[Closed] MUD - It's not going away in a hurry so what's your attitude to it?

Some of my local stuff is now so muddy that you have to pedal down the hills too. Properly a pita. The wet added to folk getting out anyway as it is 'summer' means that some of the bridle ways hereabouts are actually in worse nick than they would be in winter.

MM sounds exceptional I don't think I would have enjoyed it.

But in general, it's not going away so I say adapt and ride. Changing tyres for the season doesn't work in our variable climate, I'm now looking at building an SS with Mud X on it and using that for wet days (year round). Tyres and gears are what make mud riding difficult.

Let's not forget that prior to April we had 18 mostly dry months.

Mud has it's place, it's called [i] the winter[/i] I'm sorry having it stretch from April to mid July is just not acceptable.

I think we need a change of government or religion - whatever.

Part of the fun, the downside is the extra faffing and cleaning up time involved.

I'd rather be riding dry trails but given the choice of mud or no riding I'll be the one with a mud filled grin on my face.

Sometimes I'll take a rigid SS out and go blast wet fireroads to avoid the worst of the mud (and prevent cutting up trails), but usually I just go with whatever I think is most suitable for where I want to ride that day.

Singlespeed with all round tyres and avoid the more natural trails and stick to the 'paths' that have either been built 000's of years ago, or so well used over 000's of years they've turned to bedrock. Riding soil based trail in this weather is pointless, it'd be quicker to walk them and just ruins them turning singletrack into a 8ft wide rut as each successive rider searches for a wider and wider dry line. So pick a bike that doesn't wear out and trails likewise to avoid the mud for the benifit of bike and trail.

I've actualy got 3 bikes for verying levels of shitty weather, rigid sinlespeed for the utterly crap weather, 'hardcore hardtail' for days when it's 50/50, and the FS for days when the trails are actualy running fast enough for it to be worth while!

This year I've also ridden more trail centers at weekends rather than suffering for 6 hours in the mud I'll just do a 3 hour trail center ride folowed by a couple of hours on the road to get the hours in and keep a base of fitness. And taken up jogging during the week rather than evening rides.

I just ride the less muddier stuff and mix it up with cycle routes, country lanes etc to keep up the miles and fitness.

Riding is riding for me. no matter when, where or on what surface and it all gets done on the same bike.

I have even started to commute on longer distances. If its going to a full on wet summer I just hope that we get a dry autumn and winter!

I have picked up a nasty habit of looking through the window and seeing all the rain and then giving the ride a miss!

No problems with mud when going out on my own for a local ride, but like to get out with family one day per weekend: missus and kids (12 and 15) all keen bikers.

It's just such a ballache getting home to have to clean up 4 bikes and 4 sets of kit, wash 4 lots of clothes then get it all dry. Then pull the bikes out again the next day to lube the chains a bit more for those bits that, irrespective of how careful I am, have been missed by lubejob 1.

Plus, if we've driven to ride rather than do local stuff, the car needs a bit of a wipe over so it doesn't look like I've been keeping cattle in it.

When I was biking in Oz I was always complemented on my ability to ride the muddy bits.
Its what we are good at.
Ps buy some bloody cyclo cross tyres!

Im lucky to have the choice of 2 bikes, full sus, fuul rigid. Full rigid will be out tonight, esp as rain is forecast and im in the mood for getting soaked without getting hypothermia like you would in winter. 😀

I just get on with it... change of clothes and a van or external bike rack essential though.

So I'm looking at building an SS for the sloppy days ... but I'm not totally sure about rigid forks vs sus. Am I going to get shaken to bits? I can see myself dropping a hundred quid on carbon then regretting it.

Our trails are forest: mostly rooty not rocky.

Whaddyareckon?

Make peace with the mud.. its going to be here for a long time. If the jet stream stays with us.. so will the mud. There s no answer to how long this could be. MTFU and be sensible about where you ride and get organised and efficient at your cleanup routine. Or just move further towards the equator.

A lot of the local trails are simply not rideable when wet, alot can be ridden but doing so causes so much damage it isn't worth it.

So rapidly come to the point why bother riding off road. As for driving somewhere else? expensive and goes against most of the reasons why i actually ride a bike.

I don't mind a bit of mud if the ground is wet, but our local spot is so waterlogged now it's a pointless exercise. It's worse now than it was all winter.

I tend to ride MTB a lot less in winter, because bikes live in the house so need to be clean. Therefore the post ride cleanup operation can be a little tedious week in, week out. I don't really want to do it all summer as well, so the riding has suffered this year, which is annoying.

Thankfully i've been out on the road bike a fair bit so fitness hasn't suffered, even if my sanity has.

