Comments on: WTB ‘08 29″er Tires: First Impressions- Vulpine 29″er

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:27:50 +0000

mac (aka farley): Well, that is a hard question to answer from where I sit. If it were me, I would do the Vulpine if and only if the trails I normally rode were buff, or fairly open. They would have to be dry to tacky most of the time, and free from “kitty litter” over hardpack, especially in the corners. Rocks would be okay if you are a lighter guy or a finesse rider. Sand would be a no-no.

Typically I err on the side of dirt performance and sacrifice the road performance in a situation like you put forth.

The Vulpine is like having a hybrid tire on your mtb on pavement though, so it’s really tempting!

By: mac (aka farley)

mac (aka farley) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:01:32 +0000

How would this do as an all-rounder type tire? Like for that type of ride that’s just as much road as trail?

By: Desert9r

Desert9r — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:42:41 +0000

WTF-
I just went to Maxxis.com and Bike29.com, and they show 2 different tread pattern! ??
Bike29 show a semi-slick with Nevegal knobs, and Maxxis.com shows a ‘hollow’-knob Michelin AT/XC style tread.

By: Desert9r

Desert9r — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:22:49 +0000

The Ritchey SpeedMax is Knobbier!

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:06:28 +0000

Desert9r: You saying a crossMark is a semi-slick is like saying billy gibbons is clean shaven!

By: Desert9r

Desert9r — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:11:27 +0000

Gted-

I’m going to have to agree with kozmo, there is more slick than knobby on the Crossmark, and the SB8 is so heavily treaded/treaded in such a way that I would compare the pattern to the inverted tread of the Serfas Drifter.
Furthure more I would say that WTB is the lead manuf. in # of semi-slicks, But then again I ride Exis as street tires and Fire XCs/nevegals off road.

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:57:20 +0000

Kosmo: I would have to disagree there. I think the big competition here is Stan’s Crow tire. The Crow is obviously a tubeless compatible tire, so it has that advantage on the Vulpine. However, the Vulpine has a stiffer, beefier casing, and more side tread. (It could be argued that the Stan’s Crow has no tread)

The weight is in the advantage of the Crow, but again, it’s more fragile than a Vulpine. Interesting contrasts and comparisons with these two tires meant for racing.

The Smallblock 8 and the Cross Mark are treaded tires that are far more tractable and wider than either the Crow or Vulpine. They are more of a fast XC/trail tire that could be used for multiple conditions. The Crow and Vulpine are even more condition sensitive than these two.

My opinion, but this Vulpine isn’t really anything like the two tires you mention.

By: Kosmo

Kosmo — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:27:50 +0000

The $64K question: How do they compare to the SB8 and CrossMark. These two tires seem to me to be the obvious competition to the new Vulpine.

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:55:47 +0000

slowerthansnot: The sidewalls seem fairly stiff, much like the Prowlers. I am going to dump a bit more pressure out and see how it goes.

I agree, these will be excellent gravely/fire road tires!

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:38:56 +0000

Desert9r: read the “WTB ‘08 ires: Ou of the Box” post. Click the linky above the comments here..