Viewing 36 posts - 1 through 36 (of 36 total)
  • Is it just me? Rubber queens shocking in mud
  • bullit
    Free Member

    really struggling to like the Rubber Queen black chilli 2.2 tyres in anything but dry conditions and wondered if it is just me? Running the UST tubeless on the rear ( that is wide, wide, wide for 2.2) and regular 2.2 black chilli on the front run ghetto tubeless – it is noticeably slimmer profile than the UST. Have previously run High rollers / advantage combo and while not brilliant on mud, they seemed way more confidence-inspiring than the RQs. I thought RQS were being billed as the best all round tyre , but I am no impressed as the treads fill up quick and stay filled, meaning climbing is horrible, , and descending sketchy. Might keep them for the trip to Lake Garda in May an revert to running the high rollers. Anyone else had similar experience with RQS, or should I man up and persist with them?

    twang
    Free Member

    Have you tried Hans Dampfs? dont, you’ll DIE!

    wrecker
    Free Member

    I love RQs but they are not good in mud. Brilliant on wet rock and root but do not cope with proper mud at all well.

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    I have been running Rubber Queen 2.2 UST’s on both bikes and I actually find that they are better than the Maxxis Minnions I was using in the mud. How low a pressure are you running (30-35psi forme but then I am 18+ stone). Suppose if your mud is very heavy clay then nothing apart from a real mud specific tyre will do.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    I find them remarkably good in mud. Caveats are that you have to tip the bike on its side to get the edge knobs to bite in corners and they’re quite pressure sensitive, too high psi in the mud and you’ll just ping and float and bounce around. However, I’d rather have a tyre with enough grip in the mud that handles wet roots well than a tyre with tons of grip in the mud but is sketchy as hell on wet roots – controllable drifting rather than railing the mud and landing on your face when you hit some roots…

    Stevelol
    Free Member

    I find them poor in mud too, both UST BC, 2.4 front 2.2 rear, 30 and 28 psi, they clog quickly and have quite small knobblies. I’m using mud x’s at mo which are amazing but wear v fast. The RQs will be going back on eventually purely because they were so damn expensive.

    Funnily I find the Hans Dampfs very good in all conditions, the bidirectional tread is very moto-like so digs in ace and clears well

    daveh
    Free Member

    Another happy with Hans dampfs find rubber queens sketchy here. That’s in Wharncliffe mud.

    postierich
    Free Member

    Fine for the Lakes mud!

    bullit
    Free Member

    I guess i may be running them too hard, but 28 psi seems about right for my weight ( 10 st). Might have to grow a pair and lean them over more but not got much confidence in their performance so far.

    float
    Free Member

    yep, just depends what kind of mud you got. are there any tyres that are good in sticky mud?

    landcruiser
    Free Member

    What ! Tyres slippy in wet mud shock horror ! 😉

    jedi
    Full Member

    i love the predictablity of them 🙂

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Depends on the mud… Sometimes they were very bad, they’re too big to cut in but not toothy enough to paddle. And yes are cloggier than I like. Was the main reason I got rid- I didn’t think they were good enough at other stuff to justify the drawbacks. Not a bad tyre at all though.

    Scienceofficer
    Free Member

    I’m 14 st and used to run my RQ’s at 28psi tubeless. You have too much pressure.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Running 2.2 UST BC front and rear, in the dry I’ll have them about about 25/28 F/R, whilst once it’s stupidly muddy they’ll be as low as 21/23. I’ve gone lower still in the snow. I’m 12.5 stone.

    When I’ve found I’m wanting to go one way whilst the bike is continuing on a tangent away from the trail, it’s almost always because I’ve had a mincey moment and failed to chuck the bike on its side, stand on the outside pedal, lean on the inside hand and commit to going where I want to go. The central paddle tread is great for traction or braking or cornering on harder surfaces but it has zero lateral grip in the mud, you have to get onto the side knobs.

