Had a sloppy ride on my XC bike monday night and the complete lack of grip from the spesh ground controls i have on at present was an eye opener for the impending pennine winter grimness
So what 29″ tyres should i get to run over winter?
Wishlist
Good grip on slimmy rock
Not too bad in mud (i don’t mind a bit of squirming)
Not too bad rolling resistance
Tubeless
A bit of puncture protection
Preferably 2.3″

I like Maxxis dhr2 in 2.3” size – dual compound rubber / exo sidewall on the rear. Rolls pretty fast for a tyre with so much grip.

I can’t comment on a quick running front tyre equivalent as I run a 2.5 wt DHF 3c exo – that’s not fast rolling but it’s pretty grippy as an all rounder. I make it even less quick rolling in the winter when I swap it for a Magic Mary on one bike and a hillbilly on the other!

I have bought a 2.6” Maxxis Forecaster to try out on my new hardtail – thinking the extra volume along with a new steel frame might be a bit more forgiving on my lower back than a 2.3” tyre on an alloy frame. It feels a thinner casing when I unpacked it but I haven’t ridden it yet as waiting on the frame.

I run Forekaster 2.35’s front and rear on the Soul and they’re not bad, the rear is looking tired though so thinking I’ll go with a Dissector up front and throw another Forekaster on the rear, heard good things about DHR II front/Forekaster rear and the Dissector is little faster. Dissector/Rekon seems a popular combo on some bikes like the new Transition Spur and Revel Ranger too, though not sure how the Rekon would fair in deeper mud, likely fine on the rocks though in 3C compound

I used a 2.3 Hillbilly last winter on the front of the hardtail. The newer version feels less of a drag while the old one was saved for the big bike.

Depends on your mud if you’d benefit from it over a toothy all rounder though I suspect

Second the forekaster. I run that in 2.35 on the front and an ardent race on the rear (more of a summer tyre so deffo not what you’re after). Light weight combo.

DHR2 upfront and Ardent rear – can get them in 2.35 and 2.25 respectively.

Assume you’re limiting width due to narrow rims or XC bike clearance issues?

Ardent Race in winter is a death trap! I had one with a DHF up front one summer and was too lazy to change it, I had a huge moment going down a fire road at Llandegla one night in the dark. A mate was right behind me and I moved slightly off line towards the side of the trail so I could see a little better (his lights drowned mine out, all I could see was my shadow), hit a patch of mud and the back end just went completely, to this day how I saved it is still a mystery and the thing group legend! Neither me, the lad behind me or the others a bit further back have any idea how we didn’t end up having a massive crash!

Keeping eye on this as I want to make my XC bike a bit more trail confident this winter with the lack of cx racing..

I’m really enjoying a pair of vittoria Gomas in 2.4″. Got them cheap from planetx and I think they still have some. I’ve been really surprised by how close they are speed-wise to the barzo/mezcal combo they replaced with much more confidence (esp over the mezcal).

Saving for my new build

Watching with interest also.

Bonty xr4 2.4 on the front is a pretty decent winter xc tyre. Same on the rear if you need it or something faster like a barzo.

I’ve found a Ground Control on the rear, Minion DHF 2.3 Maxx Terra up front works quite well in winter without killing the rolling speed.

Also used Spesh Storm rear Maxxis Shorty front. Great for mud but noticeably draggy compared to the first combo.

Older Purgatory used to be a decent all rounder. Newer one looks looks less mud friendly but not really tried it in the wet yet. I’ve used Forekasters, decent tread spacing for mud, they seemed to rely on clever siping rather than sticky compound or big knobs.

Just launched the other week…

Will have a 2.35 Soft front and a 2.25 Speedgrip rear on my Rocky Mountain Element soon I hope, for all round winter XC use. 👍🏻

+1 on Vittoria Goma. Light, fast, grippy in the mud, go tubeless really easily and generally <£15 at Planet X

Thanks for the suggestions folks. I’ve got loads of clearance (Orbea Alma with Judy fork), rims are 23mm internal so i’d be comfortable with 2.3’s / 2.35’s
Those gomas at PX are 650b unfortunately

I’ve found a good deal on the Vittoria Barzo 4C 2.0. Anyone have any experience of these?

Barzo in the G+ or G2 compound with the TNT sidewall is excellent. But I would have thought the 2.0 would be too narrow. 2.25 or 2.35 instead?

Edit – ah the 2.0 is the G2.0. Ie 2nd gen graphene. Yeah I have one. Very good – ideal xc tyre in a 2.25. Go 2.35 for dc then.

Third vote for the forekaster. I had them on the front in place of an XR3 last winter and was surprised by the grip and the small rolling resistance penalty.

I am usually a skinny xc tyre fan in the winter usually but like you I need a bit more confidence this year!
Just bought a Nobby nic,rear (speedgrip,2.25,old model not brand new spanking one!)
And a Hans Dampf front (2.35,soft).
Highly recommended by the Enduro guys for general use!
Thanks,
Max.

I really like the Vittoria range, i’ve run a Martello front / Barzo rear for the last few years, this summer i went Barzo front / Mezcal rear (all 2.35) which was much quicker, i’ll probably swap back to the Martello/Barzo when the trails deteriorate over winter. A middle ground could be Barzo front and rear.