Two Wheel Blogs

Moments after swapping out tires I came to some startling revelations...

Here are the tires, and some stats (Go to Shiggy's site for a whole lot more tire info)....I took the Nevegals off the front and rear, and installed the Small Block 8 on the front and a Crow on the rear:

Nevegals are heavy at 806 grams, wide at 2.2 inches(reported size), they have very high rolling resistance, great stopping power, and great hook up for taking off from a stop.

Small Block 8's are about 180 grams lighter, a bit narrower (it is a 2.1), and has very low Rolling resistance.

The Crow is 330 grams lighter than the Nevegal, its a 2.0, and behaves like a slick tire when it comes to rolling resistance.

Here is a surprise though...acceleration traction is surprisingly good on hard pack soil for all three tires. Stopping power is no surpise...the Nevegal kicks butt, and the Crow once again behaves like a slick.

We might assume that the Nevegals are heavy, slow, a provide a certain amount of confidence when the going gets rough (we would be right). You may have heard or read that the Nevegal has among the highest resistance to rolling freely of any tire (again, you are pretty close to dead on). You might also assume or have heard or otherwise decided that the Crow is fast, light and seems to accelerate by it's self.

Additionally, the astute observer would figure that because the tread depth is higher, and the casing is wider (wider generally results in taller also) that the diameter of the Nevegal would be largest of the three...and therefore result in a greater roll out and therefore a taller gear (in gear inches) given the same front and rear cog. Said another way (a bigger tire is harder to push because it goes further in a single revolution)

So why am I so dang surprised that riding on these tires today felt as if I was going twice as fast with half the effort? My perceived effort made me think that I was pushing a 32x19, but my speed seemed to indicate that I was turning a 32x17 (I ride a 32x18). I was using the brakes a lot more today presumably because my momentum was conserved to a much higher degree.

I know a thing or two about tires, but my philosophy on riding generally has me on the same set of tires for every ride, and every set of conditions that comes along. I rarely put priority on speed, I prefer the simplicity of a tire that allows for aggressive use...sure, that simplicity costs a me a premium in work, watts and torque, but "fun" is king.

Simply put, I have overlooked a very basic fundamental that every competitive cyclist probably knows all about. But they also know the cost of that performance (durability mainly).

The reality is, I will probably go back to my Nev's soon. They obviously are a great training tire...You gotta work to turn these tires!

If you have not tried different rubber, and you are interested in performance....You need to get busy. There are more options than ever in the 29er market...and new tires are rolling out every day. Trust me, you may surprise yourself more with a set of tires than you think.