Are there compounds to avoid?
Ive read conflicting reports about massive differences in tyre weight, wear, and grip amongst compounds.
Cant for the life of me remember which the ones to avoid/go for are though.

On-One currently have ralph ”evo’s” in 2.4″ for £19.99, sounds like a bargain, but is it?

Evo and Performance are the only 2 actual compounds I can think of. They used to have something called ‘ORCA’??? I think that has morphed into the Evo.

Evo is softer, more expensive and supa grippy

Performance is harder, cheaper in IMO, pretty crap at gripping generally.

There’s also about 60 million different tyre side wall material variations, which can get a little confusing. Some favor the Snakeskin version, due to its protective barrier, which prevents sidewall tears. Myself, I’ve never had a shcwalbeee tyre side wall slash, ever, despite riding on pointy rocks lots. So I prefer the lightest, thinnest sidewall possible please..!

On-one’s RR deal is great. RRs are shite in mud though (i.e. this time of the year)

There’s also about 60 million different tyre side wall material variations, which can get a little confusing.

They can – pretty sure Evo is one of them, it’s short for “Evolution carcass”

AFAIK – Triple Nano are their 2010 triple compund tyres (hard middle, softer edges), replaced for 2011 by Pacestar & Trailstar – Pacestar is their harder, faster XC compound mix, Trailstar is softer and stickier, Vertstar is the super sticky DH one, Gooey Gluey is the older version of Vertstar.

are they all suited to running tubeless, even the thinner walled evo’s?

nwo you come to mention it NED, I managed to split a RR sidewall..
still loved the tyre though (during the summer)

oh, and which of their range is best suited for winter use, but not too heavy?
I fancy running tubeless, and nice’n’wide (2.4 probably). I want as much grip for steep uphill blasts as poss

Not all are good at tubeless. I have some Dirty Dans that were a nightmare to seal (DT Swiss/Eclipse tubeless strip) these were not TL ready which were produced from late 2010 early 2011 on.