I don’t know what it is, but I came back from an afternoon outing in the slimy hills North of Cardiff, figuring I need to replace my tyres for winter.

Believe it or not, I have been riding on the tyres that came on the bike for years (see picture, below), and they have been exceptional – even if people have told me that I could be doing better. I have always believed them, but pushed on anyway.

In any case, today I found it nigh near impossible to stay upright. There was no way in hell I was able to go downhill with any speed, and hardly any way of making it up again. I felt like I was riding on an ice rink.

So, not being a bike tyre guy, and not really knowing how much is tyre and how much one just has to expect from the conditions, would you say my difficulties today were down to tyres, or the slimy surface?

Is there a tyre that does well on very slippery mud and roots?

What I have right now are Bontrager XDX (26″ x 2.1″) front and back:

Is there a tyre that does well on very slippery mud and roots?

😆

High roller 2’s with the 60a compound from new on this bike. Rear is definitely ready for a change. They’ve been brilliant. Others may well be better but I have better things to spend my dollar on such as beer.

For me the minion out does the hr2, but looking at the op’s rubber it’s way more than they have already. My go to for faster rolling lighter is the ardent. As for mud and roots it’s technique most of the time.

It’s been very dry lately and then the rain this morning just creates a thin layer of very slippy mud on top and riding on that is more difficult than full on mud. Defo the conditions rather than your tyres today.

@tomhoward: I know it sounds naive, but I am serious in asking the question.

If I compare tyres to ice skates, there is a huge difference between a dull and a sharp blade. Ice will always be slippery, but a properly sharpened blade is going to make all the difference over an overused, dull one.

I’ve never really paid attention to tyres and – while I know there are tread patterns that clear mud better than others, and compounds that stick better than others – I am wondering if there is a good tyre that genuinely handles the slop better than others.

Slop depends on the Slop and where it isis, if it’s deep then proper mud tyres work but they are a pain on rocks and roots, if it’s a film of mud as described above then no chance really.

Magic Mary vertstar or even trailstar, probably as good as it gets up front, better than a shorty on roots, tho maybe not quite as good in sloppy stuff

You’ll get more grip by running a wider tyre at lower pressure.

If your rims are tubeless ready, you can get tubeless or UST tyres and run them at about 25psi when it’s really slippy. A lot of new bikes come with light and fast tyres, but they’re not always good in proper muddy offroad conditions. I personally wouldn’t run something like those XDXs. Even my cyclocross bike has more grip than those ! but then I’m not the most confident of riders !

There are many tyres out there with more grip than your XDXs, but they’ll probably have more rolling resistance….examples of good grippy tyres are:

Schwalbe Hans Dampf (Verstar on Front, Trailstar on back)
Continental Mountain King II
Hutchinson Toro
Specialised Purgatory, Butcher or Ground Control

the list goes on…….

Racing Ralph for wet roots

I ride that area regularly and you need a tread that can pierce the top layer of slime after any rain. Trail Kings and XR4’s work well for me whereas HRII’s just floated over the slime. Guessing the ramped tread on the HRII’s stopped it digging into the soil below. After a lot of rain you really need mud tyres IMO, my new Shorty worked well on Friday round Castell Coch.

I’ve been mega impressed with Vee tyres Fluid and Flow in dual compound.
Was on WTB Vigilante, which I like very much but the Vee seem to stick to wet roots and chalk down here on the South Downs, so much more grip I’m amazed.
Went up tubeless really easily too. Will definately buy again when these wear out.

First things first:
Bontrager and Specialized make some of the very best tyres around. It’s very rare they turn out a dud. It’s just that people can’t believe an OEM tyre from a bike brand can be any good, so they swap them without thinking.
That said, the XDX is a dry conditions tyre and a fairly racy one at that….! If you’ve used it a lot it’ll be worn too, so I wouldn’t be expecting much of it at all in ‘slimy’ conditions!
Try a Bontrager Mud X or whatever they’re called now. That’s the best wet/damp/all round tyre I’ve ever used.

