Two Wheel Blogs

I'm trying to figure out where it would be good to run ExiWolf. I have a couple of them here and I ran one of them on the front yesterday because I wasn't confident in the tube I'd installed after my flat last week. Why wasn't I confident in it? Because it was dead flat when I got back from my business trip.

I aired it up and didn't hear any leaks but I wasn't taking any chances. I'd already patched the punctured tube from last week so I just grabbed it and mounted it up inside an ExiWolf on another rim. I packed up both wheels and off to the trail I went.

When I got there I decided to go ahead and run the ExiWolf just to see what I'd think of it after a couple of months away from it. I've been on the Nevegal since the Ouachita Challenge so I had a pretty good idea what it does in nearly every type of condition, especially conditions like yesterday's. The trails were mostly dry; but where they still held moisture it was at the level where the trail would break and crumble rather than hold. You didn't need to even ride it to know this because riders were leaving quite a few dark brown skid marks in corners and off-camber sections.

I don't think there's much question it's conditions like these where ExiWolf excels. In my experience - limited at best - I've found the Exi's tread will fill up and clog if it gets wetter than this. It will also lose traction and not regain it if there is too much loose stuff on the trail. In short, it's built for fast conditions. And that's consistent with what WTB has to say about their product:

Born from the need for top performance in loose conditions, the ExiWolf tires’s deep tread offers consistent grip and lively handling. They climb like mad and allow for stable cornering, descending and late braking. Choose the ExiWolf to be the best tire for maximum grip in the worst loose conditions.

I don't know about the "worst loose conditions" claim. Maybe they feel good putting that one in because there is no maximum tire grip in the worst conditions. When it's that bad all you get is the minimum.

It was a fun experiment. I could actually tell the difference in how the tire rolled and gripped. I won't claim it was faster because I can't account for the different wheel weights. Factoring in everything I know from my experience yesterday though, I have to say there is a lot to be said for running tires to match trail conditions. And yesterday the ExiWolf turned out to be the right choice.

Oh, and when I got back to my car I found my other tire had gone flat. Looks like I'm going to be needing a new supply of patches. Time for another flat repair.