I’m plannint to do a CX season on an XC MTB…last time I did this I struggled through on some Conti Mountain Kings which was not the best plan, especially on your average northern muddy CX course….

…any ideas??

You can get cross tyres in 26 inch. I bought a set from CRC recently

Wagon wheels or 26″?

Obviously if 29er, just cx tyres would work (I use Conti’s)

Example of 26 inch tyres, obviously new tubes are required

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Schwalbe-CX-Pro-26-inch-Tyre_51669.htm?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Product_Search&utm_campaign=Froogle02

as dvatcmark suggests the CX Pros are pretty good. I use the 700c version for muddy courses. Jnr’s cross bike is 26″ wheel and he has the 26″ version.

I use cx pros on my ridged inbred 26er. Grip off road is much better than you might think. Combination of front disc and light weight makes it easy to lock front when descending off road at speed. Work well as an all round tyre, did 90 miles on road with them on Saturday without too much effort.

Looks like it’s the CX Pro’s then – thanks all (and they are on sale at CRC, so even better!) 🙂

yeah they’re usually pretty cheap to buy, which is a bonus.

I used the 26″ cx pro’s and didn’t think they were good. They made the wheels feel very small and they wouldn’t ‘roll’ quite so well, which is exactly where cross bikes are good. They also dropped the bottom bracket a lot, so you had to delay powering out of corners, again not ideal for racing cross. I ended up putting larger mountain bike semi-slicks on as they didn’t pick up mud but would roll better and I was faster.

Are you able to fit a 700c wheel with a cross tyre in your frame? Not the cheapest option though.