mboy I too considered these and many other tyres for British all year and wet summer riding. Eventually got myself a Conti Baron 2.3 Black Chilli. It is on the front at the moment, and I am currently testing it. But I think it might be just what you are looking for! 😉

I liked the irony of mud damaged MTB tyres….bought a pair of them in the sale To try out up Scotland over my usual tyre.

Very impressed with the tyre, provided lots of predictable grip in the wet and dry. Nice size for a 2.25 too. Will by trying it out in the peaks on Sunday but so far another excellent product from on one.

Can’t comment about the performance n deep / loamy mud , but why would you run such a big tyre in these conditions anyway

So sorry to drag up a classic old thread but just been googling for a review on the smorgasbord and came across this.

The tyre is now down to a frankly silly £12.49! I am in the verge of ordering but I’m no expert so can someone tell me is it worth paying a fiver extra (per pair) for the trail extreme? Is it softer therefore will it not last as long? I’m looking at using them as a winter xc and commuting tyre.

The cheaper one will last longer, it has a harder compound.

The more expensive one is dual compound and most riders would probably put it on the front, where the stickier bits would help give more grip.

🙂

having ridden with a chunky monkey trail extreme on the front and a smorgasbord trail extreme on the back for three rides I can only add that they are crap in the mud and on damp roots( thats damp not wet) they are lethal. they feel nervous all the time out in surrey hills last weekendthe going was damp but not muddy and the front kept breaking away on even small roots.no where near as good as my base spec conti mk’s. On paper they look good and the price is great so maybe when the summer comes they will shine but at the moment they are sitting in my garage.I emailed on one detailing my issues no response?

Thanks for the feedback (as Chief Designer for on-one). I’ve not (that I can remember) ridden the Surrey Hills, but I’m trying to get out a bit more this year. I’m quite puzzled as to what the conditions are like there that has polarised your opinion so much.
What tyres do you usually run, what pressures, rim width (internal?), bike type?

I reckon most people (me included)wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from one tyre to the next if they were blindfolded.

As a contrast, I’ve found the Monkey / Smorg combo to be great on the slimy roots and wet rock around Keswick.
Even worked well in the snow over xmas! 😆

At a third of the price of my normal HR / Minion, I’ll be stocking up.

hi brant tried them with 40psi as recommended by on one dropped them to 36 and they still did not work. last sunday the front washed out 3 times the last one had me off. not experienced that all through this winter and the last british summer.they bare fitted to ztr flow rims on a 2012 ellsworth moment. I was out yesterday with a conti mk( the entry level one)and the front was way better than the chunky monkey was and the conditions were a lot worse than sundays ride.I left the smorg on the back and it just would not hook up at all. as for being able to tell the difference- well i cant say that i can tell the difference between the cont rubber queens that i have run and the mountain kings but i could certainly tell the difference between the mk and the chunky monkey- like night and day

I love the chunky monkey on the front and have bought one for th rear to swap for the smorgasbord which is ok but not on par with the CM for out and out grip

I reckon most people (me included)wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from one tyre to the next if they were blindfolded.

This could be the new niche – blindfolded mountain biking!

Put the smorg on the back – backwards like the old panaracer smokes – and it’s great

To be fair, my first ride with them on was pretty sketchy too but after an hour or two on a damp Gisburn circuit they soon broke in. Feels like they needed to be ridden in to really get the grip going – not what I’d expected but now they grip like a sticky thing

I’m really impressed with them for the price. Now can you do that sram xx cassette for the same price?? 100 is still a bit high 🙂

Still no joy getting mine to go up tubeless.

Tried seating it on rim with a tube, unseating one side and smearing with washing-up liquid before pumping madly but the best I can manage is semi-hard (ooer).

The tyre bead curves back into itself more than my usual Maxxis tyres.

What techniques have you guys used successfully with the Smorgasbord folding version?

i use the infamous STW 9p inflator.

(easypeasy)

Leave it on the tyre with a tube in for 24 hours, mind wouldn’t go up till I did that, then they went up easy with some soapy water (on Stans Crests)

I’ve had them on for about 9 months now, they are not the best in really slimy mud, drift a bit when it’s slidy, which isn’t very confidence inspiring on steeper stuff, but otherwise I still like them, right now I think conditions are spot on and if I get this summer out of them then I think they will have been the best all round tyre I’ve ever used.

Yeah I left it on for a few days, and went for a ride as well (on which I got a snakebite during a Strava run of heroic proportions).

Seems a pretty good tyre for the rear, relatively fast rolling but with enough climbing grip. Hope I can get it working. Will investigate the ghetto inflator thing later.

I’ve just bought a chunky monkey and a smorgasbord as a front and rear combo for my Trance 29er. First outing was at the weekend at Antur Stiniog. Chunky Monkey was awesome on the front in dire conditions-very wet and slippy! Smorgasbord was awful on the rear-quite possibly my least favourite ever tyre….just goes to show how personal tyre choice is I guess. Personally I am unable to detect ‘flex’ in component or notice any difference in damping in suspension etc but I can tell huge differences in tyres and pressures etc.

I’ll be trying the smorgasbord running the other way with a little less pressure this coming weekend.

Finally thought I’d try these out for a weekend in North Wales. At £25 a pair for folding tyres essentially made by Maxxis, difficult to refuse. I got the Enduro single compound ones

So last May bank holiday did Coed y Brenin (the Beast) on the Saturday, Penmachno on the Sunday and Marin on the Monday. Bit wet on Saturday and Sunday, dry on Monday.

