wtb verdict tyre sea otter 2019

WTB Launches Aggressive WTB Verdict and Verdict Wet Tyres

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wtb verdict tyre sea otter 2019
Have you ever seen such chunkiness?

Could these be your next winter tyres? They’re certainly among the toothiest tyres we’ve seen so far and WTB reckons that the new WTB Verdict and Verdict Wet tyres are going to be the hot tyre to have for everything from wet Welsh roots to deep Californian dust.

What’s the difference?

The new WTB Verdict and WTB Verdict Wet look very similar, with effectively the same tread pattern, but with different height knobs. There’s only about 1.5mm difference in height, but in tyre-knob-world that can mean a lot. The tyres feature deeply siped treads in the middle, with huge, siped cornering knobs. So that the tyres don’t just fold over in the corners, there’s a new TriTec compound that features a hard rubber base and then two more progressively softer layers above that, so that your tyre has the stickiest, softest rubber touching the trail, but it’s supported by chunkier rubber underneath so that the knobs remain supported.

wtb verdict tyre sea otter 2019
Suitable for the seemingly comprehensive ‘Dry, Wet, Loose, Rocky AND Mud’
wtb verdict tyre sea otter 2019
They’re hard to tell apart. This is the Verdict
wtb verdict tyre sea otter 2019
And this is the Verdict Wet. Or is it?
wtb verdict tyre sea otter 2019
The Verdict Wet is for Wet, Loose and Mud, OK?

The tops of the centre knobs consist of a medium durometer compound to provide traction and durability without sacrificing rolling efficiency, while the outer knobs feature the softest compound to deliver maximum grip and slow rebound.

wtb verdict tyre sea otter 2019
Not an ideal XC race tyre we wager…
wtb verdict tyre sea otter 2019

Both tyre treads will come in 27.5 and 29in sides, with a ‘true 2.5in’ width. They will also both come in two sidewall weights too – TCS and TCS Light. WTB reckons they’ll mostly be fitted to front wheels, with its Judge tyre out back.

WTB is keen to point out that the Verdict tyres aren’t just for rainy days. They’re for loose conditions of all types, so even super dry and dusty conditions are covered. The idea is that the tall knobs can punch through whatever surface mud or looseness there is and find traction below. Obviously with all of that tall, soft rubber, there’ll be a rolling-resistance penalty, but WTB sees these as more race and special uplift day tyres, rather than every day.

The tyres should be out in the UK by mid-June, and available through Hotlines (hotlines-uk.com)

And finally, we saw this T-shirt on the WTB booth – possibly the best T-shirt ever. A wolf AND pizza AND a taco?

Not a WTB tyre, but what a T-shirt!

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Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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Comments (3)

    Who gives a monkey’s about the tyres – where do I get one of those t-shirts?

    How would you compare as front tire for wet deep trails with also wet rootsthe following tires?
    shorty vs verdict wet vs vigilante. All 2.5 with dh casing and high grip.

    Verdict LHG is my new fav winter tyre for Surrey slop. So much better than a Shorty or DHF or Vigi. Judge THG isn’t too bad out back either. They have similar side knobs and traverse really well.

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