The wide spaced studs of Maxxis’s SwampThing are slow rolling, and it’s not as fat as it makes out, but sheer grip keeps it right up in the winter tyre rankings. Plus, it’s a bargain.
The sparse mix of studs means it hardly ever blocks no matter how sticky the terrain gets, and the small volume carcass means plenty of space in most frames. There’s not much air space for cushioning drops and rocks but the carcass and compound keeps it surprisingly well controlled at lower pressures.
Even in the harder MaxxPro compound grip is outstanding whatever the ground conditions, at every lean angle, on the brakes or under power. Rolling speed and wear life aren’t great though, so it’s definitely a filth-only tyre. The Super Tacky version trades ridiculously tenacious traction for even more punishing pedalling.
This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.
