We went to see Vee Tire Co. at Eurobike, and found a massively expanded range compared to last year. In 2015 they were a little coy about some of their tyres, saying they were still tweaking them in conjunction with the Swiss Downhill Syndicate team, but this year Vee had all guns blazing, with a bigger stand, far more to show, and tyres available in a much larger range of sizes. Here are the headline things they had.
Interestingly, they now have recommended rim widths for all of their tyres, though so far that only seems to have made it into their print catalogue and not the website.
Firstly, the plus-sized Crown Gem gets a wider range of sizes:
The 27.5 Crown Gem range includes versions with and without sidewall protection, in widths from 3.0 down to 2.6. It’s good to see the range filling out like this; with the options so open it seems likely mountain biking will eventually settle on some stable optimums for a given type of riding.Oh, and the other option many Vee tyres get for 2017 is: Skinwalls! Come on, you know you love them (black also available).Crown Gem seems to be the one tyre Vee are vigorously expanding into all niches, with this kids one for 14″ wheels, and a 27.5×2.4 version specifically optimised for wider rims, called the Crown Gem Sweet Spot.This is the T-Fatty plus tyre, which as well as 27.5 and 29, will also be available in 26×3.0. The 27.5 ones range in width from 2.8 to (according to their website but not the catalogue) 3.25. Recommended rim width for all is 35 – 50mm. For reasons that will become apparent, I’ve had to take this picture from their website…Unfortunately, Vee couldn’t get all of their new stuff to Eurobike in time, as some of their samples got held up by customs. As a result this tyre wasn’t on the stand, but the label had the vital statistics. Think 26+ will catch on? There were a few companies dabbling with it at Eurobike.Scanned from their catalogue, this shows just how expansive their tyre range is becoming. Not just a size for every bike, but plus/skinny options for every wheel size too. This doesn’t even include their fatbike and kids tyres, either.The Flow Snap is a new gravity/enduro oriented tyre available in 29×2.35, and 27.5×2.4.Designed as an all rounder, looks like it might be good for UK conditions.
As well as gravity and plus tyre,s there were some new XC tyres on show too.
The Rail Tracker has the merest whisper of tread down the centreline, and comes in at 2.0 or 2.2 wide.The Rail Escape is a more aggressive XC tyre with burlier tread, available in 29×2.25 only.
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.
If they’re going to publish an “infographic” you would have thought their catalogue designer could have made the ERD the same size for each tyre rim and just enfattened the rubber for the + sizes. Someone send them binners to lend a hand.
If they’re going to publish an “infographic” you would have thought their catalogue designer could have made the ERD the same size for each tyre rim and just enfattened the rubber for the + sizes. Someone send them binners to lend a hand.
It does confuse more than it enlightens, for sure.
Looks like 275plus and 29 use the same diameter rim etc.