Tyres. I want to try them all, but I know it doesn’t make any sense

Most of us will never really test the grip limits of a tyre – our relatively poor technique will generally mean that we fail to extract the maximum.

I’m sure we’ve all slid the front wheel in a corner, locked up under braking, or spun the rear on a slippery or technical climb. Yes all can be attributed to poor technique that would be avoided by a more skilled rider but all are exceeding the limit of the tyre.

Learning the limit of your tyre and riding within them is part of the fun of it. This can be entirely subconscious, or as spreadsheet nerdy as you want. You could be changing tyres weekly or run the same set for a year and replace with an identical pair.

Conditions vary massively – I did the FOD Mini Enduro yesterday and I don’t think I’ve ever ridden trails as churned up as that. It had been a very wet week so I went with a T7 Hillbilly 29×2.6 grid trail up front and a Conti Kryptotal enduro / soft 29×2.4” rear. Glad I did as anything else I own would have been a shocker I think. I caught the guy in front of me on one run – he was all over the place – Magic Mary upfront and maybe a slightly worn Magic Mary on the rear. Not a clue on casing / compound as everything was caked in mud all day.

Maybe I could have run an even more grippy rear (Argotal?) but what I had worked about as well as it could I reckon. At times you were entering corners kind of locked up the wrong way (opposite lock) and drifting round to the correct way – which was pretty fun – you could rely on the hillbilly to grip and turn mostly as it was biting through all the slop.

“you always save more time on the ups with a faster tyre than you save on the downs with a grippy one”

I’m not sure why I wrote that considering yesterday my rear tyre wasn’t bad downhill but was struggling to find the traction uphill in the muddiest bits! That’s why I’m thinking I’ll have to swap it to something with taller and less ramped tread (Eliminator to Butcher) and the Butcher’s side knobs have a bit more space and the centre knobs corner better too (in those moments where the bike’s not leant enough), so I’ll have a downhill gain as well as an uphill one on the muddier days.

I’m not sure why I wrote that considering yesterday my rear tyre wasn’t bad downhill but was struggling to find the traction uphill in the muddiest bits! That’s why I’m thinking I’ll have to swap it to something with taller and less ramped tread (Eliminator to Butcher) and the Butcher’s side knobs have a bit more space and the centre knobs corner better too (in those moments where the bike’s not leant enough), so I’ll have a downhill gain as well as an uphill one on the muddier days.

You want one of those new WTB Judge things, I read somewhere – over there on the right actually – that they’re maybe ‘the perfect rear tyre for winter’, plus they’re a bargain at just 80 quid each and weigh only 1600g.

Swapped to Conti tyres this time last year, they are great from a mechanical traction point of view. But found them harsh, was running the DH casing as wanted the supersoft up front (and they only do that in a dh casing). Persevered for a while and then back to backed on maxxis. Bike felt more predictable and after so many years on maxxis, felt normal again. I’ll try them again once they come out with the arogtal and krypto in the enduro casings, as that could be the ticket. For now, its High Roller 3 front and DHR back, maybe with swapping to HR3 back and wet scream up front.

“You want one of those new WTB Judge things, I read somewhere – over there on the right actually – that they’re maybe ‘the perfect rear tyre for winter’, plus they’re a bargain at just 80 quid each and weigh only 1600g.”

Perfect for someone much quicker than me on much gnarlier trails!

DHR2 2.3 dual Exo, Butcher 2.3 T7 Grid, or DHR2 2.4 dual Exo are my already owned (and less than £40 each) choices…

Most of us will never really test the grip limits of a tyre

On any steep, greasy chute cris-crossed with roots and a couple of sharp turns thrown in for fun, even the average rider will overcome the grip of pretty much every front tyre there is. Trouble is, that ‘s precisely the point at which you need to trust it most, and it’s just a matter of when not if…

I wondered iwth my low pressure FastTraks doing better on greasy chalk than mates running DHR or nobby nic was if it’s a bit like an all season car tyre with more contact and sipes to give me more grip, whereas they are just getting contact on the top of the nobs and so just spinning out

Indeed I find compound as important as huge tread.

And I’m happy to trade some slippery fun down for more speed when I’m pedalling…ymmv