Hi,

I have read and re-read many of the old posts about tyre choice but I’m more confused than when I started!

I have nobby nic 2.25’s at the moment and am finding (like others) that the front loses grip when cornering hard, especially on anything slightly loose to the point where I have fallen off the past 3 rides. Mind you that is probably mostly to do with my riding ability…

I’m thinking of replacing it with:

Minion 42a
Bontrager mud-x

or perhaps a High roller, medusa, Swampthing, Mountain King or any other of the millions of recommended tyres!

I ride mostly around Brighton, South Downs, Stammer woods with occasional trips up to Surrey Hills and sometimes Wales. So lots of woodland soil, mud and roots.

So with the winter fast approaching and mud and possibly snow to contend with, your advice great fully received.

Thanks

You might want to consider a couple of Specialized options as well – I’ve been using Eskars and Storm Controls on a couple of my bikes and have found them excellent as well as being reasonably light and cheap.

A 42a (SuperTacky) Minion DHF 2.35 will certainly be miles ahead in terms of outright grip. Considerably heavily and much, much slower rolling than the Nic though. Maybe a 60a (MaxxPro) version would be a good compromise?

BTW, what pressure are you running in the Nic? I’ve noticed that the thin sidewalls fool people to go a bit OTT with the pump.

Mud X’s are very good, but I do find NN’s are pressure sensitive.

Thanks, I will take a look at those, which do you find better on the front?

I’m not sure about exact pressures but guess I have been running them at around 35psi…pretty soft anyway.

I’m going to be devils advocate here as I use a 2.4 MK just the 10 quid one and it’s great. No problems with washing out as long as you keep it above 45 PSI.

Someone will be along to tell me I’m a mincer shortly.

When the weather gets really shite I will be switching to 2.3 Verticals you can’t go wrong with verticals.

Hi GP, I ride the South Downs and surrounding areas too and had the mud-x up front last year and it was awesome. Changed it to a fire xc pro over the summer and still got it on. I’m finding it just as grippy but think the mud-x will outperform the fire xc when it comes to real claggy stuff.

Joolsburger – sorry what is an MK ?

Taff – Ok that’s good to know, it does get pretty sticky doest it, the mud-x has lots of admirers…

Mountain King – of course.

My choices:

Summer;
F: Maxxis high roller 2.35, 60a, folding, SPC
R: Maxxis high roller semi slick, 2.35, 60a, steel, SPC

Inbetweeny seasons (everywheres moist, but not a real mudbath yet):
F: Maxxis high roller 2.35, 60a, folding, SPC
R: Maxxis high roller 2.35, 60a, folding, SPC

Winter:
F: Maxxis swamp thing 2.1, 60a, steel, not sure of casing
R: Maxxis swamp thing 2.1, 60a, steel, not sure of casing

The high rollers are run at about 25psi, the swampthings arround 45psi+ as they dont seem as affected by pressure in terms of grip, but roll much better with more air in them.

Tried specialized storns last winter, not the same outright grip as the swamp things, but still pretty good and much faster rolling so kept them on untill the trails were completely dry.

Maybe you should look at how you corner? aswell

The front Kenda Excavator 2.1 on my Teocali grips way better than the Nobby Nic 2.25 front on the Anthem

tinas What are swamp things like on the front do they corner well?

I currently have one on the back that I am happy with but am holding off changing from a HR on the front.

Mountain King – They are proper shite, dont grip, useless in anything but bone dry conditions and wash out at any speed. However I’ve used them all over the Surrey Hills, Afan, Swinley etc in the wet, dry, snow etc and they’ve been great, I mince my way up for sure but I’m not slow getting down, even on off camber rooty bits they’ve been fine.

They are dangerous if you don’t keep the pressure high as recommended as they fold and are truly scary. I came back from my hols and had lost around 20 PSI from the front without noticing, that was a scary ride until I stopped and filled up.

I like the look of the swampthings – similarish tread to the mud-x..

<5 psi can effect how a tyre runs – worth playing with pressures what ever tyres you run. I’m running tubeless on most set ups and at a push might run with 35psi in the rear during the summer on a fast xc trail – come Winter time and it’s well below that 28psi rear, 25psi front

I ride the same area as you, same tyres all year except in mid-winter heavy gloop (Mud-X then)…

Maxxis High Roller 2.35 60a Maxxpro Single Ply

😀

perhaps lack front grip has more to do with weight distribution?

Minion DHF 60a 2.35″ works really well for me 🙂

My 2.25 NN grips like sh!t to a blanket on anything but thick mud,then it just floats on top & gets pretty scary.I run it around 30-35,which I class as quite hard not soft…But as already stated I think it’s more to do with your weight distribution than the Nics failing tbh…..

Used to run 2.35 wirebead High Rollers, super tacky front, 60a rear in all but winter conditions. Changed a couple of months ago to folding Rampage SC on the front and a folding 2.2 Ardent on the rear. Much lighter (as folding) then the HR’s and handle better for me as well.

Have now decided it’s not going to get any drier for a while and put the Swampthings on for winter. Much better grip in the soft stuff. None of the silly fishtailing.

emac65, rootes1, lucien and AJ,
I definitely need to improve my weight distribution, I am sure it is far from perfect and try some different pressures too.

