When so many riders spend hours cutting down spike tyres it’s a mystery as to why it has taken so long for a company to bring out what is essentially a ‘pre–cut’ spike, but finally Specialized have done it with this Hillbilly and the results are every bit as good as we expected.

For mixed conditions you won’t find another off–the–shelf tyre to rival these, and thanks to the knobs being spaced slightly closer together than a full–on spike we also think they outperform a cut spike. There’s no squirming on rocks or roots, and yet they’ll still cut through and disperse a reasonable amount of mud.

It’ll be interesting to see if any of the big guns bring out an equivalent tyre, because if the truth be told, a tyre like this can easily see as much use as a dry DH tyre.

Price: £44.99
Specialized UK 02083 913 500
www.specialized.com