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Advice needed on best mud tyres for thick gloopy brown stuff.
Thanks.
If its mud and only mud you are riding in then Panaracer Trailrakers a very good, if it is a mixture of mud, rocks, roots fire roads etc then Bontrager Mud Xs are the ones to get.
haha, depends on your local mud i think. you will hear lots of different opinions, i would go with those closest to where you actually ride. For example trailrakers clog up and are pretty hopeless round my neck of the woods but fabulous grip elsewhere and lots of folk on here really rate them. Probably the same for several other popular mud tyres too.
Had/have some panaracer mud 1.8" there very good and seem to have endless amounts of grip.
Now got some conti 1.5" mud XC tyres, yet to have a ride on them, but they look the muts nuts!
I have used a set of conti edges in (??)1.9 size. Well impressed with them. Did OK at SITS last year and very good in the peaty glop we get here
I like these, gone up in price a bit as they have stopped making this size I believe..
I use Bontrager Mud X - UST cant fault them, I seem to get up the hills when all around are sliding backwards or walking 🙂
I rekon for riding mud nothing is better than a mud tyre, and any make will be good, find your budget and find the size your after, for XC stuff I wouldnt go over 2.1 and if you plan on a bit of racing the skinnier ones will probably go a bit faster...
I can recommend Maxxis Medusa. Used them through this winter with good results.
Where are you?
Trailrakers for me and South Wales non-sticky semi-clay, also sterling performance at SITS/Mayhem. Handy for general stuff too as we get rocks and tarmac too.
But specific mud tyres are the single best £40 you can ever spend on your bike if you dont' have them. And swapping the tyres over twice a year is the best 15 minutes you can spend too.
Bonty Mud X
without a shadow of a doubt IMHO
Conti Edge seem to work in gloopy stuff, but if you ride in an area where there is a bit of a mix, i find that aren't much cop on firmer ground/roots.
Running them at a fairly low pressure works best in mixed conditions I have found as they seem to find more traction in the drier bits and don't seem to ping off roots quite as much. An absolute bugger to get on and off my rims though - same as the Conti Speed Kings I have.
"panaracer mud 1.8" there very good and seem to have endless amounts of grip."
Except on roots and limestone, where they have almost none! (but what does other than a larger volume tyre at lower psi?)
Slicks shed mud pretty well - only for expert riders though, so if you're no good get some with spikey open tread.
I always go for a grippier tyre at the front than at the back in mud as I don't mind the back sliding too much but I hate loosing the front end.
Strangely I find my skiny small block 8 is actually quite good on the back -it slides, but it's predictable and it clears quickly. Wouldn't use it on the front though - it'd kill me.
I'm going to get flamed for suggesting you can use the small block 8, amn't I.
buzz-lightyear - Member
"panaracer mud 1.8" there very good and seem to have endless amounts of grip."Except on roots and limestone, where they have almost none! (but what does other than a larger volume tyre at lower psi?)
Never ridden on limestone with them, just go around sherwood pines etc or the local bits around there with them.
Bonty Mud X for me. 2.0 on the front and 1.8 on the back. Southern Berkshire mud round here. Good control on the front and the 1.8 at the back digs in deep, sometimes right through to find some grippy stuff underneath. Pretty good on tree roots and rocks too - bonus.
For sticky stuff it's all about 1.5" Black Shark Muds, but not if you have ANY rocks/roots/roads etc.
For more sloppy stuff, the Mud-X is fantastic.
Believe the hype, for once the mag reviews are right. Mud X all the way. Got the 2.0 on the back just wish they did a 2.2 for the front.
Swampthing baby. Yeah!
I have just put a pair of hardly used Specialized Storm Control tyres on the classifieds, ridden 3 times, seemed to do well even in the Cotswold gloop. Got a good write up in the WMB winter tyre review
Trailraker for me, 2.1 and it comes up narrow anyway. Works very well on the rear, lets me plough through all sorts without losing drive. No problems with clogging in East Lancs / Calderdale.
Conti XC 1.5" for me too. Scary fast through gloop.
when it gets bad i use same as keva and also live darn sarf
mudx 2.0 f & 1.8 r
Schwalbe Mud Shark 1.5" at the back and a Maxxis Medusa 1.8" at the front for when it's claggy. Trailrakers for when it's more liquid.
swampthing 2.5 ST on the front, not tried a mud tyre rear yet.
very grippy in wet conditions, not bad in dryish conditions. faster rolling than a minion 2.5 ST
2" Bonty Mud X's front and rear for tyres that work well in pretty much any muddy conditions (though the heaviest of clay muds will stick to ANY tyre and cause it to clog up, trust me!). They also work well when the conditions are a bit firmer too, something which the Panaracer Trailrakers (though exceptional in mud) don't!
Or 2.2" Bonty ACX's if you just want a good "all conditions" tyre that happens to work well in mud too. I've got the 2.35" (quite a bit bigger than the 2.2) on my Full sus bike, and they're bloody grippy in the slippy stuff despite not being a "proper" mud tyre.
wet scream for pure mud on mud.
swamp thing or bonty mud x for top layer of mud over firm.
or wet scream for wet stuff and others for drying out stuff.
Another vote for Mud X seem good in most conditions.
However since I pinch flatted them for the second time I've run Maxxis advantage and they hold up well too.
conti survivals. trrrrrractor tyres;-)