Am I going to get shaken to bits? I can see myself dropping a hundred quid on carbon then regretting it.

Buy a 2nd hand steel fork for £30 then...

You will get more shaken about than on a suspension fork, but you won't have to stop and clear the mud from the fork brace just to get the wheel to turn.

Sometimes you just have to embrace the mud, and to be honest, it's usually how much damage I will do to my kit that limits my desire to ride than how wet and dirty I will get myself. I now have proper mud tyres and a rigid fork for my hardtail which are easily swapped on (and are left on right now!) for riding nasty mud, and it makes a difference to my desire to ride in it knowing I'm not destroying my expensive suspension forks.

Oh, and as proved again at 24/12 this weekend, Singlespeed (or at least 1x9/10/Alfine/Rohloff) is vastly superior to having any kind of front mech and multiple chainrings.

So how do you view a muddy ride?

mattjg - Member
So I'm looking at building an SS for the sloppy days ... but I'm not totally sure about rigid forks vs sus. Am I going to get shaken to bits? I can see myself dropping a hundred quid on carbon then regretting it.

Our trails are forest: mostly rooty not rocky.

Whaddyareckon?

Get a steel fork like a Salsa or Surly. In my experience both of these will have more give than carbon and cost a lot less. If you're building a bike for snotty conditions then a little extra weight is hardly a major issue. A biggish front tyre will help.

mud? - i hate it.

i've got thousands of other things to do*, i'll ride when it's dried out a bit...

i'm old, i've served my time out in the filth.

(*road riding for example, and tarmac only needs a few hours and a little wind/sun to dry out nicely)

Around here we seem to have a lot of stables, and all the horse riders seem determined to turn every bridleway in the area into a recreation of the Somme. Unfortunately because of the clay soil the churned up bits are unbelievably claggy, and even when everywhere else has dried up, you end up walking about half your ride because it is impossible to pedal through for more than a few yards. Then if they do eventually dry out you find yourself shaken to pieces over hundreds of rock solid, foot deep, hoof prints.

The bits where the horses don't go are fine, and the mud and puddles are quite enjoyable, occasionally. Would be nice to see some dry trails at some point this summer though.

Steel forks more flexy than carbon? Hadn't realised that. (The extra weight isn't an issue for me.)

I love it , it changes a trail like nothing else and I enjoy the challenge of it .

It's crap. Local trails are beyond winter conditions and are a proper mess. Long loops are now 2x the ride-time. But the upside is I've found more dirt track / bridleways that drain better and may be able to piece together a 4-5 hour off-road-roadie loop soon.

Getting the road bike out again after a long MTB-only phase too.

I really, deeply, badly miss fast, dry singletrack though (

Or just move further towards the equator.

This.

This is my plan.. 8)

On the upside, you can now use the hosepipe to wash your bike down.

All of you just MTFU....this is Britain...

amen teamslug

if we want to live in a "green and pleasant land", it's gotta rain

All of you just MTFU....this is Britain...

just move further towards the equator.

Ride a simple bike. Lower tyre pressures. Set up to slide a bit in corners. Avoid bridle ways. Garden hose to Wash the bike down.That's it.

It's OK.. but there are limits to how many days running.

I now can't ride as both my pairs of footwear are currently drowned and showing no inclination to dry out anytime soon

the 5-10's are still riidculously wet from Saturday !!!

Light the fire to put your shoes in front of or buy a shoe drying cabinet

Ride on road more, I find very little mud there.
Ok, not as much fun as the mountain bike, but at least I'm still getting out & not destroying kit as quickly.

We went over the Wyre Forest on Sunday, . . it was horrific . . . but fun all the same!

It was made easier by my 29er, no specific mud tyres either . . . but i wouldn't like to do it every week. Its the cleaning and wear and tear on the bike that puts me off more than anything . . . .

It certainly sharpens the skills!!

I don't normally mind mud and ride all year normally but I am getting bored of the stuff now, I am starting to skip rides as I cba to clean the bike and my gear for the umpteenth time partly because living in a flat makes it an absolute pain to wash the bike on return.

I'm also a little concerned about the state of some of the local routes as a good percentage of the 'mtfu' brigade seem to be taking ever larger diversions around puddles while the horsey lot seem keen to recreate scenes from the first world war.

Tend to use trail centres when its muddy, they tend to have good all weather surfaces. Wet but not too muddy.

Cant see the point in wearing out large amounts of expensive bike for little pleasure.

I'm not a fan of the mud. It's slow, it's a bike killer, it's hours of tidying and cleaning, it's not fun.

