are there any normal (ermmmm, 2.25 ish size is normal to me) mud specific tyres about?

still using my x king rear rubber queen combo and its starting to get a little bit skittish at speed now, still going down things the same speed but realising at the last minute i suddenly have very little grip, especially the rear….

i know mud x / storm control are the go to guys, but is there anything out there thats 2.25ish in ust form?

as just mentioned ust preferable, but must be tlr at least

Specialised purgatory is reasonable mud tyre and listed as biggish?

mostly though mud tyres are smaller to cut through mud and not to get jammed in a frame full of mud?

Maxxis swampthing?

cheers wwaswas, i know what ya mean about them usually being skinny, and i understand thats logical and probably works better, but i always feel a bit under tyred on something so skinny on the peak district rock if you know what i mean, they feel a bit too squirmy etc….

if there are tyres that work really well in muddy conditions that arent specific then thats a option too, ill take a peek at the purgatorys then

Get Conti Barron in black chilli they are a great tyre

hmmm conti do a mud tyre do they? interesting given im using conti at the mo!

hopefully they do a ust version too?

Conti Baron. Only criticism I have is the expense, it’s otherwise an outrageously good tyre. Claimed 2.3, comes up at about 2.25 in real life.

Mine is standard run “ghetto” tubeless, which was more of a faff than with most tyres. But there’s a UST version.

Don’t confuse with Der Baron- Baron is the trailbike tyre, Der Baron is a full on 1300g dh tyre

I use Bontrager XR4s for everything, dry/wet/mudfest/loose rocks. I find they are PERFECT in my experience for everything so far. I can even manage to pedal through total mud/stagnant water slosh pits, chewed up by horses, whilst maintaining grip and the faster you go the better it seems to stick.

2.2 I should imagine is ok but I use 2.35s front and back.

the barron are not mud specific but i find one excellent on the front ( i do have a mud x on the back)

Can you get the Baron in 29er?

I’ve been running XR4s up until very recently. They are very good in most conditions, but for the gloop the trails round here have developed into, following wet summer and wet autumn, I’m trying XR-Muds out instead and they’re chuffing awesome. Only available up to 2.0″ wide though.

If it dries out/freezes, I’ll probably go back to XR4s. If it turns properly cold, I’ll go to my Ghetto ice-spike tyres.

Advantage of not being tubeless, I can chop and change easily. 🙂

I’m on the same tyres and thinking about maybe getting another RQ to go on the back, as the one on the front seems to grip pretty well in all conditions.

cheers guys for the input..

chiefgrooveguru – im actually starting to think the same now, i actually have another RQ ust 2.2 ready to put on, its not so much the front is sliding out, its more just the grip on the rear (climbing, and braking), i cant actually think, even in the mud that RQ has even scared me once, the lack of bite when braking has been my issue with the back….

i stopped running the RQ as a rear tyre as i found it too draggy in summer, hence the X king, but now may just bung that on as not as much road/distance is involved in the winter months, more just forest type off road stuff

bonty mudX 2.0s on my mudplugger but been riding on normal tyres and slithering over a lot of mud lately and stayed upright.
Minion 2.3 st front, nevegal 2.1 rear. Keep bike upright and they slip a bit but lean bike over and push ’em into the corners and they do pretty well.

Storm Controls are a pretty decent size to be fair. I have the 2.0s, and they are a little narrower, but roughly the same ‘height’ as my 2.35 high rollers (I know high rollers are a narrow 2.35 before anyone points that out…)

Still using Bonty Xr4’s F/R here too , skittish on fast muddy decents(i guess most tyres are in gloop).can get overwhelmed and clogged,but not too bad.

got a 2.2 geax datura from on-one on the front of my hardtail. it’s mahoosive compared to my other 2.2inch tyres and a bargain at £14 a pop. it’s pleasantly grippy in the mud in my local woods, with a 2inch mud x on the back not had any problems yet. seems ok on roots/rocks too. but then again i’ve not had chance to give it a proper mag approved test on a gnarly rock strewn trail or a double hip to 180 degree tight berm combo to comment on the sidewalls/compound stability/knob flex etc. no punctures too. amazing!

Another good point about the XR4s is, speaking from experience only yesterday, is that the XR4s seem nigh on impossible to puncture. After taking a wrong turn on a decent at my local quick ride area I ended up flying through about 3 thorn bushes strewn across the path, no flat at all. Well chuffed. Just don’t skid on concrete with them >.> (I use my bike for commuting to and can’t resist a silly skid now and then on the wet leaves)

Goin out to try a combo of spesh storm on the back, purgatory up front, on the cheeky Nat trust trails near me. 😈

If you try the RQ on the back too, let me know how it goes. I’m looking for an excuse to avoid buying another but I’m not feeling hopeful – the XK is great most of the time but short on traction when pedalling through mud and short on braking when it’s steep and slippery.

