Originally Posted by cyclintom
The trick here is to have a good tire for the conditions and proper inflation. And the rider has to retain enough consciousness to keep from slamming the front wheel into something that might flat the tire.
In most cases I've seen the "experts" seriously under-inflating their tires in the belief that somehow almost flat tires will get better traction than 70 lbs. inflation will. Tain't so since soft tires can't push the knobs into the traction surface.
Underinflation makes sense if you are running 2 ply downhill tyres (which is where this myth has come from, I suspect). You are not going to get any significant increase in contact patch area on cross tyres and the thin sidewalls will mean pinch flat city.
If you ride in all but the deepest mud then you actually need tyres narrow enough to cut through the slop to firmer ground!