I just find other things to do. The bikes can take the summer off if this is it for a while.

Cant see the point in wearing out large amounts of expensive bike for little pleasure.

This +1,

Swinley - gets trashed and ruins bikes
Chilterns - remains rideable, kind on bikes
Peaks - remainds rideable, ruins bikes
Trail Centers - remain rideable and kind on bikes

I just don't bother so much with night/evening rides when it's this crap and save it for days out. I'd easily ruin £40+ of stuff riding a local loop, so use it as an excuse to go somewhere new and burn that money in petrol rather than bike parts.

Rigid ss for the filth this will be perfect £450

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/sets/72157630270177164/

I tend to avoid mud.

But I'd never criticise those who ride in mud FOR riding in mud cos of some "ruining the trail" nonsense. They're so into MTB-ing they'll ride in horizontal rain up to the spindles in goo, and I won't. I can live with it.

(And they're obviously perverts.)

S'funny I ride all year regardless of what the weather's doing with gears,suspension,for several hours at a time & it hasn't worn out every component on my bike & doesn't take hours to clean either...Seems like some people are just looking for excuses not to get dirty to me........

As above, I ride in whatever the conditions are on the day I want to ride. I clean my bike after every ride and I don't have to replace components any more often than I think I should for the miles I do. Coincidence maybe?

Hate it hate it hate it.

For those that say it can be fun, I reckon you live in a predominantly rocky area. Around our way it's just a real slog to even keep moving. I have been pedalling downhill now for about 3 months and don't think I've really been above a medium walking pace in that time. Getting more than about 50 yards without getting stuck and walking for ages shin-deep is an achievement. I ride whenever I can (which is not often enough) as being on a bike is vital for me, but I am soooooo fed up with this crap. Another 9 months to go, at least.

And breathe. That's been building up for ages.

At least as of this week I can now use a hose to clean filthy bike (in driving rain).

i just get on with it clean bike when i get back,lube and put away clothes go in the washing machine and me into the shower not really anymore flaff than about 70% of my year round riding mind you do tend to avoid the bits that i know are a slog on my local loops got enough variation that can string a good loop together whatever the weather.

I just get on and ride in the mud [u]during the wet winter months[/u]...it keeps my fitness level up so I'm ready to enjoy the dry summer months.

But we're not getting any dry summer months...its a sodden muddy mess, I hate it and I'm bitter as I feel robbed of my dry fast summer trails 👿

Bloody hell the mother of all tempest monsoon squalls just passed over my little patch of Surrey. It'll be a soggy one tomorrow then.

Yep, wife just got caught in that one...Apparently a lift should have been in order 😳

[i]It'll be a soggy [s]one[/s] dog walk tomorrow then[/i]

FTFY...well fixed for me 😉

Too many wet muddy rides and races for me this year, 2nd drive train in 3months, booked a holiday to Majorca today, was planning on going to Cornwall but not going to risk my week off work with this shonky weather

Ridden almost daily for 2 winters, has not been this bad. Given up and bought a road bike. One mountain bike ride in the last month, spent longer cleaning the bike than riding it.

I just want it to get colder and freeze it, I think that is more likely than sun.

Road biking hasn't been that great recently either!
[IMG] [/IMG]

Cooper wins!

Bored of mud plugging, i want to go fast and hit gaps, i've been waiting all winter for it.

Riding home in a foot deep of water on the pompino while leffe'd up last weekend was fun.. and today i've been out on the mountain bike in axle deep mud.

It's far more fun at this time of the year as you are not cold.

spent longer cleaning the bike than riding it.

Takes me a couple of minutes to blast mine with the hose pipe & that's it.This removes the worst of the muck from around the drivetrain wheels & bits,leaving just a slight residue on it.Then It's a blast with GT85 to get the water off the bits that need it,lube the chain & parts that move with the relevant oils.Whole task takes less than 10 minutes,admittedly my bikes never really look that clean but with this weather they're filthy again within 10 minutes again anyway....

I still get a childish pleasure from mud, splashing and the like.
My friends ride around/walk the boggy bits whereas I go straight through the middle.
I like cleaning my bike...so that helps 😀

Not too fussed by mud, but riding's definitely easier/more fun if you've got the right rubber on (ooh err)! Sadly, I didn't have for a recent XC race, which made for very heavy going. Nobby Nics definitely no good in thick clag.
[img][url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7274/7545030800_52fb6e0d2c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7274/7545030800_52fb6e0d2c.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/78747112@N04/7545030800/ ]2XC2012 Rnd 3 ![/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/78747112@N04/ ]Uncle Monk[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Wattle & daub anybody? 😆

A pair of wetscreams and an IXS Overall, happy days as they say

[IMG] [/IMG]
Here's my mud bike. Lots of mudguards,cheapo 8 speed,29er wheels and cross tyres.Slices through gloop like it's not there. Forks are 26ers plenty of mud room. I always ride the wettest line it's easiest and saves the trails. Not that the horses won't churn them up anyway.[IMG] [/IMG]

I've just bought a new pair of mud tyres for summer 🙁

I think winter was less muddy 🙁

Love it.

