I’m having a bit of an issue at the minute with riding steep, technical and rooty descents in the current wet sloppy conditions. When dry or damp I don’t have a problem and normally feel pretty confident, but throw in a bit of wet and mud and all my confidence goes out of the window. I hate the feeling of being out of control and as soon as I start to feel this way I’m on the brakes and this just makes things worse and I find myself mincing down the trail or sliding down it on my arse.

Is it just a case of loosening up and staying off the brakes and letting the bike and tyres do the work or does everyone have issues in these conditions?

I am considering a tyre change to help with things as I’m currently running a magic mary/hans dampf combo and although I normally love this combination I am finding the mary clogs up too easily in the mud and it’s effectively like riding on slicks.

Any tips would be appreciated 🙂

magic mary/hans dampf combo and although I normally love this combination I am finding the mary clogs up too easily in the mud and it’s effectively like riding on slicks.

Go faster. A Mary’s only clogging because you’re not going fast enough to shed the mud. I run a Mary up front and it’s great in horrible Scottish mud. Ridiculous grip and never once clogged up (and I’m not even that fast, just learned to keep the wheels spinning)

It’s just the time of year, isn’t it? We were out yesterday on some (usually) dead easy off-camber bits but we were mincing sliding all over the show yesterday. I think you just have to try and stay loose and let the bike move as it wants to, which I know is much easier said than done, and get ready to dab if you need to. It doesn’t help when the gloop robs all your speed and you end up churning through it in 1st gear with the front going to the shops and the rear coming back with the change though 😆

Go faster. A Mary’s only clogging because you’re not going fast enough to shed the mud. I run a Mary up front and it’s great in horrible Scottish mud. Ridiculous grip and never once clogged up (and I’m not even that fast, just learned to keep the wheels spinning)

I knew this was going to be the first response haha. I’m guessing just man up a bit and commit myself more and hopefully it’ll all come good

I don’t believe that changing tyres would make a big difference (I think it’s all amount confidence and commitment), however, I’m a big fan of the Maxxis Shorty for the front in these conditions.

If you’re anything like me, when you get scared you lean back more, and then no longer have any weight over the front wheel and can’t make it around any corners.

😆

Aye pretty much. A Mary is a mud tyre. Other than a Dirty Dan there’s nothing more aggressive in the Schwalbe lineup. I’d ditch the HD on the back though. I’m running a Shorty and it’s been great

Hold Theresa May’s hand? 😉 (sorry, will get my coat)

Pick grippy spots for braking / moderating your speed. Let it flow on the bits with no grip.

Basically you skate over the slippery bits. Keep some weight on the front. Drop your saddle so you can move your body and exaggerate the movements.

Try riding at night where you cant see much and race your mates. That will improve your response to losing grip.

Also be prepared to slide out, foot down or just let it go.

Thanks all, a lot of it is definitely in my head and I do need to just relax a bit when it gets all sloppy and hopefully with that will come extra speed and a bit more stability.

There isn’t any tyre that will help if you’re locking up. At that point you’re pretty much skiing.

Try to let the tyres roll and brake where possible. It’s the only chance of getting grip.

On steep slippy stuff I try to almost totally leave my front brake alone just giving it the mildest of feathers, then feather the back and drive the front tyre in to hopefully find some grab.

Sometimes it doesn’t work 🙂

Riding clip less, I get unnecessarily spooked by steep, loose corners as I feel I will need to dab at some point, Need to let to and ride them properly but it’s in the mind

mud is variable and therefore suitable tyres vary. whats good in one area may not be good somewhere else.

I`m an advocate of skinny (ish) tyres in the mud. a fat 2.5 will float and you will lose grip. much depends on type and consistancy of mud in your area.

the sandy clay in the surry hills means you can pretty much go nuts. the swampy loam in stamner/wild park needs a tyre that cuts through the slime/slurry/sludge over.

relax, brake less on the slippy bits and more where its grippy and look ahead not at the roots you are riding on.

i find i need to be a bit more dynamic on the bike when its really sloppy. if i ride like its dry i tend to bin it.

i love riding the steeps when its wet – its a real test and generally as its a total shitfest the landings are soft and the crashes are comedy. We dont have burly or rocks local to me so super-tech is the next best thing.

i love riding the steeps when its wet – its a real test and generally as its a total shitfest the landings are soft and the crashes are comedy.

That’s true enough, took a tumble OTB at Thrunton on Saturday on a tight off camber corner that probably would have hurt had it been dry….. was comedy gold.

It’s all good advice everyone and I know the theory behind it all, its just it all starts going out the window when it becomes slippy slidy twitchy bum time haha.

Some of the stuff we ride locally is as steep as any I have found anywhere. If you look at a tree when descending its too late you will hit it. You have to look well ahead and steer early. The best advice is stupidly low pressure tyres. I have run my front magic mary tubless on a 30mm internal rim down to as low as 9psi on really steep loose mud. Its not as good for riding back up the hill but grip is amazing on the way down. Some of it too steep to ride back up anyway so its a worthy trade off.

Stay loose and learn to slide and enjoy it, stay off the brakes as much as you can. Riding in the slop is as much about confidence as it is about skill.

Come and race the Scottish Enduro Series. If that doesn’t get you good at riding in steep mud, then nothing will 😆

Come and race the Scottish Enduro Series. If that doesn’t get you good at riding in steep mud, then nothing will

Lol, I’m sure it will….. golfy is on the cards in the next couple of months but to be fair to Northumberland it is wet the majority of the time

I was down at Glentress yesterday riding some of the steepest trails it has,Black off piste stuff and it was mega muddy,wet and snowy and it had some ridiculous grip in areas,its crazy how these trails grip,really loose small stoney muddy trails which are great for grip where as some other trails are just mud and no matter what the tyre you aint getting grip on any of it,

learning to feather brakes and not lock them up will help get you down some steep stuff,I was running the WTB Convict 2.5 and the grip was amazing,also ran the 2.3 shorty which is pretty grippy,