After a sketchy ride today at on slate and wet rock/roots I’ll have to change my 2.25 racing Ralph ORC’s to something less slippy. I have 60a /42 highrollers but I’m not impressed by the weight or speed..

Can anyone recommend something with better grip in the wet but still rolls well?

I ride in Cumbria & SW Scotland therefore it’s slate,gravel,mud & wet. Very wet.

Stu

Why not spend some time trying to improve your own ability riding in the wet, instead of trying to buy yourself better?

Edit-I thought mine was bad (but vaguely amusing) but you really need to have a word with yourself crikey 🙄

That’s a fair comment but if you have zero traction on wet rock?

Why?

Roots and wet rock are slippy. Yet every year, without fail, people come on and ask ‘What tyres for roots and wet rock?’.

You have to learn how to ride slippy stuff without going straight to the bike shop for the next best thing.

or maybe I should learn to slide better lol

It wasn’t a matter of running to the LBS. Its a matter of asking if these tyres are suited to wet winter riding.

If the opinion is that they are then fine, I’m obviously a shit rider but please don’t categorize me as someone who’ll chuck money at my local LBS in the pursuit of become a better rider lol

I found Bontrager XR4 2.35″ the best compromise of grip and speed. Alternatively, keep the Racing Ralph on the back and shove a Fat Albert 2.35″ up front or a high roller.

Maxxis Ikon 3C Exo in 29er 😀

Rocket Rons or, for moar grip but less speed, Nobby Nics.

As testament to what crikey has said I have spent the “summer” sliding around, never pointing in the right direction on some things called (by some poncy biking journo) tyres. I have now perfected my technique and so have bought some new tyres with which I can go in relatively straight lines on. 🙂 Try some michelin wild grip R’s. They work on Exmoor and most things don’t.

These GATO Geax have been great for the money at £18 each (wire bead but weight not a concern) 🙂

20 psi on 47mm rims but still ok on road 🙂

Karate Monkey 001 by coastkid71, on Flickr

Karate Monkey 002 by coastkid71, on Flickr

What pressure do you run your tyres at? I find with too high pressures on wet rock, they are a lot more likely to skate across the surface.
Particularly under braking, they brake away very easily.

Reducing pressures a bit can really help.

funny someone mentions Geax Gato.. that’s the only tyre i’ve ever ridden once and taken straight off. absolutely terrifying in the wet. maxxis all the way for me. i have ridden some other geax though and liked them dry (mezcal i think it was?).

basically, if you want some grip on wet rock/root you need soft rubber, and soft rubber is slow, that’s all there is to it.

edit: well slightly more to it.. if you want grip in mud, you want spikes, but spikes tend to skate on rock/root. so this is a compromise too.

As no-one else has said this yet, Rubber Queen 2.2 black chili – preferably UST run tubeless. Seriously grippy (more like the 42a High Roller) but rolls faster than a 60a High Roller.

Minions
2.35 60a

Fine for most things

^^^
Tested in lakes and sw Scotland extensively

Maxxis Minions for me too on the front in the winter(2.35 single ply). I ride the Malvern Hills which can be pretty wet/sticky in the sheltered spots but has nice loose and solid granite too. Nothing has come close to the Minions in the wet. Use an Ardent on the front in the summer..fast and sticky 🙂

Just got some Hans Dampf’s and been very impressed with them in the wet

Nates.

8)

Hans Dampf 2.35 Evo in Trailstar compound. Just swapped out a HR 60A on the front to one of these and it grips better while rolling just as well. Higher volume too. Recommended.

Having re-read the OP i wouldn’t say the Hans is fast rolling. But i don’t find it drags and it’s 100g lighter than the wire bead High Roller i had on.

Do they do a tough version of a Rocket Ron,if so then that one….

Check out the Conti MK2, black chili protection version in 2.2.

Minion ST on the front and you can pretty much ignore the fact it’s wet, however you won’t be impressed by the weight or straight line speed.

Edit: Your already slipping on 42a? 😕

What you need is a tyre that rolls like a RR but grips like a super tacky, let me know when you find it!

im just about to put some summer tyres on

or rock you don’t want spikey tyres, you want lots of rubber touching the rock. So I don’t think the tread is the issue.

So less pressure or stickier compund or technique

those GEAX look awful

A bike shop in the lakes said MAxxis Advantage worked well in the lakes

Racing ralphs are fine.

On a similar vein, rocket tons or bobby nics are ideal.

if you cant ride wet roots and rocks on ralphs you cant ride them with rocket rons or nics… they are not magically better

Evos might do better than ORCs, stickier compound…

Problem is that the things you want are just basically incompatible, grippy in mud and grippy on rocks means sticky rubber and big open knobbles, and that means slow.

Panaracer Rampage SC….but its all about compromises…ie you could just get a bike that does it all.

I don’t think OP ever asked for grip on mud? He said wet…

What Northwind said re the ORC compound vs the Evo – the difference is significant and noticeable. The Ralph EVOs are surprisingly grippy in all but gloop, run them a bit lower than in the dry.

Also second coastkid’s vote for the Geax Gato – running as tubeless front wheel, they’re very very good and with such stiff sidewalls you can really drop the pressure. And cheap! 🙂

I never buy tyres for how they look but how they work… 😮

Hans Dampf, trailstar compound. Does everything but axle deep gloop really well. Preferably tubeless.

Maxxis swampthing 60A 2.35 single ply on the front. Wire bead seated tubeless with Stans.

Yeah they roll really well.

Yeah they roll really well.

the idea on this thread is to only address 1 of the 3 requirements at a time