{"id":5205,"date":"2014-09-15T11:48:36","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T11:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/?p=5205"},"modified":"2024-03-14T15:34:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T15:34:19","slug":"buyers-guide-to-autumn-mtb-tyres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merlincycles.com\/blog\/buyers-guide-to-autumn-mtb-tyres\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best MTB tyres for Autumn 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

You simply can’t have too many tyres. Any mountain biker worth their salt should have a pile about waist high somewhere in their house. But what sort of tyres should your wheels be wearing when there’s leaves on your line?<\/p>\n

Here’s our run-down of some excellent Autumnal rubber. We have something for all wheel sizes – 26in, 27.5 and 29er.<\/p>\n

Tempting as it is to split your year into just two seasons – summer and winter – there is a definite advantage to be had in recognising that Autumn has its own specific qualities and problems.
\n<\/p>\n

\"Continental<\/a><\/p>\n

If you keep your Summer treads on they’ll struggle in the fallen leaves and general trail mulch that abounds in September and October. If you switch straight to your full-on Winter tyres they’ll be narrow and harsh and draggy.<\/p>\n

Essentially Autumn is like a diet Winter. A toned down version of the filth and dank that is yet to properly appear. The temperatures are still okay. There’s still a decent amount of daylight hours around. And the ground is fundamentally still firm from its baking over the Summer.<\/p>\n

There will be puddles and mucky bits around – this is the UK after all – but usually we don’t see the deep boggy stuff appearing just yet. So in this regard there’s no need to fit narrower tyres than those that you’ve been using over Summer.<\/p>\n

Knobs, shoulders and sticky stuff<\/h2>\n

\"VredesteinWhat you will need to contemplate is adding a bit of oomph to your knobbles. A tread with taller knobs and knobs that are more spaced out. The spacey-ness does two things: it helps the knobbles punch through to find traction and it helps the tyre to fling off mud ie prevents your tyre from packing up with mud.<\/p>\n

Another factor\u00a0to look out for is a tyre that has a bit more of pronounced shoulder to them. More square in profile than round. Having more aggressive shoulder tread helps find traction when cornering or traversing across cambered trails. There’s minimal extra drag penalty too – especially if you choose to only run a square-shouldered tyre up front, which is where most of the work is required.\"Schwalbe<\/p>\n

If your terrain involves a decent amount of rocks and roots then opting for a softer compound tyre will significantly improve your confidence and capability. Softer tyres can be draggier so we’d recommend just running soft tyres on the front and having the rear tyre as standard\/firm compound for easier rolling.<\/p>\n

Hitting slippery root and rocks with a soft, sticky front tyre makes the difference between staying upright or careering into the undergrowth.<\/p>\n

A\"Maxxisnother tip for firm but slippery terrain is to look for knobbles that have slices or X-cuts on the top. These cuts are called sipes and they help the tyre to find traction by splaying out upon contact<\/p>\n

It can sometimes be difficult to work out what rubber compound a tyre is made from. Generally mountain bikes vary between 4oa and 70a durometer (durometer is the scientific way of categorising a rubber’s stickyness).<\/p>\n

40a tyres are very soft and sticky. 70a tyres are hard.\u00a0Sometimes\u00a0though tyre companies don’t describe their compounds in durometer numbers. They use proprietary names instead.<\/p>\n

Different rubber compounds explained<\/h2>\n