    The big carcass means the tyre is more prone to running on a narrow central strip if the pressure is high because the contact patch is bigger than with a more normal sized tyre. I know the non-UST versions are very light for their size so it may be that the right pressure for mud is just too squirmy due to a lack of sidewall support but the UST one holds up fine for my weight and riding style.

    votchy
    Free Member

    I found them ok in most mud conditions but not proper quagmire stuff, also find them very sensitive to pressure, 16st and run 22/26 F/R on a full suss, 2.4 F & R.

    kayak23
    Full Member

    I honestly don’t know why folks still hold this belief that a tyre can somehow transcend physics.
    Sticky mud…… Sticks. Unless your tyre has a decent rotational speed, the mud will stay in the tread.
    It’s unlikely that any design can make mud fall out at low speed or standing still…

    True ‘mud tyres’ of course have wider spaced lugs so that mud tends to be ejected easier, but you have compromises such as a squirmy feel on drier terrain.

    Every tyre has compromises and I seriously doubt there is any actual measured difference on two tyres intended for similar conditions at the same speed on the same corner in the same conditions…

    If there was some holy grail tyre, I suspect we might all be using it now. We’re not.

    Slippy mud is slippy, sticky mud is sticky, and grippy mud is grippy…
    Just saying 😀

    Scapegoat
    Full Member

    I think we should have a list of different types of mud, and which mud for which tyre thread.. So, if you get up on a Saturday you’ll know where you can ride in optimum conditions for the tyres and pressures you set in the garage the night before. so , you go to bed on Friday determined to ride The Pines on DMR motos and then it rains overnight, you can check the thread and determine that the best place today will be Post 27-29 at The Marin, you won’t have wasted any effort. 🙄

    trailhound
    Free Member

    Spot on that Kayak23!
    Love my 2.2 RQ’s in 99% of conditions although have been running a Geax Dactura on the back this winter and have to say I’ve been pretty impressed. Now trying to track down a 2.3 Baron UST for the coming (supposedly!) drier months, but just can’t find 1 anywhere??

    robinlaidlaw
    Free Member

    You’re going the wrong way trailhound. Barons are excellent in winter conditions and RQs better once it dries out.
    I’ve also found RQs sketchy in mud, Hans Dampfs a little better but both are beaten hands down by Barons as all round tyres at this time of year.

    HermanShake
    Free Member

    Try some Bonty Mud-X. I was averse to the smaller volume at first but I really hate clogged tyres, which they prevent due to the curved gaps between the lugs to aid release. They’re tubeless ready, seal well and aren’t too draggy on harder surfaces.

    Geax Datura are very grippy in the mud but I found them a bit cloggy and skittish on roots.

    martinxyz
    Free Member

    Scienceofficer – Member
    I’m 14 st and used to run my RQ’s at 28psi tubeless. You have too much pressure.

    I agree. You could be getting away with 22psi at that weight.

    trailhound
    Free Member

    Hmmm interesting, I’d thought the Baron would be a slightly more aggressive option for all round conditions with slightly more volume but perhaps I’d be better sticking with what I know and putting a 2.4 rubber queen on the front with the 2.2 on the rear……
    Thanks for the advice Robin

    robinlaidlaw
    Free Member

    If anything the Barons have a little less air volume. They are excellent on almost everything and in this country would probably be a better shout as an all rounder than the RQs apart from being a little heavier and signifcantly draggier. Over the wetter months when you have to just live with draggy tyres if you want grip Barons are very, very good and will do everything pretty well.

    neninja
    Free Member

    I find they’re not bad on wet sloppy mub but awful on sticky clay mud (no surprise there).

    They do tend to fill easily and don’t shed the mud too well. If you’re going faster then they do throw off the mud but if you build up to a high enough speed to do this their large volume makes them float on the mud and not dig in so you crash.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Baron as mentioned isn’t mud-specific but it’s definitely a “wet tyre that can do dry surprisngly well” rather than an allrounder. Superb, mind.

    kayak23 – Member

    I honestly don’t know why folks still hold this belief that a tyre can somehow transcend physics. Sticky mud…… Sticks. Unless your tyre has a decent rotational speed, the mud will stay in the tread.