Tweeks are doing 2 Mud X’s for £44.

Just get a 2.5 gooey compound muddy mary and have done with it. I run mine at about 17psi with a tube and haven’t had any issues. Works on pretty much any trail.

But being sensible I’d get Barons, just a little comfused about which to get for non-stans tubeless set up. Protection, UST?

Just in from a ride on the Baron, more convinced than ever that it’s a tyre that was designed to do exactly the job the OP wants to do, and that it does it exceptionally well. And also that quite a few of the recommendations seem to ignore the request. But hey, by all means get a not-normal-sized mud tyre, or a normal sized not-a-mud-tyre.

Mafiafish- I’m using a standard black chili one with a Stans-type TLR rim and sealant. It is a slight pain in the bum- needed some little patches inside the tyre to seal larger holes, and since I refitted it took a couple of rides before it stopped needing reinflated midride. I think I’d probably get a UST one if I was buying again, but it does work fine once you’re past the faff.

I’ve been using panaracer cg soft conditions for months now, they work amazingly well if a little skiddy on wet roots. Available as 2.25 size too.

Another vote for the GEAX Datura from on-one – if you want a proper UST mud tyre… they’re doing them now for £13 each, cheapest I’ve sever seen them!

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYGXDTTT/geax_datura_mtb_ust_tubeless_tyre

Gazc & Househusband, thanks for the heads up, never heard of the Geax Datura before but @ £15 delivered I’ve just ordered 1 now! Was running RQ’s f&r and can’t speak highly enough of them, was gonna try swapping the front for a Baron over the winter tho as I’ve heard great things about them, I’ll give this Geax a try and see how I get on, the Baron can wait for spring now (that sounds a long way off!)

“storm control are the go to guys, but is there anything out there thats 2.25ish”

A 2.0″ storm is about the same volume as a 2.25″ Schwalbe (albert), so about the same/ever so slightly bigger than a 2.35″ Maxxis (high roller)
Of course niether a 2.25″ schwalbe or 2.35″ maxxis is big for the claimed size

I also have a GEAX Datura 2.2 UST on the front ant a Mud X rear – very happy so far!

Don’t Dirty Dans come in a bigger size?

2.0″ storm is NOWHERE near the volume of a 2.35″ high roller.

I have both, the storm is similar to mud-x, i.e. both smaller than a maxxis 2.0″ beaver….

Have had Storm Controls too… The Datura is certainly more Big Daddy to the Storm’s Catweazle…

Cheers for the heads up on them geax. Ordered 1 🙂

Not a mud-specific tyre, but provisionally getting good results running a cheapo wire-beaded MK2 2.4 on the rear. Big enough for some cush. Strong lines of edge knobs for soft cornering and widely spaced square edged centre knobs for digging-in the mud and not clogging. A bit noisy on roads tho, probably due to the knob spacing.

For the most serious gloop I have 2.35 dual-ply 60a Swampingthing in reserve. I’m not there yet!

I have 2.35 Swamp Things and a pair of 2.2 Wet Screams. My friends might mock them for being slower due to rolling resistance, but I’m the one that ends up going faster on anything that is actually fun to ride.

Stick on some Wet Screams or similar and ride it like it’s dry outside.

cheers for the heads up…just to note further, ive used both medusa UST and mud x

medusa ust were alright, but wasnt overly impressed if im honest, seemed really slow and really not that much better than normal tyres in mud imo

bonty mud x were great i must say, pretty fast rolling, good grip on roots/rocks, but and a big butttttt i found them pretty fragile in the peak district rock at speed, to the point where i slashed the rear 2 times in the same ride on different sections, obviously after that i then went slower/steadier down any descents on following rides, which kinda defeats the point of them…..

sooo, how do the storm control 2.0’s size up to mud x? are they the same?

also northwind, thanks for the help on the baron front, how do they roll? are they really slow, i do have some road sections on local rides and dont want them to be massively draggy, are they any worse than mudx/storms?

they are also bloody expensive, but again could be worth it if they are that good

also are there any schwalbe mud tyres worth looking at?

I like my Dirty Dans, which are only 2.00 dead on, but coped with ugly sussex sludge, wet chalk and every other nasty winter thing last week – particularly good at cutting through horse-mashed mud.

infact been reading abit more about that baron, and as northwind says, it does sound like it would be spot on for what i do…..i think i may stick my RQ 2.2 UST bc on the back, and try a 2.3 UST baron on the front!

i dont ride in loads of mud, just some of the best sections i do are muddy so defo worth it worth that..

now just finding a bugger, jesus they are dear but also not in stock anywhere 🙁

You may be out of luck regarding the UST Baron,i asked Conti uk about them last week and i was told they would not be released until spring. Im going to give the normal bc ones a go with some stans.

ahhh bawls! that doesnt sound good then, doh! back to square one it is then,

may go have a look at some spesh storms instead then, can probably get 2 of them for the price of baron ust