- In every single upgrade video we've ever done,
we always talk about getting the right set of tires.
It's really important.
It's the only contact you have with the trail, so,
you could have your suspension set up completely perfectly
and carbon fiber everywhere,
but your bike's not going to ride very well
if you have the wrong tires on.
So, there's all sorts of different shapes, sizes,
tread styles, in this video I'm going to talk you through
some of them so hopefully you can make a good decision
about the right tires for you.
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In this video, I'm going to be using Vittoria tires
'cause they make great tires,
they're also our brand partner here at GMBN.
But hopefully this advice should help you
with any brands, we're talking about common features
across any tires.
Before we get into how to choose the right tire
for certain conditions, let's look at
the actual construction of a tire.
Now, Doddy recently went to the Vittoria factory
to do a tour and have a look.
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The bead of a tire is the edge that fits into the rim.
You get folding and wired beads,
which serves their different purposes
that we'll get into later on.
Casing is the skeleton of the tire as such.
It plays a large part in the structural support
of the tire.
Puncture protection.
Layers of material underneath the tread
that helps prevent anything piercing the tire.
Sidewall, the sides of the tire.
Tread, the knobs of the tire that provide the traction.
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So the first thing we'll look at is tread pattern.
And this is going to be a big one
to determine how much grip you get on the trail you ride.
So you can see, three different options here
from a trail-y tire, to an enduro, to cross-country.
So you can see the different sizes of the knobs
that are happening here, also the different design,
different shapes of these knobs.
So this is really going to determine
how well your tire grips on your trail.
So as you see, these are fairly tightly packed,
nice soft tread, but quite big treads as well.
So that's going to work really well on hardpack terrain.
Whereas this one, this is the Mota,
see it's much more widely spread.
So this is going to work better in muddy
or soft, loamy conditions, or in the wet.
Just 'cause it's going to clear better
and actually dig into terrain,
where that might float a bit on top of mud,
but work really well on rocks,
this one's going to dig into mud,
maybe not work so well on rocks.
This one, down to the cross-country tire,
you can see how they're much much lower
than both of these treads, so down to
probably about three mil depth.
And much more small knobs.
This is going to roll really really fast
but not dig into the trail as well,
definitely not in wet terrain.
On hardpack terrain you've still got
a lot of rubber on the ground.
Okay, let's look at the two trail-y, enduro tires
'cause they are quite similar to each other.
And you'll see that actually, most tires
have differences between the center knobs
and the side knobs.
The center ones, they really give you the traction
most of the time, so that's what you're going to be riding on
when you're pedaling, braking, and really,
any time you're not cornering.
So, you can see the difference in these,
this trail-y tire, the Martello, is lower
and closer together, it's going to give you a lot of grip
on hardpack terrain.
This Mota is going to be more grip in the mud,
like I said, more spacing and deeper tread as well.
But as you can see on the side knobs,
now these become much bigger,
so probably four or five mil deep.
So when you're leaning the bike over,
that's what you're going to rely on
to dig into the dirt.
On the trail tire, again, they're bigger,
but they're closer spaced together.
So again, on the hardpack terrain,
once you're leaned over, these are going to give you
a bigger footprint and a lot of grip.
Sipes are little cuts in the knobs of tires,
designed to deform under pressure
which in turn, gives more grip.
One of the most important parts of a tire
is the rubber compound.
Different rubber formulas can make
an identical looking tire perform completely differently.
Softer rubber gives a lot of traction
but rolls slowly and wears quickly.
Often, brands can use two, three, or even four compounds
like Vittoria, with a harder, faster rolling,
harder wearing tread in the middle,
and softer on the side tread.
If we're looking at tread height,
let's take two almost virtual other ends of the spectrum
to each other, we've got the Mota
versus the Barzo, which is a cross-country tire,
and then an enduro trail tire.
You can see, this is much deeper,
these are both 29 inch wheels,
though actually to me, where I'm sat,
this looks almost three or four mil lower,
so the whole diameter of the wheel's going to be smaller.
Basically, this is all about
the type of terrain you're riding.
So this is going to dig into soft terrain,
really aimed at aggressive riding.
Whereas the low profile tire is more about rolling fast.
So you can tell that these two tires
are designed for two completely different things.
One for enduro trail, one for cross-country riding.
Tire treads are designed to work
on particular terrain and in particular conditions.
You will get specific dry or wet tires
that work in those situations,
but if you're like me, living in the UK in winter,
you can ride some pretty hardpack stuff,
even dry rocks, and then go
straight into some really soft mud or fresh trails.
In that situation you're going to need
a good all-rounder tire.
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You can get front and rear specific tires,
although there aren't many brands nowadays
doing the same tire front and rear.
But, more, I'm talking about
actually just having different tire tread front to rear.
So, often you'll see in summertime,
people will put semi-slicks on the rear.
It's going to be a faster rolling tire
'cause it will just drop in that tire tread in the middle,
means it's going to roll much faster.
One thing it won't do is brake as well,
just 'cause you're taking away those edges as well.
