On One Smorgasbord 2.25″ Tires: Out Of The Box- by Guitar Ted
The newest company making treads for 29″ers is also one of the older 29″er frame companies- On One. They hired tire guru, Shiggy, to design their latest line of rubber for 26″ers and 29″ers. We have the first offering dubbed the “Smorgasbord”. It is a 2.25″er, but a wider 2.4″er is also on the way to 29″er riders which will be dubbed the “Chunky Monkey”. For now, let’s take a closer look at the Smorgasbord.
The Smorgasbord is designed to excel in severe conditions, such as are seen in the U.K. winters, or in the Pacific Northwest, where it is often wet, slippery, and rooty and rocky. This is no XC, go-fast, racer boy tire here. A very detailed break down of the tire’s design intentions is given here, so I won’t go into great detail about this. Suffice it to say that this tire’s main purpose is grip.
The Smorgasbord comes in three versions. A wire bead, OE available only model, a “Trail” model with 60TPI casing, single compound, in a folding bead, and the “Trail Extreme”, (tested), which is the folding bead, 60tpi casing with “Eckso” casing reinforcement, and dual 60a/42a tread compound. MSRP is about $42.00 USD a tire for the Trail Extreme. The Trail model is slightly less at $35.00 USD per tire.
On One claims a weight of 850 grams. The two samples I ordered in weigh at 870/860 grams each. Pretty close, so we’ll give On One a “hall pass” on that one. 
Out Of The Box Impressions: The tires were ordered from the U.K., (we hear the U.S. arm of On One will have them in Portland soon), and came in a big plastic bag with no hang tags or other marketing glitz attached. Hmmm…..weird, but I like it! Nothing to throw away or recycle here. In the hand, the Smorgasbord seems thick and slightly heavy for its size. Would it “measure up” to claimed expectations? On One has let on that they are having these tires made by Maxxis, so they should be of high quality, but my experiences with Maxxis made tires has been varied.
I decided to mount these up tubeless. No…..they are not tubeless rated, but that isn’t too surprising, really. However; the tires seemed worth trying tubeless. I used a Stan’s Flow wheel set specially built for my titanium Mukluk, (see wheel set test here), and they mounted reasonably well, popped on the bead seat easily, and have held air quite nicely so far. Top score for tubeless performance, at least on Stan’s. Probably not a good fit for a UST spec rim, that’s been our experience, at any rate.
Measured after 24 hours at 40psi, the Smorgasbord comes in at 2.28″ wide at the casing and 2.32″ wide at the widest tread block spacing. That’s 57.8mm and 58.9mm for you metric fans out there. Great googly-moogly! A tire that actually is wider than stated out of the box? Nice.
Okay, so this looks like a promising trail tire. Sure- it is on the heavy side for many 2.25″-2.3″ 29″er tires, but if it pays back in durability, there will be many that will be looking at these a bit closer we think. Time will tell there. The tread pattern looks to live up to expectations, so I am hoping for great grip across a wide range of trail conditions. The stiffer casing, due to the “Eckso” sidewall protection, may require some lower pressures, but I’ll play around with that soon.
Note: These On One tires were purchased by Guitar Ted for testing and review. I am not being paid, nor bribed for this review and will strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.
“Not tubeless ready… Isn’t too surprising, really.”
Really? I’m surprised when tires today are *not* tubeless ready. Seems like an oversight to me considering its competitors in this tire type.
I’m totally fine with a $35 to $45 tire that uses the Yes Tubes system. I’d like to give this one a shot.
A little surprising that these aren’t tubeless ready. I’d be curious to see a comparison between these and the Micheline Wile Racer’r tires (which are at a similar price-point and tubeless ready).
@All: My comment about the tubeless ready feature lacking here is in reference to the manufacturer, who until recently has shown a reticence for making 29″er tires tubeless ready.
In the end- it doesn’t matter, as I report- the tubeless performance on Stan’s is excellent so far. Only those with a UST based rim system need be concerned here.
Yup, does not matter.
Maxxis tires are as tubeless ready as Conti or Schwalbe. Check the bead shapes for any real difference in shape and rubber application: Very little. Heck, they even hold air a lot better than said brands that seem to develop pinholes for weeks.
Maxxis just do not label them as such, while Conti and Schwalbe do. I do not know why, but it does not stop me for one bit to use their tires with sealant.
@Jeroen K: I will say that my experiences with Maxxis tires tubeless has been a mixed bag. Ardent 2.25″ers wouldn’t seal the sidewalls for me, but the 2.4″ versions were perfectly fine tubeless. I had a bit of an issue getting the Aspen I had to set up tubeless, but the Ikons again were easy.
Fortunately the Smorgasbords are really good as tubeless.
My rear Ignitor developed Stan’s tumor in multiple spots of the tread. Still a good tire while it lasted. Great write up GT. I have been buying On-One products for a while and have never been disappointed.
OK, I’m 44 now and have been MBR’n for quite a while. My first real ride was the team edition Homegrown. 2 grand
in those days was a trick ride. In all that time I must have missed the boat on going tubeless. I know why tubeless is better but what the hell do you do 20 miles out with a flat??? I can have a new tube out and in and back rolling in under 5 minutes. Is it really worth it for XC?
@Keithallenlaw: In a word- Yes. If you use a reliable, proven system for tubeless, your chances for flatting drop significantly. While catastrophic tire failures are still possible, and you may see the tube go in yet at times, the rate of flatting drops dramatically with tubeless.
Good set up, the right tires, rim, tubeless tape/strip, (if not using a UST rim), and good sealant is key. I’d get with a LBS, local riders, and ask a lot of questions to get a bead on what you should be using. But in the end, I found tubeless was well worth it, and believe me, I was a total skeptic.
Very curious how these tires have been coming along.
Been a fan of the Nevegal 2.2 as the all-out-grip tire in nasty conditions, but my set is getting a bit long in the tooth (running tubeless).
And, of course, I love On-One products! When people ask me about the Inbred on the trail, I say “Think Surly bikes, but out of the UK.”