary & Magic Mary.

If it's all a bit of a winter mix Magic Mary & any of the following I've been happy with on the rear Maxxis DHF (rolls faster than the DHR), Specialized Butcher or Specialized Purgatory, controversial I know but current specialised Grid casing tyres are good and dirt cheap which is a bonus.

[Herman Toothrot]

Celtic Dragon said:

Specialized Slaughter on the front and Conti Trail king on the back for the winter clag here. Here consists of sandstone, farm fields and alluvial mud.

Slaughter is a semi slick like the Rock Razor or Minion SS designed for rear use, sounds a dreadful front tyre especially in wet mud?

[Celtic Dragon]

Herman Toothrot said:

Slaughter is a semi slick like the Rock Razor or Minion SS designed for rear use, sounds a dreadful front tyre especially in wet mud?

Sorry, I meant Butcher! Just looked after you said that, was posting from the archery club.

[Tall_Paul]

The new bike I'm looking at has a maxxis rekon 2.6 at the rear and a minion DHF 2.6 up front, I'm thinking when I convert it to tubeless I'll switch the DHF to the rear and get a maxxis shorty 2.5 WT up front, should be good in the slop and mud over the next few months (and first bit of summer...). The rekon isn't meant to be great in wet conditions.

This combo won the best in test for enduro tires on enduro magazine website http://enduro-mtb.com/en/the-best-enduro-tire-seve...

[SAS Tom]

For proper mud I’d go for narrow tyres over wide ones. I’ve got 27.5+ 3” wide tyres and they are awful in mud, they just float over the top. My mate has 2.4” or 2.5” high rollers and they do the same. My Michelin’s are 2.25” and much better as they dig in, I expect narrower would be better still.

[Zippee]

gazza285 said:

Nobby Nics on wet slop, Racing Ralphs for the dry...

Snap

[yellowjack]

WindyCommon said:

My trusty but old Bontrager MudX are looking a bit shot. What are people using for mud/wet/winter conditions nowadays?

Bike is a Specialized Epic 29er, and I’m ok with tubed or tubeless. Mainly ridden in the SE - Tunnel Hill, Swinley, Peaslake etc. I am principally a roadie so tend to ride with both wheels on the ground.

Thanks in advance.

You sound similar to me. You like road biking, and don't like to "get air". I ride Swinleyand Tunnel Hill too, along with Long Valley and Caesar's Camp, but Minley is my main hang-out.

I'll add another vote to these two...

Zippee said:

gazza285 said:

Nobby Nics on wet slop, Racing Ralphs for the dry...

Snap

I'm on the cheaper 'Performance' variant of the Nobby Nics at the moment, and they're pretty good in the slop. I'd imagine it'd be even better if I'd coughed up some more cash when I bought them and had upgraded to the more expensive version. The Racing Ralphs I had were OE on a Giant Anthem 27.5" full-suss, so not the best version of those either.

The other tyres i've used for mud, and racing in muddy conditions too, were Maxxis Beavers... https://www.evanscycles.com/maxxis-beaver-29-mount... ...I've linked to the 29" current version, but my experience was with 26" tyres three years ago on my old hard-tail. I found them to be excellent for the winter conditions experienced locally. Although they were quite a soft compound, so any road miles on them does exaggerate wear.

[Eddie Strohacker]

Racing Ralphs all year round. Because I'm too lazy to change them & frankly, riding on chalk as I mostly do, there isn't really an answer to the problem.

[budgie smuggler]

The NN isn't bad in our local slop but I prefer the Magic Mary.

Moot point though, as I've been too lazy to change the oo smorgasboards

[Sk00p]

If you can't be bothered changing winter/summer then Rocket Rons. I ran them all year last year, very fast in the dry. Apparently less rolling resistance at 25psi than Ralphs, and plenty of tread for mud on a 29er. I have swapped to some X kings as I found them cheap, the protection/Chill compund ones. Not as good as the Ron's. I'll go back to them when I have killed these.

Not sure any tyre would have got through the slop on Box Hill I rode through yesterday

Tunnel hill was one of my favourite places to ride last year and the Rons were spot on.