Hello all,

I'm new to the forum, but I've been lurking here a little while to try to soak up information. This is a great forum!

Here is my issue:

I've been riding to work on my MTB with Panaracer RibMo 1.25's for a couple of months now. I'm in San Antonio, and my favorite route is partly on a Greenway. In San Antonio, the Greenways are also flood zones for the rivers and creeks. Well, after a large amount of rain, the Greenway (along with some of the concrete roads) gets flooded and covered with a fine, slick river silt.

The silt is the most slippery surface I've ever ridden on. The first time I hit it I didn't even see it; it was dark and my tires slid out from under me sideways. I was on the ground before I could even get a hand off the handlebars. Luckily I was able to absorb the brunt of the blow, so my bike was spared :-). I've since invested in much brighter lights.

I also try to plan my routes such that I avoid the silt-covered areas after it rains, but you can't always predict when it will be wet when the rest of the road is dry.

I just ordered a Nashbar Steel Cyclocross (fits 35s or so with fenders), and I'm looking for decent road tires for it that would hopefully have a chance of getting traction when the silt covers the road. The two I've been focusing on are the Schwalbe Marathon Mondial and Marathon Dureme. They seem to have the best grip along with low rolling resistance. I'd also like them to be puncture resistant, but grip is definitely the priority. Of the two, the Mondials look like they'd do better in mud, but I can't really tell just from looking at them.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks,

Greg