The Nics have been great for over a year but I have found that as I have become more confident and am attacking corners faster, I have just found the tyre slipping so felt that a gripper tread would be a good quick fix!

I have had your same problem with a wide variety of tyres (cheap and expensive) and put it down to my ineptitude at cornering too….

Recently bought a bike which came with WTB Exiwolfs on, and loved them! Brilliant grip in the corners. Loved them so much I bought a second set for my other MTB.

I did try Bontrager Muds and found them one of the slippiest of the lot, the compound seems very hard. Made a good back tyre though.

I spend a lot of time on the Stanmer singletrack – tyres used so far are:

Speed King 2.1 – too skinny, thus high pressures needed to avoid pinch flats. Also a bit puncture prone generally.
Mud-X 2.0 – way more grip, good on wet roots and greasy mud, quite low volume so now I’m riding more aggressive over obstacles I’m concerned they may struggle. Managed to run low 20s with tubes without problems but I was riding slower (newbie). If you don’t need the extra cushioning of a big tyre they’re probably perfect for winter here.
Speed King 2.3 – better than the 2.1 (both measure 0.2″ smaller than they should), quick in summer but not keen on more aggressive cornering.
Bontrager XR4 2.2 – running this tubeless and the grip and cushioning is incredible and it isn’t too draggy. Not sure how it’ll perform when it gets really wet.

My bike came with Spesh Purgatory 2.2 on the front & 2.0 Captain on the back.

The Purgatory on the front does seem to grip very well & isn’t too draggy.

I’ve only run Eskars both front and back and have found them excellent on both – same with the Storms. The Specialized Captains on the other hand I find good on the front but rubbish on the back – might try matching the front with a Storm on the back instead.

I run Speed Kings (Supersonics on one bike and the normal folding ones on the others) on several bikes and also find them a good all-conditions tyre as well. They do need high pressures (45psi) but work well like that.

epicsteve – Member
I’ve only run Eskars both front and back and have found them excellent on both – same with the Storms. The Specialized Captains on the other hand I find good on the front but rubbish on the back – might try matching the front with a Storm on the back instead.

I run Speed Kings (Supersonics on one bike and the normal folding ones oh the others) on several bikes and also find them a good all-conditions tyre as well.

The back end of my bike does seem to lose traction quite a bit, so would tend to back up your view on the Captain on the back.
Might try the Sauserwinds next F & R….

I agree with the Speed Kings. Very good general tyre, with surprising levels of grip, in all but loose, gravelly surfaces.

What a conundrum ? Surely tyres are a personal thing, the best tyre for one person will be a cr4p tyre for somebody else, I would consider keeping what you have for now and more importantly play with pressures and weight distribution.

It’s amazing how much money you can save just by playing with air!!

I used to run 2″ mud x front and back but now have a super tacky swampthing on the front and a mud x out back, the ST is not as good in mud but much better over wet roots, rocks etc, very grippy but a bit draggy, tbh I dont notice the drag any more, massive confidence booster in winter too. Never tried the 60a, may give it a go some time.

i rode hutchinson iguanas at the big (wet) dog. seemed fine in hte corners. i was quite shocked as i expected to be all over teh shop made me realise that technique will have more effect than tyres.

i run swampies on the proper bike. they are a mission to push around and will be coming off as soon as i get a few mins to myself. only needed when its too sloppy to stand properly.

I run whatever’s on the bike until the knobbly bits wear off then I get a new tyre with fresh knobbly bits depending on whatever’s the cheapest deal (or free).

A question to ask yourself is do you lean the bike enough and corner aggressively enough to get a square tyre like a High-Roller or Eskar to bite? And can you run lower pressure on the front to get more grip? With equal sized tyres I run about 25% less pressure at the front.

I have been running them at around 35psi…pretty soft anyway.

I run mine at about 20-25 psi max. Mostly ride in the Chilterns, so about the same sort of terrain as you.

the super tacky Maxxis are just too draggy for normal XC use TBH.

TURN YOUR NOBBY NICS ROUND THE OTHER WAY!

before you try anything else just try flipping them the other way round. I much prefer them this way and so do all my riding buddies.
For general riding and XC they are more than grippy enough for me all year round. But when I rode them the ‘correct’ way according to their directions I was a bit disapointed.

Well thanks all for your replies, some good advice. Plenty to try before buying a new tyre (which has been reduced to a choice of 2 or 3. Maybe 4!)

I will definitely try letting out some air tomorrow on my next ride..

Maxxis Minion DHF 2.35 in 60a. Exponentially more grippy on pretty much anything than a NN.

Bonty Mud X’s are very good, have run them tubeless for two years now. The best winter tyre is the Panaracer Trailraker UST. Nothing comes near it IMO.

Concentrate on technique and consider a skills course, which will probably work out cheaper than trying numerous tyres as well as being a quicker solution to your problem. You could try running what you hve at higher / lower pressures as well. Start at 25 Psi and work up.

For the record, I like my Continental Vertical 2.3’s. For me they stick everywhere I expect them to and some places I don’t expect them to also, which is a bonus.

Cheap too.

I used to run Conti Verts on most of my bikes year round and liked them – I’ve still got a couple of sets in the garage. Eskars are like the modern equivalent and better all round.