A couple of years back, misty vision kicking in, I moved from Maxxis to Vittoria tyres and never regretted it. Being a bit of a marathon / XC type rider more than anything else I survived on the staple Mezcal and Barzo for a couple of years, and alternated through a wide range of winter options from Magic Mary's, Dissector, Forecaster etc and never got it quite right.
This year I decided I'd go all in and bought two pairs of Vittoria, one pair of Mazza and one pair of Mota having done all the paper research I suspected the Mazzas would do me, the spec on the website was almost identical but I got such a good deal on the Mota (and they word mud was mentioned with them a lot and I live south Hampshire so we have that in spades (wet mud, sticking mud, wattle and daub you name it)) that I could always sell them on if I never needed them.
Both of them are chunky jobs so I put the Mazzas on first, very happy boy, good grip, rolled nicely, happy James.
My frame has massive clearance so all good, however, then the weather started to shift, little mud / wet mud = no worries but then the sticky mud! I had a field crossing and 100 metres later bike jammed solid and a carry for 100 metres = grumpy James - cleaning down with a stick to get the wheels to move, gloves caked etcetera.
Excuse my language, thinks bugger this, when I get home put the Motas on, thinking it is probably overkill but I guess I can always sell them lightly used - oh how wrong I was!
Literally on the Vittoria website there is near as bugger all difference, but when you ride them they are night and day, the Mota's clear so well, they don't get clogged and for me have been awesome mud tyres and all because I got a deal but lesson learned - small changes that might not be obvious made a huge difference.
Big up the Mota 🙂
James
£20 from Banana too? I've stocked up with Contis, so won't be making a purchase, but sounds like a bargain if looking for tyres.
Yep for sure, they clear mud so well! Yes you can get a big splattered but I'll trade that for progress anytime.
You say XC/Marathon but Vittoria say those are enduro/downhill tyres? And a pair of them would double the weight of my SS (Possibly a slight exaggeration).
I understand what you are saying @onewheelgood as they are not as light as the XC tyres, but my logic was if they don't hold a ton of mud (and the Mota don't) then the small weight penalty is more than offset with the tyres.
I must have removed about 4 to 6kg of mud when I ran the Mazzas and jammed it solid, since the Motas gone on no issue at all.
James
i literally exploded about these in the PSA thread
went on my Ebike to replace the standard Tacky Chans and so far they have handled all the conditions i can throw at them, including riding with none ebikes down fast hard pack trails. So bloody good that I'm struggling not to stock up on them 😀
Like all tyres I think it terrain dependent. The Vittoria compound is fine on muddy woodsy trails, show them any rocks, any they're slidey as a turd on porcelain. Ask me how I know.
Always wanted to try the Mota so I've used the PSA for the race enduro version. Hoping for performance somewhere between an MM and a Hillbilly.
race front, standard rear i went for... the Race is so stupid soft all the way across the tread
Another one who moved away from the default to Vittoria. What a revelation. I dont know what they put in them to make the 4C compound, it could be voodoo for all I know, but they seem be able to grip really well without sacrificing rolling resistance. Good to hear about the Moto as I havent tried one of them yet, I normally use Mazza’s on the big bike and Argotol on the trail bike.
I had a Mazza on the front of my Rise over spring and summer. Had a Butcher T9 on the front of my HT.
There wasn't much between them tread wise but the Mazza felt less sticky than the Butcher. Mazza was fine in the Peak and Wales. It was wet stuff in the woods where I'd have given the Butcher the edge.
Neither of them worked particularly well in proper mud so swapped to a Hillbilly on the front of both bikes.
I'm guessing the Mota is to the Hillbilly as the Mazza is to the Butcher.
At least I hope so because I'm expecting a delivery of Motas. I'm going to try running one of the back and see whether it still feels like the North Downs are trying to kill me.
Tried an Argotal Trail on the back which is another very similar looking tyre (to the Mota/Hillbilly). Great in loose stuff, awful on roots, plain dangerous on the road.
to come back to this thread, Swapped the front back to Tacky Chan due to the better conditions, however the rear is hideous now in the drier harder conditions, including almost giving me a highside down a chalky turn.. these aren't the tyres for rock as mentioned above