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When it comes to wet roots, what is the collective opinion of the least bad tyres available?
Good grip on wet tracks and through gloopy mud is one thing, but short of ice it's always the wet roots that tyres seem to struggle with.
wet roots are slippy, change your technique not your tyres.
Yeah, but sometimes you've got no choice, and tyres do make a difference then.
As far as I can tell, it's basically just about surface area, volume/flexibility (to glom around it) and sticky rubber. Conti Barons are about the best I've found without sacrificing other stuff too much (Der Baron is like cheating on roots, very sticky and massive contact patch, but totally impractical for everyday use). Kenda Nevegal's surprisingly good too, it's got that flexy sidewalls with slow rebound rubber thing going on. Heavier duty tyres generally seem less good at it- less flexible maybe?
+1 for technique. You're always going to fight some sideways slippage even with the softest rubber.
Line, commitment, speed, weight distribution.
Roots are slippy. No tyre makes up for this or technique.
Learn how your tyres handle, and learn to work with them rather than against them.
I run the same tyres all year round (Hans Dampf front / Racing Ralph rear)... unless you compete life's too short to change them just because conditions change, IMO at least.