[jacksonpt]

This has been a pretty typical winter in upstate NY:

Sunday's ride: warm, ground is soft, mud is like peanut butter, rocks/roots are wet and slick
Thursday's ride: cold, ground is frozen, good conditions
Saturday's ride: 3-4" of fresh snow

Now, as a general rule, I don't mind changing tires depending on conditions, but I'm tired of changing tires for every ride. I'm thinking about ordering some Maxxis WetScreams and they are available in 42a 60a and 80a compounds.

My question - is softer always better? I know they will wear faster, but in general, for conditions that change ever few days... is there a reason I shouldn't go with the 42s?

 

[jimmydean]

For my old ass, yes!

My bike came with 40a Slow Reezy (or however it's spelled) and I like the way they hook up in the dry dirt, but I also ride my bike to the store or work and it sucks! My old Maxxis HighRollers that were I think 60a did well on the road and in the dirt, but wore like a bitch on the street.

My bike has less than 50 road miles and my back tire is wearing like crazy. I will run 60a's after this one is toast. Still wear faster than I would like, but I get the dirt performance too. 42's see too soft I would think for an all the time tire.

 

[PatBranch]

I have 60d high rollers. They seem to be wearing pretty good. I have been riding urban, dh, xc trails, etc. with them since early last summer, and middle tread is starting to get flat. They still have a lot of life. Now they are really fast rolling, but still have good side knobs. They are fin for me for everything, but I'm not normal.

Cambria bikes (cambriabike.com) is selling wet screams packages of 4 for $20. I go a set of 80d ones. I haven't used them yet, but im pretty sure you want hard in the mud.