New 26" tyres

[Mikey08]

Re:

I was reading spacehoppers amazing thread on his sweet 98 Kona Hot and noticed he was running Vittoria Barzo's....

I was looking at the Vittoria Barzo recently. How are they performing? Are you running tubes or sealant?

Theyre running orange seal endurance sealant.. couple of extra wraps of tesa tape on the (non-tubeless) mavic rims and they sealed first time..

The Barzo's have really impressed me..! probably the best all round XC/trail tyre ive ridden..

Ive ridden Maxxis for probably the last twenty years.. and when building up my Commencal Meta TR recently i thought id try something different and went for a vittoria martello and agarro combo.. which i was really impressed with..! they roll much quicker.. and feel 'lighter' to ride than the maxxis tyres.. (despite their actual weight being heavier!) for a similar amount of grip..!

So i decided to stick some barzos on the hot.. and theyve been pretty impressive too..! they weigh a bit more than most equivalent tyres.. but you dont feel it whilst riding.. their grip is great for an XC tyre.. and they roll nice and quick too.. and most importantly.. are available in 26" not ridden them enough to comment on their wear rates.. but if the rest of the internet is anything to go by.. they wear really well!

downsides...? the only ones for me are appearance.. the grey sidewalls are a bit odd.. but this soon blends in once theyve been ridden and have some dirt on them.. and the logos are massive and a bit too standouty for me..

He also wrote...

another thing ive found.. is that due to their increased weight and resulting carcass stiffness (compared to maxxis..) ive ended up running a couple less PSI for the same sort of feeling..

currently 21 front 24 rear for woodsy fun type riding..

i saw some of a gmbn video a while back of one of them (rider came from an enduro / DH background i think..) doing something like a 24 hour ride.. i think.. and the rider had put barzos on as an 'xc tyre' to reduce rolling resistance and they seemed a little uneasy about them at the start of the video which turned into a more.. oh these are alright actually..!

Good info for people looking into modern 26" tyre options

Check out his thread if you havent already:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=409660