So the thing is basically that grippy 2.8s are also pretty draggy. And if you want them to grip in mud, even more so because 2.8s are naturally floaty. Like, even a fairly low-grip combo like a 2.8 nobby nic/racing ralph is pretty much as draggy as a pair of minion 2.4s. That’s obviously not a fair comparison, the big tyres bring something really different and interesting to the table and I really enjoyed that despite the inevitable drawbacks, but you’ve got to be realistic about it. Grippy front, slippy back can work pretty well.
And also I think there’s a bit of market-led stuff here that the average 2.8 tyred bike probably doesn’t get ridden very hard, so the tyres naturally bias towards more speed/less grip, and lower weight. (which was a killer for me for most tyres, I kept having to run them too hard to keep the air in and to make them corner and that just took away so much of the actual benefit of 2.8. I’d always choose a 2.4 over a lightweight 2.8 that had to be pumped up hard, always. But there are good options out there even if you’re like me and demanded that they basically could be used for my normal riding and not just kill me at the golfy.
(if you want a laugh, get a 2.8 wild enduro in the heaviest, stickiest version. Rolls like a paving slab, just astonishingly slow. But it magically found grip places that I’ve never had grip, with the combination of spikes and softness and the big footprint, and the sidewall’s stiff enough to allow for pretty low pressures. Most of the time it was just really hard work, but just occasionally it was like voodoo, and in particular that was always on stuff that normal sane 2.8s are awful at)
