winter tyres

Thinking of going over to narrower tyres for winter, maybe cut through gloop better and clear mud easier, that might compensate for the reduction in (theoretical) cornering grip. What do people think?

[I don't mean *very* narrow, just so-called 1.95 instead of so-called 2.1]

I always used to use IRC Geo Claw (1.9 real) rear and Tioga Psycho (2.1 real) front as summer tyres, and smokelites front and rear in the goo & never had a tyre related off BITD.

Now I use IRC Notos XC's front and rear (1.8 real), all year round. The only thing they don't cope with is slippery climbs, otherwise they are okay. I have always run narrower in the winter and had no probs.

I have added 'real' next to the size as I always measure tyres across the fullest part when mounted on a rim (always narrow Mavic CD's for me).

ah, my favourite/ worst subject of conversation...

I went with the not so retro Fire XC Pro 1.8 a couple of winter's back and now use them all year round. Do revert to bigger tyres for bigger rides though.

They are fast and cut through muddy stuff as well as most slim tyres but are grippy and secure on the edges for the off camber stuff. Like 'em a lot.

All round good eggs.

(there you go Gump - I kept that fairly brief didn't I? - the therapy's working see).

I use either 2.1 Kenda Kinetics front and rear or an old pair of Kona Lumpy and Gravy that are 1.95's

I like the Kona's on my FSR as they are narrower they arnt as hard to push along

Ah, I thought you guys would discuss about winter tyres here...you know the ones with studs in them...and not the autumn tyres...

FWIW these about the best there are:
http://www.suomityres.com/wxc300.html

For muddy season riding I prefer Schwalbe Nobby Nic although my riding mate likes the Nokian Gazza Dual even better. The wide gnarly tyre hooks up much better than fast rolling Michelin XCR Dry that I'm using for summertime riding.

Aahh! Do I sense that this topic may have been discussed before, before my time?

I use Continental mainly – Explorer 2.1 and Escape 2.0 is ok in the summer, but running out of grip around now. For ‘autumn’, I’ve got a Vertical 2.3, Survivals in 2.1 and 2.3 and an old Traction Pro 2.0, but I can’t say I really like any of them. I’ve got some IRC Mud Mads in 1.95 and they’re great in very muddy conditions, but only in very muddy conditions.

I think the quoted sizes are a bit of a joke – I measure the width of the carcass, and making allowance for the width of the rim and the beads, you can calculate the diameter of the tyre (ignoring knobs). The biggest of those tyres is a 2.3 Survival, 141mm across and thus 1.8â€

I don't change for winter.
Makes it more interesting.
Onza porcs forever!

I've been using trailrakers, pretty good on most things ive put them through...Even the rocks of the peak district.

heathy":2ofsrt32 said:

I've been using trailrakers, pretty good on most things ive put them through...Even the rocks of the peak district.

Click to expand...

1.95 or 2.1?

1.95's, haven't tried the 2.1's.
I used the 1.95's at the peaks meet on saturday on a hardtail, which i had no problems with at all :!: And lets just say it was rocky as hell compaired to my normal trials.