UKC

I am looking for some tyre recommendations for myslef. I ride a 5 inch travel Trek, at the moment I have a pair of High Rollers which I like for the dry and a pair of Specialised Chunder, I love in the dry and when its a bit wet but when it comes to mud they could be better.
I want some thing very grippy and good for typical British riding i.e. mud, roots, rocks & some dry stuff. This is for winter so someting that favours the wet would be best I think

Anyone got any suggestions what I should try?

Different tyres come and go, some become 'flavour of the moment', others have nerds arguing that theirs is better in 'semi liquid mud' or on pine tree roots but not so much for beech trees, etc.

But the Panaracer Fire XC has stayed around because loads of people find it a really good tyre for all sorts of terrain, both summer and winter.

In reply to prycey: I ride high rollers in the summer and a pair of panaracer trail rakers in the winter. The trail raker is probably the gripiest xc mud tyre there is but it is a bit narrow.

In reply to prycey:
Wet screams are awesome for DH in the mud makes your bike ride like its on rails but would never think about goining on a xc ride with them on. Have a look at Maxxis swampthings they are not quite as aggressive and quite a popular winter tyre choice. i ususally find a new set of high rollers perform pretty well in wet conditions

In reply to prycey:

I use Panaracer Fire XC Pro for everything, apart from summer racing.

In reply to LastBoyScout: I would like something bigger volume than the fire as I ride some quite rocky stuff and a little downhill

In reply to prycey:
Everyone will have a different favourite due partly to their style of riding and their setup.

I'm running Schwalbe Nobby Nics tubeless right now on my XC bike and they seem pretty good. What people say about the sidewalls being delicate is true. When these wear out I'll get some of the snakeskin version as I've had to patch my rear tyre.

If you aren't already, the best thing you can do for grip is to go tubeless and drop pressure to about 30psi.

In reply to G Graham:

You don't have to go tubeless, with all the faff that entails. I used to run around 30psi(*) if the terrain wasn't too rocky and didn't get punctures too often. If you want low pressures on rocky ground you can always buy dh tubes - heavier but much more puncture resistant - I've heard of people running them right down to 10psi!

(*)on what tyres, you ask? Reluctant to say as I don't want to pollute this thread with my insufficiently informed opinion on which tyres you want. But for the record it was a continental gravity pro; nice light grippy tyre towards the heavy end of the cross country / middle of the trail spectrum. I have since replaced the front one with an intense dh tyre which was lying around; very nice.

In reply to prycey:

Panaracer Fire FR 2.4

They are massive and heavy, but hauling them uphill is definitely worth it for the massive amount of grip on the way down. At least it is if you ride like a nutcase. They don't always fit in every frame though.

In reply to Stone Muppet:

If you ride aggressively, 30psi and tubes will mean a pinch flat or two every ride on rocky terrain. Tubeless is easy and a lot less faff than fixing pinch flats by head torch in the rain.
I honestly don't understand why anyone rides with tubes now with Stans on the market.

It seems people are more concerned with tapered headsets, thru axles and chain devices than doing things that will really improve the performance of their bike.

In reply to G Graham: Yes, I meant for riding in woods/tree roots - I pump them up more for rocks. Do you mean with downhill tubes though or was that xc? I have to admit I've never tried tubeless, just heard a lot of bad things about it.

I'd quite like to get a thru axle actually, I notice my wheel/fork flex a bit unless I do up the qr ridiculously tight, and I do think that affects the handling Agree with you that good tyres at the right pressure are crucial though!

In reply to Stone Muppet: I'm a bit jaded as I ride in the lakes mostly and the terrain there is very hard on tyres and tubes. I had a tubeless set up years ago before Stans came out and had to pump the UST tyres (Hutchinson) up every morning. Eventually switched back to tubes. Then Stans came out and it made all the difference. Check the NoTubes website for rim compatibility and give it a try. The kit's stupidly expensive but it is possible to do a DIY job and then use the Stans jizz.

I must admit that I've not ridden a fully pimped AM bike with thru axle and the like (other than a quick bash with mates various bikes) as both my bikes (XC and AM) have QR wheels.

In reply to G Graham:

Sucks to be you Yeah, generally more rocks there than in South Wales! I'll check it out then. How does the weight of tubeless compare to tubes (either xc or dh)?

In reply to G Graham: maybe is because I weigh only 10.5 stone but I run 30 psi regularly over rocky ground and I have not had a pinch flat with either of my present tyres

In reply to Stone Muppet:

Lakes, yeah its great when its not pi$$ing down.

Weight wise, slightly lighter if you don't run UST tyres. You don't really need them. To be honest though the weight isn't the big bonus.

The one downside is that you still need to carry a tube because if you do get a sliced tyre, then you're going to have to put a tube in to get home. The Stans will plug most small holes (thorns etc)so punctures are rare.

The other poster mentioned he's only 10.5 stone (I wish!) which undoubtedly makes a difference as he seems to be able to run a low pressure tube setup. It doesn't work for me.

Back to the tyre debate, I wonder what Danny Hart uses?

In reply to G Graham:

I often ride with less than 30psi and never get pinch flats, I've even gone as low as 15 without any problems.

Admittedly I use 2 ply freeride tyres, and I've only gone down to 15psi using 4ply tyres with dh tubes

In reply to G Graham:

http://www.declinemagazine.com/content.php?itemid=6376

Looked a bit sketchy on them, mind...

In reply to MHutch:
yup, that's what I thought. That ride was all down to Schwalbe special tyres. Nothing at all to do with balls the size of watermelons.

In reply to MHutch: Sketchy maybe but did you see him even put a foot out except for the near fall? Superb

In reply to prycey:

Made my day, especially with the commentary. If BBC Sports Personality has any sense, they'll play the whole thing unedited. Bloody impressive and hilarious at the same time.

In reply to prycey:
I'm a fan of maxxis ignitors, very predictable. Maybe slightly more a dry 3 season tyre than a proper winter one.
Let us know what you pick.

In reply to Fish:
Running the LUST 2.35 version tubeless by the way

In reply to prycey:

Currently I'm professionally scrimping and so dug out my old panaracer smoke rear and dart front. Just as good as I remembered them to be. No complaints and even better in mud.

In reply to prycey:
I'm using an intense edge on the front and a panaracer rampage on the back.
Lots of grip on the front and just enough on the back (allows a bit of sideways when you want it)

In reply to Fish: I think I am going to try a pair of soft Maxxis Swampthings for starter. I have never really use full mud tyres like this and the wood near me are already getting wet and slippy. Cheers for all the comments and advice