I am looking for some winter tyres and have previously used Bonty Mud X, however i fancy using something with a little more volume, hence the Swampthing or even the Medusa.

Have any of used either of the tyres, are the swampthing overkill? The Medusa looks similar to the Mud X, very narrow and low volume?

Same boat here, was thinking of Mud X's due to good reviews of versatility but worried about low volumes – currently run 2.35 Kenda's.

The swampthing works great.. if a little nervous on flat wet rock … I found the minion a little more predictable!! But not obviously mud specific!

I've got some Folding Schwalbe black sharks 26 x 2.35 I'm clearing out at £18 a piece… 😀

They have quite high edge grip though, but roll quick for what they are… you could always cut the edge grip down if you want a bit of break away on the back wheel… but the they do dig in well and clear!

timax 😀

i have Medusas in 2.1 and 1.8 for front and rear respectively and they come up very small and dont have much volume.

I find they are OK for normal XC riding but would feel nervous if i had to ride them anywhere rocky.

The swampthing works great.. if a little nervous on flat wet rock … I found the minion a little more predictable!! But not obviously mud specific!

I've got some Folding Schwalbe black sharks 26 x 2.35 I'm clearing out at £18 a piece…

They have quite high edge grip though, but roll quick for what they are… you could always cut the edge grip down if you want a bit of break away on the back wheel… but the they do dig in well and clear!

timax

Timax are you a shop and where are you based? I'll buy your tyres, you buy my frames 😉

Cant fault the swampthings, excellent tires

+1 for swampie, on the front high roller rear, in Calderdale its rock and moortastic!

Do you have a rough idea of the weight for a single ply 2.3 Swampy?

I'm using Medusas in 1.8. They seem great, narrow, but roll very fast for a mud tyre. Got some Conti 1.5s for the serious mud as well.

Issues about rockie stuff doesn't bother me, as the bike only seems woods, when it does see the peaks i'll wack some thicker rubber on 🙂

Medusas seems to be an XC/race mud tyre.

Swampys are for those who would normally run a 2.3 Highroller or Minion in the dry.

I've been pretty impressed with the swampy on the front of my SS. Just Works(tm)

Si.. yeh I'm a shop/paint shop/gluer/fixer/bike seller/ frame seller 😉 I'll email you.. 😀

cheers
timax

2.1 or 2.35 Swampthing for a 5" trail bike?

2.35s are narrow, so 2.35 if you want the volume

I picked up and am running WTB Raijin 2.1 from J E James, so far very impressed. They are higher volume and width than most winter tyres which is why I chose them.

They are also very cheap if JEJames still have them on offer.

Is it worth running swamp things with the centre knobs cut down so they roll faster / don't squirm as much on rock? All the DH'ers seem to run their spikes cut down all the time…

2.35 swampi's here ST front and 60a rear.

'$h1t to a blanket' & not the fastest rolling tyre i've I may add

2.35 swampy single ply weighs 815g, dual ply is 1015g according to my scales.

slw, thanks for that! I have some swampy's on the way. Just fitted some Mud X's for this weekends riding, they look a bit skinny in my VF2 frame!

whenever these topics come up, no body ever seams to mention medusas only ever mud-X or swampthings!

why is that? are medusas terrible?

Pinches, out on Mendip last night using for first time 2.1 Medusa front and rear on SS.
Cut through all the sh1te that was up there, looking forward to going tubeless (hopefully tonight) so I can reduce the pressure a little.

David

If just on rock hard pack stuff then its the Maxxis Minnion 42a
tacky upfront
And loose soil not wet mud use the Swampy 42a upfront
Gloopy mud the Medusa tyres

What about an open fire, cup of cocoa and some nice warm slippers?

Top Tip
Try some Kenda King of Tractions – 1.8 if you're XC or woodsy stuff, 2.1/2.35 for hardcore stuff

"I found the minion a little more predictable!! But not obviously mud specific!"
I used 2.35" (60a) HRs a fair bit last winter so I could have a little volume, they grip well and clear quite well, just that they're too bigger volume to cut through slop having to rely on the tall(ish) tread to try to grip through slop

"are medusas terrible? "
I've read that they're very good in slop, but the tall tread squirms on tarmac and hard surfaces including rock. Not great on roots either
Panaracer Trailrakers apparantly grip everywhere very well, but don't roll well
Mud X's are supposed to grip well everywhere but don't have the supreme grip of trailrakers and roll better.

