Looking for a 2.1 ish solution for my Meta (not the biggest clearance for a clogged tyre) and have seen:

Maxxis ADvantages, high rollers, cross marks, Conti edges, mountain kings swamp things, Tioga factory XC, Kenda blue grooves. I’m thinking single ply, wire, 70a given the option.

There’s a lot of rubber out there and always a mixed review averaging 3.5 out of 5. Most people love their new kit, but someone occasionally highlights a problem eg high rollers having a gap between the centre and shoulder lugs, or mountain kings being crap on wet roots.

I mainly ride woodland trails, sometimes at night. I have a Hutchinson barracuda front and python rear. The barracuda works well but can clog, the python is now getting quite slippy/unpredictable 8O.

Thinking whether to move the barra to the back and get a new front, or replace the python with a new rear?

I have some lovely Spesh enduro pros which I just don’t think will fit (fine on the P2, now gone), these may arrive in the classifieds.

All help very appreciated! 😀

Bontrager Mud X.

Oh, I’m leaning towards the ADvantage at the moment. Looks like the good bits of the high roller without the transition issue.

I use Panaracer Trailrakers – they get highly rated but are very draggy if you are doing any distance on road so I may not bother this winter and just continue to run my Minion DHF’s.

+1 Bontrager Mud X

Mux X 2.0 front Trailraker 2.1 rear on my singlespeed.

Mux X rolls better but trailraker digs in and clears better

Mud X looks good, do you ride on a pair of them or combined with something else?

medusas on my meta, though stuck with ignitors this winter and they were enough

Herman Shake – Member

Mud X looks good, do you ride on a pair of them or combined with something else?

As a pair for me on both SS and full suss if that helps.

Mud-X unless your riding consists of 90%+ gloopy mud, then a Trailraker might be a better option

Mud x winning so far, any bargain tyres out there doing the job? Although a few quid for better riding always sways me. Says the man who just got a gravity dropper. They’re practical, honest!

For heavy mud what you need is thin tires, they cut through. These are only any goood IMHO is 90% of what you ride is like that. You sacrifice a lot of handling.

Trailrakers good but VERY draggy as mentioned. Big thick tractor like DH tires lite e.g. Nevegals grippy but heavy.

I would go for Hutchison Scorpions for leavy damp singletrack, if they still make those. I have some in a cupboard somewhere must dig them out. I have a narrow set for super gloop somewhere too.

The best mud tyre I’ve used is a Continental Survival, but I don’t think they’re in the current range. Deadly on the front though…

Mud X – can leave them on all year round too. Very hard wearing & clear mud almost as well as Trailrakers

My Schwalbe Dirty Dan 2.0 XC’s were great earlier in the year.

They are light, fast rolling considering the tread, gave plenty of grip and shed mud well.

The only issue with them is they are really for proper muddy/wet conditions only as the tread is pretty soft and wears fast in the dry.

I like Swampthings myself , have some 2.1’s for my HT and 2.35’s for my bouncer.

I’m thinking of some Spesh Sauserwind Control tyres for the upcoming winter. Anyone had any experience of them?

Heard good things about the Schwalbe Black Shark 1.5s – they do come in a 2.1 but I don’t know what difference the larger volume makes.

Overall I still rate the Mud X.

So I’m sensing a theme of skinny spiky for the gloop and fat medium nobby for everything else. Is the skinny approach based on pressure, to get traction through the soft stuff? Or kind of for clearance so you don’t clog?

Medusas look good too, a little cheaper too.

But then the folding ADvantage is the same money in 62a as the mud x. Although 7 votes for the mud x is hard to argue with!

Well I guess it’s mud x unless someone can last defence another tyre.

Thanks for the advice all!

I’m gunna use Mud-X as I have them in the garage but next time I’ll take a look at the Spesh Storm Controls, as the look the same as the Mud-X (and same reviews) but @ 2/3 the price.
Trail-rakers are much better in thick mud/slop, but the advantage you gain in the mud is off-set by the dragginess everywhere else.

erm, blue grooves aren’t a mud tyre.

Mud x or Trailrakers they are both good.
I don`t think the trailrakers are that draggy

Another for Mud X F & R

Another +1 for MudX. Used all last winter front and rear and they were great. Clear very effectively and found grip where I used to slip and slide. Got them pretty cheap too – just over 20 quid each which seemed reasonable to me.

Are the Mud-X very low volume or do they come up a reasonable size ?

I know mud tyres are meant to be narrow but some 2.0 come up very narrow.

Will be running them on a HT and its prety rocky where i ride so could do with something a bit bigger volume but still good in mud when it has to be.

They size up on the narrow side, but as they are TLR the side walls are strong so as long as you are running tubeless you can use them at quite low pressures (25 – 30 psi for me) very comfortably.

I know blue grooves aren’t technically a mud tyre, a number of others in the list aren’t either! I need an open tread knobby for trails which happen to be getting-but aren’t always muddy. I don’t necessarily need an only this or only that tyre.

Managed to squeeze on the Spesh enduros (50a/60a, 120tpi, 2.3) I like that she’s looking a bit more chubby now 😀 . Less room for mud to accumulate, but we’ll see how it fares…

I’ll definitely keep the mud x on the bike shopping list. People using the same size f+r or going skinny back and medium front? Anyone ghettoed the mud x?

Mud X

Medusa

Schwalbe Black Sharks 2.1 mud, great tyre in wet grass / mud conditions; work well on rocks too (FAR better than Trailrakers); as they wear down a bit they become Dirty Dans too!
Conti X Country 1.5s too if they are still available?

Anybody have a link to Storm Controls for sale?

Does it matter where you are in the country?

Are some tyres better for soft, southern chalky-clayey mud with others being better for grim-up-north grindy gritty mud?

mud x!!

I’m using Specialized Storm Controls as my mud tyre, I think they’re awesome if it’s proper muddy, the tread doesn’t clog and they’ve got a nice soft sticky compound so are pretty grippy on wet rocks, etc.

I got them from Evans but they don’t seem to stock them anymore but a quick look on google shows plenty of places selling them.

Storm control looks a lot like the mud x 😆 Turns out the Enduro Pro were good, but clogged the clearance up pretty promptly. They need a bigger gap to do they’re thing.

Wouldn’t gritty mud clear differently to clay mud? I imagine the gritty stuff could benefit from a harder compound due to the grindyness, whereas the southern clay would need a very open pattern. Our mud’s pretty sticky dahn saff. Or maybe they both just need the mud x? STW member’s tyre of choice it seems!

Personally I ran Blue Groove up front and Nevegal rear for the last 12 months, both 2.35″, both tubeless and they worked well on everything, rocks, roots, mud, snow, ice, never had any less grip in the wyre forest swamps than anyone running mud specific tyres

Nobby Nics. Fast, light, good traction in mud IMO.

I was fantasizing about them just the other night.

I ride with a club in the Chilterns, home to particularly gloopy and sticky mud. Amongst the riders there’s people on trailrakers, mud x and medusas. I have trailrakers and find them pretty good – the 1.95s aren’t too draggy. There is a 2.1 version as well. The main thing here is a tyre that clears well.

If you ride proper mud in winter nobbly nics are awful….(my summer tyre)

1.8 medusa on the front bit more psi than summer (to cut through glop)
2.0 mud x rear

Great for soggy forest runs, also worked fine on armoured afan style trails without any dramas.

Bonti Mud X 1.8 for southern mud but whilst they grip they are not trail friendly as they literally cut down to bedrock. Specalized Storm are harder wearing and are less aggresive but not so good over roots as not so easy to run tubeless.