Looking for a rear tyre for the current slop, to go on my HT.

Went with a cheap Spesh Ground Control previously, but it lacked bite. Used to use Maxxis Beaver 2.25 but they don’t seem to supply that size anymore. So looking for some in the 2.2.-2.3 tyre size, which I am aware is not your classic mud tyre size, but I want some cushioning as not all my riding is in the mud.

Spesh Purgatory looking like an option, anything else to consider?

DHR2 in 2.4 does it for me round here.

Maxxis Forekaster is marketed towards the loose/wet end of the spectrum, available in 2.2 and 2.35.

I’ve got some Forekaster 2.35’s and I’m impressed with them. In thick deep mud they are a bit slidy as they float about a bit. Compared to Beaver 2.0 they aren’t as good in the mud but have plenty of volume for a hardtail.

How about some Fat Alberts-Schwalbes 2.35 high volume soft condition tyres,I had fun on mine over the last 2 winters.I actually run a front version on the rear,bit draggy  but the grip and suppleness of the trailstar compound work well for me where it counts.

Fat Alberts

Maxxis shorty all the way

Conti baron projek  baron good in the slip and still grips roots and rocks

Changed from the very effective, but low volume MudX some years ago to Spesh Storm Controls. These have been very good.

DHR2 for me as well, but it depends on your mud, I never really feel the urge for a full mud tyre on the back. If you’re slogging through endless swamps then a Storm or something would be grand.

Forekaster mentioned up the page is Maxxis’s take on the Nobby Nic, ie, pants.

Purg and Butcher here – cheap and effective enough for plugging about the gloop.

Had Storm Controls and they were good, but actually a step too good for me – I tend to avoid the worst routes locally over winter, and the dragginess everywhere else got me down after a while. Good option if you’re unlikely to be picky about routes though.

Specialized Hillbilly

Hillbilly grid 2:3. Old model available for under £30.00. I got one for front wheel 29er duties after careful research of the options and a storm control 2.0 for the rear. The hillbilly has a tough tubeless ready casing and is superb as front tyre in mud but also works well in drier trail conditions too. Review consensus was generally good all rounder for a mud tread and  surprising  lack of drag for what it is. The storm control on the other hand has a really thin casing in comparison (“2bliss”  but not grid) and the tread is well spaced but shallow……slipped on wet roots and rocks where my aggressor and DHR II  have no problems. I wouldn’t trust it anywhere rocky and it has to be run at higher psi because of narrowness so feels harsh. I’m ditching it for another hillbilly for when i next have to ride really muddy natural trails.

Spec Storms controls are excellent, and comparatively cheap.

and only come in 2.0 size…. Liking the sound of the Hillbilly, cheers,

Hillbilly is a fantastic front tyre for the mud, but the thought of actually having to pedal anywhere with two doesn’t sound like fun to me- it’s a much, much more heavy duty tyre than the storm control or the beaver. Unless you’re exclusively up and down very steep and slippery trails I’d have to say I think it’s overkill for the rear.

OP- I had a ground control, also couldn’t get a beaver in anything other than skinny and ended up using a purg. Provides a useful bit more bite than a ground control, handles itself fine in other circumstances and tends to slide gracefully when it does go.

Baron or Shorty.

I have 2 new der baron projekts here that I don’t think I’ll use if anyone is looking.

IMO the best 29er mud/winter tyre there is but I seem to have bought too many as they are lasting a lot longer than I expected!

“The storm control on the other hand has a really thin casing in comparison (“2bliss” but not grid) and the tread is well spaced but shallow……slipped on wet roots and rocks where my aggressor and DHR II have no problems. I wouldn’t trust it anywhere rocky and it has to be run at higher psi because of narrowness so feels harsh.”

That’s just the difference between XC mud tyres and more full on muds. It’s a fitness for purpose thing, the Hillbilly is ace but I wouldn’t want to ride 50 miles with one on the back. The storm isn’t for riding hard stuff, it’s for making progress in shitty mud.Basically very different jobs and neither does the other’s job at all well.

For me, an XC mud tyre is pointless, because the riding they’re good for is imo rubbish, and I can avoid it and ride somewhere else. But not everyone would agree, or have the option of avoiding that sort of riding.

Michelin Wild Mud.   Bloody awesome mud tyre.  I’ve got the Enduro casing version and so far they’ve survived 3 South Downs winters (probably be the last for the rear).  Can be run as low as 18 psi and the sidewalls have survived well against sussex flint, only had a few punctures that have needed anchovies and one of those was a piece of fence wire.

z1ppy.

I’m really not sure that you’d want to try pedlin a Hillbilly or Shorty on the rear.

It’d also be a bit overkill on our trails.

Chiming in with an ‘I  have’…

i have a pair of the Michelin Wild Muds. Factory standard for the front and the rear clipped to make it a bit less draggy (photos shoe how the pattern has a shoulder to make clipping easy and consistent.

yeah after the initial enthusiasm for the HillBilly i thought it looked a bit overkill.. not a huge amount of consistency with the options suggested, so it may just be pot luck/what’s cheap decision…

I’m running the new Gripton Hillbilly on the front and a Gripton Butcher on the rear. Both in the 2.3 size.

30mm internal width rims and running about 21/22 psi in the front and 24psi in the rear. I weigh about 83kg kitted up

Grip is good in the slop and the Hillbilly is less sketchy on rocks/roots than say a Maxxis Shorty. I don’t really notice any extra rolling resistance either – although I was running 2.6 E13 tyres before!

I’m not sure if the new Grid carcass is a little less burley than the previous version – seemed to hit the rim a few times on the first ride out when riding rocky/rooty stuff, I did set my pressure using the squeeze method though!

I’ll probably swap the Butcher to the front for “summer” and put a Slaughter on the rear.