I bought Mud X's after seeing pretty much that a few times. I didn't use them much last winter though as they were on the HT and stayed off the FS

Do any of the above have decent sidewalls?

getting a bit fed up of slashed sidewalls and pinch punctures on "lightweight" tyres

I have some 2.1 medusa tyres I use in winter.
Light and good in mud but not so great on wet roots and rocks…..not sure what tyre is great on wet roots?
I still use them on the back wheel, not sure I would recommend them for the front though.

"are medusas terrible? "

My favourite mud tyres. great grip when it's really wet but pretty fast rolling on hard surfaces too. If they did a 600-650g 2.3, they'd be my ideal winter tyre.

Not used Medusas so can't comment, but I use Swampthings as an intermediate tyre for DH. I like them, particularly on the back since they give a lot more grip under braking in the wet than a Minion or Highroller without much rolling resistance. On the front, I'd only use a Swampthing on a fast course which was almost exclusively damp loose soil. The Minion DHF can cope pretty well with damp conditions and offers more grip on rocks. In the wet, I use a Wetscream on the front or a cut Wetscream if there are any particularly rocky sections or isolated drier patches. There's little point cutting down a Swampthing since the spikes are pretty short and stubby as it is, unless you just want to try to profile the centre-knobs for marginally reduced rolling resistance.

I'm using Medusas,great in the mud,rubbish everywhere else. I'm not keen on faffing around with different tyresfor different scenarios,but I can't find a decent all-rounder.
The old IRC Mythos inspired confidence in all conditions.

Was blown away with my trailrakers, went for these on several recommendations and they grip like nothing else on grass, mud, roots even tarmac! The 2.1s are OK, even on a mavic 729 DH rim – I am tough on tyres, ride a hardtail and hit rocky stuff whenever poss and the trailrakers have been fine (usually run 2.3 rampages).

I rode a boggy climb with about 2" of sludge on top of roots, it was one of the steepest climbs I had ever done and the tyre only clogged a little, aimed for the roots and it just gripped like glue… never got this amount of traction from any other tyre and i have used loads.

I would say they are almost lethal on 'surfaced' tracks i.e. loose stones over hardpack.

Used some intense tyres for my DH bike, these I think:
http://www.intensetires.com/itdh-it-235.html
A bit heavy though…
For the typical Cotswold winter I used some Tioga mud tyres, 1.9 or something and mega tread.
Not typical, but extremely good in claggy mud and didn't lock the bike up thanks to no space on the stays/forks.

Now in Aus I use one tyre the year round, all good!

LOL at using Intense Intruders for a trail bike!

I use the four-ply version on my DH bike and they weigh 1.4kg but they are brilliant. You can run them at 20psi with light weight tubes and still have no worries about pinch flatting.

used 2.1 medusas down here in Aus this winter; worked great. Have a long road commute to the trails and they are in an old quarry and found them great despite what folks have said about being less than great on tarmac and damp rock and squirmy on hard pack trails.

Then again, I'm light (65kgs/10 and a bit stone), so dunno enough that has something to do with it

Langy, what part of Aus are you? I'm up on the Sunshine Coast..

Cheers
Andy

Adelaide; we actually get seasons, hence the need for a more wintery tread at times, although you lot certainly don't miss out on rain…though not a fan on monsoons!!! 😉

Coming down for Nationals?

Then again, I'm light (65kgs/10 and a bit stone), so dunno enough that has something to do with it

I'm about the same weight, so they might be ok for me too!

2.1 swampthings, suspect they may be dual ply given their thickness, on my 5" hardtail (2.35 HR SPC folding and HR-SS SPC in the dry)

As long as the ground's soft theres nothing better IMO, but as soon as it dries out they'r lethal! Needed 10-15psi more than my summer tires to make them a bit more predictable, the big nobbles obviously fold over quite quickly.

Weighed my 2.35 swampies (wire) and came out about 740g when I resurected em last week. Prob a couple of years old but not used last year so still plenty of tread.

Like Trailraker (2.1 Kevlar PR) generally but carcass is too small for me. For sale now 🙂

Grant, get them on we are going to need them for the mid week Rivvy rides, given the deluge outside at the moment.