The Michelin Wild Mud XC tyre uses a new design employing soft 55a rubber in a wide spaced but relatively low tread pattern. This means slow rumble and growl on hard surfaces, but unlike full ‘fang’ tyres they don’t squirm on wet rocks. This makes them brilliant for courses that are mostly mush but with a few Tarmac/footpath corners that’d be lethal on many mud tyres.
The ‘pre-twisted’ twin-level block pattern is designed to square off under heavy drive and braking loads, then twist back and flick off filth when load decreases. It resists blocking extremely well and stays clean and keen better than any other winter treads tested alongside it.
The tubeless-ready carcass is easy to inflate, yet at the low (20psi) pressure we’ve used, and despite the narrow width, we’ve had regular rim impacts but no splits or burps. It’s definitely designed as a cross-country/trail rather than enduro tyre.
With the narrow width penetration, compound and tread design, the amount of traction it finds in mixed mud/wet woods/rocks/snow and ice conditions is outstanding in both 26in and 29er (tested) formats.
The reasonably light (645g) weight and immediate clearing means maximum acceleration between bogs and power pulses in extreme high torque/low rev knee burster moments. Cue plenty of ‘how the hell did you get up that?’ moments and significant sustained-speed gains over our normal benchmark winter tyres.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.
