Looking for winter tyres, have used trailrakers in the past and rate them highly, in fact used them all year round. Bit of a compromise in the summer though. Also looking at Rampage as possibly more of an all year round tyre and would welcome comments. Riding in Scotland mainly, usually damp conditions, don’t use trail centres much and prefer UST!

Cheers

Tom

I’ve got 650b version of the 26er Rampage and they’re crap in the wet and mud. I’ve also got trailrakers to cope with the Cotswolds muddy co forking and they’re great!

I am a big fan of both.
I have had trialrakers each winter for the last 3 yrs.

I like Rampages as a summer tyre.

I am finding the Fire Xc Pro the ideal middle ground between the 2.
Loads more wet weather grip than the Rampage, but not so draggy as the trail raker. Now have Fire Xc Pro’s on both bikes and think will stick with them for the worst that winter offers and then go back to rampages come Spring 2011.

Thanks guys, very prompt and useful!

Tom

for Scottish gloop (natural stuff) I have 2.1 trailrakers on the hardtail 9 months of the year and Nevegals for ‘the summer’ On the full susser 2.35 rampages all the time, but that bike sees less of the Mugdock mud than the hardtail

I had the Rampages but found them a bit strange to be honest, they seemed to squirm around somehow and didnt give me a lot of confidence. Also found the very round profile didnt give much grip when cornering.

Fire XC Pro I find great though, 2.1 size is my “standard” for XC riding. Loads of grip out on the edges.

Cheers Iainc but you have added to my dilemma! I have a Superlight but it does look as if the Trailrakers seem to be the best choice for gloop. I have Maxis Advantage for summer use and they seem fine for me but they do struggle in proper mud.

Tom

Tom,

Bonty Mud X.

Tubeless ready (stick some Stans sealant in they’re good to go). Good grip in shitty conditions and not too draggy on tarmac.

You can usually pick up a pair for £40

Nowthen, the Trailrakers can squirm a bit too but I did get used to it! Being rather a wimp, cornering has not given me issues and I suspect both tyres are similar in that regard. XC Pro’s are good mind you………….

Tom

bumbly1 – as a direct comparison, I used to swop between Trailrakers and FireXc Pro’s on the hardtail, winter and summer. For real mud there is not much to beat the Trailrakers, but they are a bit draggy on drier stuff. FireXC Pro’s were, I thought the best compromise summer/all round tyre for that bike…… until I got the Nevegals. I don’t put Trailrakers on the fuss suss as I like a bit more volume there and the 2.35 Rampages are again a good compromise. That said, when it’s really manky and muddy I don’t ride the FS bike so not needing a full on mud tyre on it

Stuarty_c, just dont know Bonty’s and prefer to stick with known tyres!

Iainc, quite like the idea of an XC Pro on the front (for better cornering) and trailraker on the rear?

Tom

quite like the idea of an XC Pro on the front (for better cornering) and trailraker on the rear?

That would work fine, although if going that route why not stick a Rampage on the front ? I prefer more volume on a FS bike to get the best out of it and find a 2.1, especially a Panaracer as they come up small, a bit too narrow on my 5.

Stuartie, I know you’re not shy of the rocky stuf fin the hills, how have you found the robustnessness of the Bonties?

I put a massive gash in the side of my Jones ACX last year and its put me off them since, I’ve never done that to another tyre.

I know you can get a reenforced Mud X but in a tiny size…

(sorry for the the hijack)

Winter gloop in the woods: Trailraker
Summer dry rocks: Rampage (truly rubbish in mud or snow)
Everything else: Cinder

(I like Panaracer)

i have found my Rampages ok in mud, for example 10UTB this yr which was well muddy and they did fine. Tyres are such a personal thing though 😛

Winter gloop in the woods: Trailraker
Summer dry rocks: Rampage (truly rubbish in mud or snow)
Everything else: Cinder

Agreed. Have been running 2.25 Cinders for a couple of years but tried the Rampages last year. Good in the dry but Cinder a better all round tyre. I did find the Rampages more prone to pinch flatting than the Cinders – they are a bigger tyre but lighter so not so robust.

After being disappointed with the Rampages have now gone for Minion DHF 2.35 folding which I rate the best all round tyre I have tried. Even going to try keeping them on through the winter to see if they cope. Love the Trailrakers for grip but they are really draggy and add almost 5 minutes to the 20 minute ride back from the pub after the Thursday night ride, albeit with 3 pints inside

13FM,

Only problem I’ve had so far is tearing the bead on a Jones ACX due to a heavy landing from a drop off. Otherwise they’ve been fine – never torn a sidewall.

Yet…

Currently running rampage sport 2.35’s. Bit slippy in the first of autumn’s leafy gloopiness but not bad – great in drier times. And way better than the mountain kings they replaced. As my usual riding involves a 20 minute each way road ride to get to the good stuff would be interested if there’s a better mud tire about that wasn’t totally rubbish on the Tarmac. 🙂

Cheers guys some helpful comments there, I was a bit worried about a tyre post but you came up trumps 🙂

Tom

I dislike both of them. Never got to trust them regardless of bikes, terrain, hungover level etc.
Maxxis Medusa when wet nowadays or adVantage when not so wet. ut that’s just me.

Currently running rampage 2.3’s , find them quite ‘drifty’ ,usually very predictable, but if you’re not happy with it, it could be disconcerting.
I will get some highrollers when they are done with though…….

The Rampage is pretty poor, if you’re going to make a blatant nevegal copy you need to try a bit harder I reckon, there’s no reason to buy one over the real thing- heavier, a little faster but much less grippy and much less predictable. A pretty sorry attempt from the little riding I did on one. If it’s got to be a Panaracer I guess it’s OK.