    Some tyres are better than others- it’s the tread pattern that makes the biggest difference, some hold the mud on, others give it less purchase. Try a Specialized Butcher in sticky mud- not a mud tyre at all but it clears massively better than a Rubber Queen. Try a standard Kenda Nevegal in the same conditions and it’ll be a drum of mud before you’ve gone 2 feet (cut off half the transition knobs and it won’t). Rubber Queen is definitely on the cloggy end of the scale.

    slimsi
    Free Member

    Yep found them very claggy and filled fork and rear triangle with mud due to volume, bought BC Barons and wow took them through mud, snow, dry and loose stuff with no issues. A very good if slightly draggy all rounder but nothing like the drag on my mates Hans Dampf!

    Nobby Nics were the other great all rounder I had but if anything slightly more dry biased than Barons!

    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    Pointless running big volume tyres at high pressures (they will feel terrible), you may as well run narrow tyres.

    Run them as low as possible without regular pinch flatting. The front can go much lower than the rear before it starts squirming or flatting. They will be way gripper, shed mud, be more compliant and therefore faster. Ideally tubeless the rear wheel.

    cyclelife
    Free Member

    it’s just you –
    Go out and practice!

    timraven
    Full Member

    I’m 13 stone & run RQ’s at 28psi. They’re as good as anything else is in this filth. Lower the pressure, try again.

    What kayak 23 said^^

    cyclelife
    Free Member

    it’s just you –
    Go out and practice!

    Paceman
    Free Member

    Either…

    (a) get your outside foot down and lean the bike, keeping your eyes/head looking where you want to go (this will engage the bigger side nobbles on your Rubber Queens)

    or

    (b) get something more mud-specific; Schwalbe Hans Dampf, Maxxis Swampthings or Minions etc

    My current personal favourite on the front is an On-One Chunky Monkey 2.4 run at 25psi, great in the mud and only £14.99 at the monent…

    http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYOOCM29X24/on_one_chunky_monkey_29x24_tyre

    andeh
    Full Member

    The nobs are quite closely spaced on the RQ, still, the only time I’ve ever really had a problem was last Wednesday when they began to look like a doughnut on a particularly claggy climb.

    Maybe you just need to ride faster to let them clear 😉

    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    Hans Dampf and Minions are not mud-specific; Too many knobs. Double ply Swampthings at low pressures are ace when it’s truly awful out; one on the back digs like crazy – but is slow, squirmy and rough on hard surfaces.

    IainAhh
    Full Member

    I was thinking along similar lines the last time I was out.
    Wet soft grass and muddy tracks. My Rubber Queens were loaded with mud when I got back to the car even when the last bit is a blast down hill.

    I had noticed this before, how a RQ on the rear really clogged up quickly. I had thought it might be better with the fairly open tyre pattern. Grip seems ok though. And I am going to leave the one on the front on.

    On my other bike I started off with a Nobby Nic. Didn’t really get clogged up but limited grip, Rear wheel spinning. Tried a maxxis ADvantage that i had. Not really any better.
    Bought a mud-x.Very low volume but works really well.

    I am going try a Barron on the rear of my FS see how that compares.

    robinlaidlaw
    Free Member

    Double ply Swampthings at low pressures are ace when it’s truly awful out; one on the back digs like crazy – but is slow, squirmy and rough on hard surfaces.

    IME Barons are at least as grippy as Swampthings in mud, better everywhere else. don’t squirm, roll way better and last really well.

    I am going try a Barron on the rear of my FS see how that compares

    Watch yourself on muddy corners with them that way round. I’d tend to suggest Baron on the front if you are only ruunning one but it depends whether you are having problems with cornering or propulsion.

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