So in this situation, I've got a steep-ish bit of trail,
I'm coming down quick and I'm braking hard,
so I am relying, really, on the back tire,
those middle treads slow me down.
Then when I'm hitting the corner,
that's more about the front tire.
But also, as I'm leaning the bike over,
I'm going onto the side knobs
of both the front and the rear.
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I've just done a run on that short downhill,
on my tires, it worked pretty well on mixed terrain.
But, just for a bit of an idea,
I'm going to have a go on my Motas.
So these are the bigger, deeper tread,
much wider spaced, to see how much better they work
in the mud, and if there's any compromise to be had
on the hardpack situation, so,
time to repeat that run, I think.
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Just like picking the type of bike that you want to buy,
there's always going to be some sort of compromise
when it comes to any components, really.
But with tires,
on this trail it feels like, on the hardpack stuff,
both the trail tire and the mud tire grip pretty well,
but it's in the mud where these really make
the biggest difference, and that's where
you really do lose the grip on other tires.
So for me, this feels like a good all-round tire
for winter in the UK, whereas I might keep the trail tires
for a good all-round tire in summertime
when you're not going into the deeper mud.
The same goes for my cross-country tire choice, really,
most of the time I'll stick with quite a deep tread,
but in summertime, I'll stick to something
that's a bit faster, bit lower profile.
But, most of the time I take the compromises
and stay in the middle.
For my cross-country bike I have the trail casing on there,
so slightly heavier weight.
If I'm racing cross-country,
I will go to the lighter weight tire,
but most of the time, I stick with a bit more protection.
Same with my enduro bike, most of the time in the middle,
but if I'm racing, I go the other end of the scale,
and I'll stick a more protective tire on.
If I'm racing something like the Andes Pacifico,
I'll go for that dual-ply tire
where I don't want to risk a puncture
and I don't mind dealing with that extra weight.
If you look at the casing of a tire,
like I said before, it's the skeleton, really,
it's what the tire's made up from.
Let's compare two cross-country tires,
we got the Barzo, which is the XC Race,
versus the Peyote, which is a trail tire.
Basically, that tells you, really, what to expect.
So the cross-country tire, on Vittorias,
they are colored different as well,
so skinwall for that and anthracite gray
for the trail tire, which is a tougher tire.
XC race is all about being super lightweight
so basically, less material in there
so it's going to be lighter for those race situations.
Whereas a trail tire has got more material in there.
Making it tougher, means it's going to roll around less.
Basically, more puncture protection as well,
but the payoff for that is that extra weight.
So that's where you start looking
at the construction of a tire,
things like the TPI, threads per inch,
and sort of decide how tough a tire do you want,
how light a tire do you want?
And play off those two benefits against each other.
Now, moving up the scale to the trail tires,
again, I've got this Martello in that gray sidewall,
that is trail.
And this is now the enduro casing.
So this is now dual-ply, so two layers of rubber
underneath that tread. What does it say on the back?
120 TPI, same as this one, but like I say,
it's dual-ply so now it's heavier,
but it's going to be much tougher,
suited to enduro or even downhill riding.
Just much more puncture proof,
less tendency to roll around.
And you'll find that a lot of manufacturers
have this sort of handy guide on the back as well,
to tell you what that tread
and what that tire's going to be good for.
So, lots of stars for hardpack, less for wet
and less for mud.
It's good to know what sort of terrain
you're likely to ride, and make sure the tires you choose
will be suited to it.
For example, if you're frequently riding
in very rocky surfaces, you'll need tires
with greater puncture protection
as well as stiffer sidewalls
to deal with the harder impacts.
On the other side of the spectrum,
if you ride smoother trails,
tires with thicker sidewalls will most likely
just slow you down and give little benefit.
Riding style can determine the casing you go for as well.
If you're an aggressive rider or a heavier weight rider,
you want to go the tire with decent puncture protection
and a heavier weight casing.
That's going to give you a much more stable tire
that, if you're hitting corners really hard,
and you're moving the tire around,
some of the lighter casing can roll,
can deform, can burp, or can even rip.
Confused yet?
There's loads of variables with tires
which can make it seem difficult to get the right one.
So let's look at the main points.
Tread pattern is determined by the dirt,
soft, hard, loose, or mud, and the style of riding.
Low and fast tread for XC and endurance,
bigger, more aggressive tread for enduro and downhill.
The casing is the construction.
Heavier weight with more protection
for more aggressive riding,
rocky or hard hitting terrain or bigger riders.
Lighter weight for cross-country riders,
smooth lightweight riders or mellow trails.
Size-wise, thinner tires cut through mud
and are fast rolling.
Wider tires can float across terrain,
so fat tires at the extreme, five inches wide,
can ride on sand and snow.
A more normal trail tire is likely to be 2.2 to 2.4 inches.
If you hadn't done already, check out Doddy's video
touring the Vittoria factory, it's super interesting
to see actually how tires are built.
Plus we got loads of other videos on tube vs tubeless
and tire pressure, another big consideration.
Anyway, I'm off to make the most of some winter sunshine
before it starts raining.