As well as their established range, Onza had two brand new tyres to show us yesterday, a plus tyre and an XC tyre. One of the trends we’re seeing in tyres this year is, *drumroll*, skinwalls! Relax, relax, they’re optional, you can get these tyres without.
Most Onza tyres have hard centre treads with softer edge blocks. RC² 55a is the hardest mix Onza do for mountain bike tyres, and is aimed at XC, with 65a centre blocks and 55a edges. RC² 45a mixes 55a and 45a durometers for most MTB applications, and GRP 40 is a single compound tyre design aimed at gravity, with their highest level of grip for wet conditions.
Casings, from lightest to burliest, are C³, FRC, EDC, and DHC. DHC is the only dual ply downhill casing Onza do. EDC is a single ply with puncture protection aimed at enduro racing and freeride, FRC stands for Freeride Casing but is confusingly labelled as being for all mountain and trail riding, but not freeride. It lacks the bead to bead butyl puncture inlay of EDC. C³ is the lightest casing, again aimed at XC.
David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly.
Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.