Do you find that you get more grip in mud with 29 than 26?

Do you use tyres with the same knobbliness for mud in 29?

What do you use?

All my bikes 26 and 29 run bonty muds all year round if that helps.

Well my Geax Saguaro 2.2’s really surprised me with their grip in mud despite quite a fine low tread could get thru stuff that I would have trouble with on some of my other bikes. The Maxxis Beaver 2.0’s on my 29er SS I’m still 50/50 over

Personally use Maxxis Beavers all year…

Maxxis Beavers doing the trick in Devonshire Mud

I will add the Beavers seem to float over the gloopy stuff for a second but when you correct the side grips seem to make a difference and regain grip, so a very predictable slide thats easily corrected. Would be nice not to have that heart in mouth moment thou, I’m going to try running them harder to break thru the gloop rather than pretty soft as I have them now.

Maxxis Beavers but was really surprised by my 2.4 Ardent up front last winter

I used to use Maxxis Medusa on my 26 SS and this year I have put a Beaver on the front of my 29er SS after using the Ardent last year. I have to say that the Beaver is outstanding. It rolls really well and I have yet to find a weak spot for this tyre (mine is the newer 2.25 version). It is head and shoulders above the Medusa. As for grip I’m not sure if that is because of it being a bigger wheel diameter or not but it just seems that much more pliable. And it sticks to the trail like dog shit on a shoe!

Definitely more grip on 29er, but I’m impressed with Beavers. Noticeably harsher ride than my 2.25″ Rons, but unsurprising, they look tiny! did hit the rim on a rooty step up today too.

I have probably 70% rocky trails with clay sections, so I may be better off with some more all round tyres and just put up with it in the claggy bits. I need to be able to deal with plenty of road so no mega-knobs.

Do you find that you get more grip in mud with 29 than 26?

Yes definitely. I’m new to 29 but it was definitely one of the first things that jumped out as being different.

Do you use tyres with the same knobbliness for mud in 29?

Yes, to be able to ride tricky sections more confidently, rather than faster with possibly similar grip as 26 which I guess is what you are curious about.

What do you use?

Beaver on 26 and 29. It does struggle in really deep mud but shines on everything else while still being great through the Winter. Very good on slick rocks and roots too (subjective though I know!)

Beavers in 2.25 here on a fully rigid setup. Decent volume but still grip better than most tyres. For real gloop I put a mud-x on the back.

2.25 and 2 Beavers working well for me and sidewalls seem to be holding up well to various thorns and flint. When they do slide, seems to be nice and slow and easy to correct. Mind you my cross bike with Cyclo X Kings in 40c just slice through the mud. Isn’t thinner better in mud or does it depend on the mud?

Specialized butcher/purgatory for me, and to give a quick analogy of grip 26 vs 29 I used to hate ardents in 26, found them lethal at best but the 29er I got came with them and I was amazed at the difference.

Magic Mary Front 2.35 and Spesh Purgatory Rear on my 29er, Magic Mary took some getting used to but now its very confidence inspiring and now phenomenal grip once its leaned over.

more grip in mud with 29 than 26

Yes. And backing that as well as showing how hopeless tyre threads can be, up there is a + for Ardent 2.4s in mud. I think they’re near-useless : ) yet when I first got a 29er I used Ardent 2.4s in the wet and as neil853 says, thought they were pretty good – I put that down to the difference in grip a 29er can have. May also have been a trait of that particular bike. Got some other tyres on there soon and realised the Ardents are relatively poor in the wet as a front tyre.

Purgatory F / Ardent 2.25 R here in average winter conditions on soil and chalk woodland. Storm Control 2.0 in really bad mud – a brilliant tyre that’s not lethal on roots. Wasn’t that impressed by the Beaver 2.0 when it came to cornering, narrower yet not really as bitey as a Storm C.

Absolutely – Ardent is a great summer tyre, but lethal in anything remotely greasy/muddy.

Enjoying a Shorty up front and a 2.25 Beaver rear when really sloppy. If a little less wet, when mud is less fluid, I find a Bonty 29-4, Maxxis HRII or Minion a better overall compromise between performance in mud and on the frequent wet roots and rock. Always a Beaver on the back though.

No Beaver/sloppy gags BTW please…. nor Shorty up front gags come to think of it;-)

Beaver front ron rear working well in forest roots & slop.

Yes, so hang on to more general purpose tyres for as long as possible. Currently on ground controls 2.3/2.1. Perfect for mixed hard/mud/roots/rocks etc.

But when it goes really muddy, or at an event, then I’ve got mud x (team mud?) 2.0s that do the job just fine.

More grip, yes.

Also beavers for the win +1

There are two notable sorts of mud on the routes I tend to ride;

1) Incredibly claggy clay type mud and,
2) Sandy mud.

I’ve not found a tyre that doesn’t clog up with the first so tend to go with tyres that work with the second and put up with the clogging.

2.4 Ardent on the front and WTB Prowler on the back.

I thought I might need to change my On-One smorgasbord tyres* (29″) for the mud season, but so far they have been ok (and I haven’t ridden much), plenty of grip and bite.

*the more expensive orange label ones

Just put a set of Specialized Storm 2Bliss on my Solaris for the winter mud, yet to ride sadly as Ive got a Hamstring strain 🙁

I remember when I first rode my 29er it was wet and muddy (late October 2013). The bike came with Crossmark’s front/rear. When I got to the woods I felt quite nervous about the potential lack of traction. There was that steep climb full of rocks, covered with wet leaves – it looked scary and I was considering to dismount and walk it up… But at last second I decided to give it a go: easy gear, smooth and steady and the bike rolled up that track with not even one rear-wheel-slip! So, yeah – definitely more traction 😆

My mud set are Butcher front/Purgatory back – nothing bad to say about these tyres.

I just swap to Mud X when it’s really muddy