Based in Minnesota, upstart trans-Pacific brand Terrene is looking to simplify tyre stocking and purchasing by selling only tyres that work in a wide range of common situations while keeping unnecessary variations to a minimum. That primarily means offering only two casings in each size: one for the gram counters in the audience (Light) and another for the tyre destroyers (Tough)- and by sticking with tread patterns that work in a wide variety of conditions.
Coming soon in a trail-sized 29 or 27.5×2.3 or a plus-sized 27.5×3.0, the Chunk is built -in the Terrene’s words- to dig in rather than float above the trail. While that’s a common trait in more “normal” sizes, finding properly aggressive plus tyres hasn’t always been easy. Serious shoulder knobs are intended to be worked hard, allowing for aggressive cornering. Weights aren’t yet final but the Terrene team is on the conservative side and would rather see rubber that impresses on the trail rather than the scale.
The Wazia fatbike tyre is similarly aggressive and will be available with or without ice studs. The company spent a good deal of time looking at fatbike contact patches, ultimately realising that others’ studded offerings had studs where they were of little use- and designed their offering accordingly. That meant roughly 30% fewer studs, saving both weight and cost without compromising on control. The studs themselves are a unique three-pointed design, for fantastic traction when new and good wear characteristics as the miles pile on.
The Wazia will be offered in 4.0 and 4.6in widths, all in the Tough casing. No UK distribution is in place yet, but if the line grows to a reasonable size and the tyres perform as intended it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them locally before long.