Team Tested : Michelin WildMud Advanced Reinforced Tyres
These Michelin Wild Mud tyres were sent over to us to be tested in the UK several months ago, but believe it or not, it was only recently that they actually had their chance to shine. Enduro aint like DH, where you get a full track, requiring one specific mud tyre, being sloppy deep mud all the way. I had recently tried the Specialized Storm Control tyres at Hopton. These things were mega light weight, narrow with hard rubber and needed to be pumped up to 40 psi just to stop them getting split. In a field they would have been great, but when trying to go across off camber roots and rocks in the wet was just terrifying and they had to come off immediately!
The problem with Enduro, whether racing or out on the trails, is if you have mud specific tyres fitted there will always be a massive compromise when you hit dry or hardpack terrain. I have to admit I even avoided using them for a while, wondering if there would ever be terrain that they suited. However, the perfect opportunity arose and it was the Mini Enduro at the Forest of Dean, this place is renowned for deep soil/peat sections, hardly any stone and not too much hard-pack, the weather was looking diabolical, so on they went. They fitted to my (then current) set of carbon wheels with no bother at all.
Fitting the tyres and feeling the grip, I instantly knew I was fitting a much more Enduro terrain specific tyre. They were weightier, 1050g to be precise and the rubber was a lot more pliable, my confidence (knocked by the Storm Controls) suddenly started to grow. They come with twin nobbles, as in they have cut-able blocks, with two lengths. Straight away I knew the full length was going to be useful only on a muddy field, so after 1 ½ hrs and suffering big hand pump, all 640 nobbles were cut to the shorter more usable length. As these are reinforced with Michelin’s new unique Magi-X bead to bead layer, pressures were set low at 22 front and 25 rear, so they could fold around rocks and roots, even though their lowest pressure recommended should be 26psi
As we got to the track things were wild, deep mud, roots and some rocks were prevalent and all my racing buddies were struggling like hell. The Michi’s just held their line amazingly, even on the roots and rocks, with the lower pressures they performed spotlessly, much to all my mate’s dismay, as I just held the lines, the tyres making things feel easy! The following day was racing, we practiced in the morning and things had dried up a fair bit to begin with, this was what I was worried about, especially on the harder packed stuff! However, amazingly they just seemed to hold, and even though being run soft, they never once folded or burped when pushing hard into bermed up turns. It hammered down again for the race and they just performed with true prediction taking me to a podium finish, these are by far the best Enduro mud tyre I have ever used, re-installing my faith in the need for a spike tyre.
Michelin’s informed me about the benefits of this tyre, the tall blocks plus the steps on their bodies give the tyre optimum mud penetration in search of hard packed ground, giving more adherence. Whist in contact with the ground, the blocks twist and straighten under braking and traction. As they come away from the ground, they revert to a new “Twisted” block design, their original position. This block movement creates a self-cleaning tread to clear the mud quickly ensuing optimized grip under traction and braking.
SPECS
For more information check out the Michelin Website
Words Jim Buchanan
Pics Doc Ward, Jim Buchanan
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