Have to say the tyres held up well through the rocky sections and had enough grip on any roots/muddy bits. Quite impressed. They seemed similar to the Kenda Nevegals they replaced, rolling a bit faster than those though.

Anyone say how they come up size wise? Appologies if it’s in here somewhere but there’s 7 pages of threads to read! I’ve got a 2010 Stumpys FSR, and clearance in the back isn’t great so I’m looking for something gripy, fairly cheap and can be run tubeless. I can fit a 2.3 swampthing in there and a Spesh 2″ tyre, is the smorgasbord similar size wise? I’ve got a Chunky Monkey on the front and it’s great but huge!

I run the 29er 2.25 Smorgasbord on my hardtail they come up big. more 2.3 IMO
In the dry / damp can’t fault them they stick well roll fast and have lasted well. they are a tad weighty but once rolling its not a problem
TBH I bought mine for £14 a tyre for the price I can’t fault them when Schwalbe charge top side of £40 a tyre for something that is not appreciably any better or not £25 ish better.

Anyone say how they come up size wise? Appologies if it’s in here somewhere but there’s 7 pages of threads to read! I’ve got a 2010 Stumpys FSR, and clearance in the back isn’t great so I’m looking for something gripy, fairly cheap and can be run tubeless. I can fit a 2.3 swampthing in there and a Spesh 2″ tyre, is the smorgasbord similar size wise? I’ve got a Chunky Monkey on the front and it’s great but huge!

I’ve just bought the 26×2.25 and will measure them once they’re on if you want?

Cheers for that. If they come up like a Maxxis 2.3 then job’s a good ‘un. I like Spech tyres but they don’t seem to do anything grippy in a 2″, and the 2.2 / 2.3″ tyres are too big. I’ve tried the captains and ground controls and they’re great in the dry but lacking once it gets a bit wet.

Anyone say how they come up size wise?

Casing is a 2.25″ Maxxis “new school” size, that is to say, slightly bigger than a 2.35″ HR/Minion/Swamp Thing. They’re very tall and rounded in profile though, so might fit, but might not. If they were any squarer edged I’d say no for definite.

Always found the spesh storm control great in the wet.

Would agree about the captain, great in the dry rubbish in the wet.

Thanks mboy. Taller is fine, it’s wider that’s the problem (no giggling at the back). Any other suggestions for an all round tyre that’ll fit?

2.25 Smorgasbord isn’t much smaller than the 2.4 Chunky Monkey and both are great tyres, I’ve recently read a comment from Brant saying that the Chunky Monkey isn’t solely for front use so I’ll be sticking one on the back when the Smorgasbord wears out.

Measured my 26″ 2.25 Smorgasbord Trail Extremes and they come in at a smidge over 2.2″ @ 30psi. Measured using digital calipers. They fit my Genesis Core nicely and could probably have something even bigger on the back.

Sorry for the thread ressurection, but only just got round to trying these.

Soft front, regular compound on the back.

Just done a 30 miler over the Pennine Bridleway and I’m very impressed.

Great on the rear:
No traction issues, not a huge amount of drag, comfy as hell because of the high volume.

Front was a bit ‘pingy’ at first ’till I reduced the pressure, but fine thereafter.
Felt a little vague at first when leant over on loose, rocky stuff, but never let go. Might try dropping the pressure a bit more on the front tomorrow.

More like an Ignitor than an XR4 (my current 2 favourite fronts) – faster than I thought they’d be, and overall, I’m very happy.
Especially for less than £30.00 a pair. 🙂

Bigger side/intermediate lugs would flatten the profile slightly and perhaps make the front feel a bit more planted when leant over, but it’s no big deal. The actual grip seems fine.

It’s really nice to find a bargain.
Even better when they work this well.

Bigger side/intermediate lugs would flatten the profile slightly and perhaps make the front feel a bit more planted when leant over, but it’s no big deal.

Try a Chunky Monkey?

Just ordered a pair of the Enduro ones for my Solaris. Currently using Beavers, but wanted something with a bit more volume, we’ll see how they fair, cannot go wrong for the price.

Yeah get a Chunky Monkey too, I love it as a front tyre and I’m gonna get a single compound one for the rear of my AM bike.

Brant – Have you considered doing a “cut-spike” mud tyre in the same casings, perhaps a bit like the new Magic Mary from Schwalbe?

Do you think I’m made of money? 😀

I’ll give the CM a go when this one’s down to the canvas.

Just come across these

?

Still loving mine. Brilliant in the dry and for armoured trail centres but they are lethal in the mud. Geax Daturas going on this weekend.

Running a chunky (single compound) up front and smorg out back and pretty pleased with them both so far, chunky grips well up front and smorg being the smaller tyre rolls good too.

Both are up and running tubeless, chunky was easier to set up this way but using a ghetto inflator and some muscle the smorg went up too, absolute bargain for a pair of tyres I reckon.

hora – Member

Just come across these

From experience washing up liquid works better

matt_outandabout – Member
?

?

I was searching for a topic on these tyres rather than starting a new one. Its obviously a resurrect as the post before was 5months previous.

Wow! a 7 page thread on a tyre clearly designed by an ADHD sufferer?

Pentagon shaped knobs? Really? And what the hell are all the random “L” and “U” shaped sipes all about?

Wow! a 7 page thread on a tyre clearly designed by an ADHD sufferer?

Pentagon shaped knobs? Really? And what the hell are all the random “L” and “U” shaped sipes all about?

Well that is one of the more interesting tyre reviews I’ve read.