The gloopy winter is here and i’ve ended up in too many hedges already, not much I can do about my abilities or the weather so time to reconsider my tyre choices. I run a Baron non black chili on the back which i’m quite happy with (especially for little more than a tenner), and an on one chunky monkey trail extreme dual compound on the front which is great on wet rock and roots but seems to clag up ad wash out too easily in claggy mud i’ve found. I’ve considered either a baron with the softer black chili or a hans dampf, any advice? Minions look like they have some bite too. I genrally just get and try them out but they are both 50 quid tyres so a pointer in the right direction would be much appreciated!

Surly Nate

looks grippy but might rub a bit on my rs revelations! 😐

anyone use wetscreams?

Black chili bargain is bloody expensive, and annoyingly look to be fairly shortlived (the sidewalls on mine are fraying even though they don’t get that much use). But they are absolutely brilliant. Like a swampthing without all the things that made swampthings shit.

Minion is supposed to be a dry tyre, it can work really well in sloppy mud but very cloggy in sticky stuff. The supertacky works well on wet rocks etc.

(Specialized’s Butcher is basically a better Minion, clears far better so works in most mud… But, it’s not the softest of rubber so it’s not as good at wet rocks etc compared to a supertacky. Kind of sits inbetween the maxxpro and supertacky maxxi. The 2.3’s a real 2.3, which means it’s the size of a 2.5 Minion, but it weighs far less- less tough as well mind)

Wetscream is a very specialised tool, if nothing else they make a mess of trails (maxxis recommend it for maintained trails only). Lots of people don’t like how they ride on hard stuff, hence lots of cutting down etc. Probably not a good call, I wouldn’t.

I have put beavers front and back on my hardtail and was initially dismayed by how skinny they were and thought I would surely die.

But after a recent trip to a long abandoned sand quarry I am now very happy.
Steep and very muddy, rooty terrain covered in wet leaves and some moss to boot.
The bike handled great and tyres cleared perfectly.

It was only once I got of the bike to have a mooch around on foot did I realise exactly how slippy it was, struggling to stay on my feet on anything but level ground.

So as they were only £15 each from CRC I ordered another set to put by.

Oops, baron not bargain! They are anything but.

Was looking at a Specialized Hillbilly in a shop the other day, looks interesting.

Waiting for the 2.35 tubeless Muddy Mary Trailstar myself.

Baron front and rubber queen rear both black chili works for me 😀

Hillbilly is clever, just a purpose-built cut spike basically. I’ve used mine on a big trail bike with a fair bit of success but they’re obviously very heavy, and pretty slow. Grip is excellent on anything they can get their spikes into, OK on harder stuff but it’s the sort of tyre you fit for the need rather than just leaving on.