Now that my local trails have all turned to gloop I recently stuck a 1.8 Maxxis Medusa on the rear of my 26” rigid hardtail which is great in the mud but draggy as hell on the tarmac. The 2.2 Continental Mountain King on the front has to go – as it just fills up with mud and slides all over the place. So I’m looking for a replacement that will steer OK in mud and roll OK on the black stuff.

Before you flame me I know what’s good in mud will be crap on the road and vice versa but looking to hear from those of you who have found a good compromise.

i find mud-x’s roll ok.

Beaver rolls better…

I’m running a minion DHF on the back, seems good in the mud and I commute 55 miles a week, it’s not great on the road but imagine it’ll be a fair bit easier than the Medusa!

OK thanks – so what would STW recommend as best front and rear tyre options for a 26″ doing mud and road work during the winter?

How about a Spesh Ground Control front and a Bonty Mud-X at the back?

It’ll be my combo of necessity when I eventually get back out on the HT this winter.

Funnily enough, I found the Medusa’s much faster rolling than most other mud tyres. That was the 2.1″ version though, so may be worth a go.

The Mud X is slow… It drags a lot on anything hard, there’s no getting away from it. The Beaver is better, but then so is anything short of a Trailraker!

2 more tyres worth considering for winter slop that aren’t ridiculously slow when the ground is firmer…

Hutchinson Toro
Geax Gato

Both are available in a number of widths, I’d tend to stay around the 2.1″ sort of width though on an XC bike myself in the winter…

I run Minions front and rear all year round and they seem to cope well with the mud at this time. Not too bad on the road but nothing with knobbles is going to be great.

Thanks mboy – just seen the Geax Gato for £10 on http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYGEGA/geax-gato-mtb-folding-tyre good weight to. Anyone had experience of these?