Highlands born and bred; Don't get far if you don't get mud.

Or peat. And sheep sheet. And sleet that's so hard and fast it's hot.

Peaty, introduction to "Seasons" sums it up nicely.

A north vs south thing, but IME the moors and and mountains of the north just do not seem to have the claggy slip tastic clay mud we have in our woods and hills down south. It more peaty and gritty up there.

Surrey hills are still fine if you choose your route carefully. I like a bit of mud but this is getting ridiculous.

Mattjg, you should look at PostieRich's SS up there^. It's a beauty

Interesting (and nice) ride Zippykona, pretty much the opposite of my snot bike. Down here the soil's sandy and there's plenty of roots so I've gone for fully rigid and big fat tyres on my Surly 1x1 which, with only ten and a half stone of me on top, float over the worst of it.

I'm lucky in that most of my rides end in my back garden so I can strip off the outer layers and chuck them in a bucket before going inside. When I've driven to a ride then a bin liner for kit and an old pair of tracky bottoms keeps the van clean.

What do you mean this one?

[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6065/6046490737_080ff40be6.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6065/6046490737_080ff40be6.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/6046490737/ ]P8153891[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

I'm so glad I assembled my SS for last winter, its been used far more than my other bikes over the last 10 months or so and cost so little it really owes me nothing...

One thing that the mud has made me curious about - 29ers. How do those clown-wheeled bikes cope with it? Do they dig in further/deeper and get stuck more quickly or cut through it better, do the wheel clearances tend to be less on them or do they shed mud more easily?

Just curious. I'm sure there must be some advantage to them somewhere 😉

Being out in it doesn't bother me too much but the endless cleaning, traipsing it all through the flat (no matter how hard I try not to), horrendous grinding noises coming from every pivot, soaked through clothes etc do.

I quite like running so it is often just easier to do that instead- back within an hour or two and no fuss.

As others have said being a mtber in the UK means being pretty well aquainted with mud but it does feel like having to deal with it for practically a full 12 months with no respite is a bit much.

Predticably I am planning on buying a road bike, as I just feel like I don't have the time to be constantly cleaning shit, it's depressing and tedious.

ononeorange - Member
One thing that the mud has made me curious about - 29ers. How do those clown-wheeled bikes cope with it?

Mine works really well in mud and any kind of soft going, dry peaty for example. At last year's Mayhem when the Plasticene Woods were just sticky rather than runny some guy I passed called out to me "everyone who's passed me through here is on a 29er".

Cheez, Rich it is. Rich do you know the geometry? I was maybe looking for something smaller. That's lovely tho.

Cleaning doesn't take long if you have a hose and a place to use it. But for people living in a flat with no garage, cleaning and storing a muddy bike must be an enormous PITA.

For me the only thing I don't like about it is that it gets in the drivetrain and crunches around which sounds and feels horrible. Saying that I had a pretty muddy ride at Woburn yesterday and it was awesome! Just the right level of dampness for there I reckon, probably the fastest I've ridden some of the trails as I wasn't too scared of wiping out in the usual summer dust/beach. Could feel the tyres starting to lose a bit of grip in some corners and it was so fun. Put the bike straight back in the shed so I think it's going to be crunchy and gritty for a while now the mud has set!

I don't mind a thin layer of it over a firm base but can't stand thick sticky boggy stuff that stops your wheels turning and gears working.
I live in a flat with no hose access, but I always do a quick jetwash at the local service station before bringing the bike in the apartment.
I'm an Aussie living in Britain ATM and its very much frowned upon to ride in the mud at home, so Ive never been very good at riding the stuff and don't find it much fun either TBH.

As for 29ers I've noticed that the larger wheels gather much more mud than 26ers and become very heavy. I think they are not so good in the stuff personally. I have been running pretty wide tyres though (2.5/2.4 Bonti's) but what I saw at the 24/12 was that most 29ers were running thin aggressive tyres. This may be the secret.

Mud...I loves it me.. 😉

I have this 2 wheel unimog to keep me rolling when things are grim outside

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Only thing that irritates me is getting my gear dry between rides