Madeira tyre choice?

Ive entered Trans Madeira September edition – can’t wait! I’ve not biked Madeira before but heard lots about the infamous conditions / mud

Ive got a fresh set of specialized hillbilly gravity soft and fresh set of maxxis assagai f / dh2 r DD maxx grip and can’t decide which to go with? WWSTWD?

Any advice greatly appreciated 🙏

Tricky one. The conditions vary hugely across the island, and each day. When I rode it I used a wild enduro front and a wild enduro racing on the rear for a bit of extra puncture protection. An Assegai and dhr would probably be a good combo if you normally get on well with them – there’s a lot of dryer loam and the mud isn’t particularly deep anywhere when it does get wetter. The most slippery surface you will encounter ‘madeira ice’ is slippery whatever tyre you run so you just have to pick a good line, stay off the brakes and hope for the best on that stuff anyway. Something not too draggy is a bonus as well, most of the trails are quite flat and the majority of the corners have very flat exits so braking early and a fast rolling combo will help carry speed.  A strong casing for the rear is worthwhile too in my experience.

Have fun, it’s an amazing week.

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I’ll be there in September too, I also had a few days riding there a couple of years ago and peanutcracknell is right, the tyre doesn’t make a difference on the Madeira ice, it’s a hardpacked slick on top clay like soil.

I’m planning to go for an Assegai DD up front and a DD DHR at the back but I’d be happy with a Magic Mary up front too.

Ideally something with grip, not too draggy and that does clear any mud should it be wet.

I’m also thinking I probably need a DH style casing at the rear but that’s mostly because I tend to look after the front end of the bike but the rear can take a beating, I’ve never met a jump I couldn’t case 😬

I’m not intending to “race” it was I really don’t think I’ll be bothering the podium at all, I just want to finish 🤞

We rode it in October and it was dry as a bone with the exception of some madeira ice…. Assegai front and a DHR II on the back would be my bet – you will ride a huge variety of terrains so take something thats a good all rounder

raced one year and have done uplifts two years. Assegai front and can’t remember rear. Either DHR or butcher. It’s not very hard on tyres to be honest, not very hard on brake pads either. You’ll probably need fresh frame/headset bearings after though. The mud/dust destroys them. 😏

Thanks all 🙏

looking forward to it