I used to use trailrakers in Cardiff. But they aren’t approved for tubeless, so I’m on either spesh butcher or ignitors tubeless. Not the best, but adequate . tubeless really helps.

I agree with Poddy’s suggestion. But run tubeless .

I know those trails well…

We were riding in the Wye valley yesterday and conditions were very similar. It’s that super greasy surface you get after a long dry spell followed by rain. Don’t worry it doesn’t last long – soon turns to deeper winter slop which is easier to ride. Then again you should relish the difficulty, it’s a chance to develop your skills 🙂

As to tyres I found a maxxis beaver (in 29er size) was an excellent winter tyre around Cardiff. Good on mud, doesn’t suck on everything else. I’ve never tried a proper mud tyre, it might be better in the grease but then would be worse for most winter conditions.

+1 for wider tyre, lower pressure for wet roots (in a softer compound if possible – it doesn’t sound like you’ll wear them out too quick regardless of compound).

And believe they’ll grip.

I’ve got some Bontrager mud xr’s on at the moment James, they cope with the N.Cardiff slime as well as anything. I’m running them tubeless at about 25psi. If you’ve got Bontrager wheels you can get the right tubless kit which takes a lot of the faff out.

I’m starting to arrive at the conclusion that a fresh new tyre with nice defined edges to the knobbles makes more of a difference than the pattern of the knobbles.
That said, I usually look for a tyre with a defined rail of knobbles to corner on then chose a pattern with either a close spread on the rolling surface for hard conditions or a wider spread for loose or muddy conditions.
Tyre width and low pressures make the biggest difference in the end though.
I use Bontrager tyres extensively.

A square edge tyre like you describe is god if you can throw it into the grip section, then it breaks out of it if you go too far, much prefer a rounded profile for a more progressive approach to lean and why I hate HR & Minion as a combo as the 2 behave so differently.

26″ x 2.1″

That’s where you’re going wrong. 27.5+ and 3″ will make the trails feel dry.

Seriously, those tyres look like they’d be terrifying in the dry, let alone the wet. The compound will wear down over time, so will get down to the base compound which is usually much harder than the top.

Those nobbles wont penetrate mud, and will block as the spacing is quite tight.

Something with a bigger nobble and wider spacing will cut through the mud and clear well.

Going from those tyres to anything proper will feel sluggish in comparison – so you’ll need to adjust and not just give up. I think most of my tyres are around 900g.

For mud on the front, a Maxxis Shorty or a Schwalbe Magic Mary will be ideal. They’ll be perfect for something like Machen, if you’re not riding steep trails, then you’re best off with less of a spike and something like a Minion DHF would be fine.

In my local spot I’ve found a old school narrow higher pressure (around 40psi) and softer wider lower pressure rear works best. The front cuts through the mud and helps keep you upright. When you get to roots it is all about getting the front over them, if that works the rear is no problem. Most of my rooty sections have lines that can be either be jumped or traversed with some careful front wheel unweighting.

I use medusa on the front and bonty mud x on the rear.

Not fashionable at the moment but it works for me

Mud X.

Michelin Wildn’Gripr is an excellent soft conditions tyre, but a bit more flexible than a full on mud-spike. You could use autumn and spring as well as winter.

Haven’t tried on rock, so can’t comment, but rolls and clears well in the mud.

Swampthings or Trailrakers or Mud X all good in the shittyslimyslidey stuff.

**** that. I’d be looking at a shorty.

I use Trail Kings in the hardtail all year round or a Magic Mary and Hans Dampf on the full suss.

None of these are exceptional in the wet / mud but cope well and don’t try and kill me on stuff like rocks and roots. I’m pretty lazy so like tyres that cover a range of conditions.

I’m not a fan of the HR / Minion combo either – I like both tyres though (well the Minion front, hate the rear). A pair of Minion fronts worked pretty well last winter on my hardtail.

wrecker – Member

**** that. I’d be looking at a shorty.

This. Awesome tyre for the slop, way better than the butcher and purg that it replaced.

ballsofcottonwool – Member

Racing Ralph for wet roots
That was a joke, right?