The low tread profile of the Nano gives it minimal rolling resistance while providing good grip when the road becomes trail. Use this 2.1 high volume tire on the front or rear. Features WTB's DNA Rubber Compound
29 x 2.1"
For use with inner tube only. Do not use with tubeless tire applications.
Came stock on my bike. Took off the nano up front immediately. Now riding a captain control on the front. Have been running the nano in the back for over six months and have been waiting for it to wear out to replace. On Monday, got a side wall cut. Just converted both wheels to tubeless using the stans kit and put the old front nano on the back. Ran the nano today at 25psi and it was a different tire. Gripped well and didn't feel squirrely like it used too. Trail had everything from sand, gravel, sharp shale, rock gardens, stream crossings, big rocks....
Happy now to keep riding this tire, but won't replace it with another nano.
Bottom line, run at a lower pressure tubeless and it doesn't suck as much.
Submitted by
aaronutah2
a Cross Country Rider
from slc
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2011
Strengths: light, fast, sets up Stans tubless.
Weaknesses: poor traction, wears very fast.
Bottom Line:
Nearly as as fast and light as the SB8 but worse traction on loose over hard pack. DNA rubber chucked off fast. May work in softer soil. Utah trails tend to bullet hard dirt peppered with half exposed rocks and sprinkled with gravel. Disappointed.
Similar Products Used: SB8, Maxis Ardent, WTB Prowler, Continental MTN King
Bike Setup: rip9 140mm reba
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Submitted by
JamnJames
a Weekend Warrior
from Louisville, KY
Date Reviewed: March 30, 2011
Strengths: Tough, Fast
Weaknesses: Heavy
Bottom Line:
Bottom line is I have this on the back of my SS 29er and won't be taking it off. I love it on hard pack! More grip than any of the other XC tires I have tried, but still fast. When it gets super tech I do need a little more when I torque down. I attribute some of this to my chain stays being too long, but my Nano Raptor inherits some of the blame also. Look this is not for wet leaves. Its not for 2" of mud. Ride these in the summer.
5-chili's for value because you can get these at a steal every so often.
4-chili's for the rating because nothing is perfect.
Similar Products Used: maxxis holy roller, cst caballero
Bike Setup: dawes deadeye ss 29er
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Submitted by
BeerBikeBerm
a Cross Country Rider
from Colorado
Date Reviewed: January 3, 2011
Strengths: Reminds me of a mini Weirwolf LT: great compromise between traction, volume, durability and weight. This is no "obsolete classic". Does very well tubeless on Stans Flow and Arch rims.
Weaknesses: Has excellent traction in ONE direction, not so great in the other direction.
Ex) When I run it on the rear, climbing traction is merely acceptable until I run it reversed, at which point it is incredible. But in reverse, the braking and cornering traction is terrible.
On the front only good for racing or casual riding. It washes out quickly (although I have always been able to catch it as it happens early).
Bottom Line:
No, most companies do not condone tubeless on their tubed tires, with good reason. But some tires end up working VERY well tubeless, and this is one of them (at least for me, 140lb, aggressive XC).
I've run them tubeless on SS rear, front with 100mm fork, front rigid, geared hardtail rear. While front rigid is not a good match, it does excellent on geared, and pretty good on SS. Best of all, it continues to last, and has tough casing that works well with my tubeless setup. I've bottomed out about 30+ times so far and have even picked a carpentry staple out of the tire: no flat, it sealed.
Does XC very well, holds it's own on rougher shtuff.
For reliability, durability and quite decent performance, 4 for value.
I rate this in terms of dry XC riding, so considering this:
4 for overall. What keeps it from a 5 is the uni-directional performance on the rear. You can either climb, or brake, your choice1
Similar Products Used: for 29er lower volume XC: Kenda Karma 1.9, Maxxis Ignitor 2.1, WTB Prowler SL 2.1
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Submitted by
OSnap
a Cross Country Rider
from Virginia
Date Reviewed: March 11, 2009
Strengths: Fast rolling tire - light - longlasting
Weaknesses: well in mudd and wet roots they are lame...but so is everything else
Bottom Line:
I like this tire more than the fasttracks and crossmarks - for me it I seemed to get a little better traction out of these and they seem just as fast. However I wouldn't use any of these tires for a front tire.
Also the treads on these tires have lasted a lot longer than I would have ever thought - I've been running these off and on for 2+ years (I ride about 3-4 times a week) and they don't show much wear at all. That's why I gave the good Value rating
Similar Products Used: Specialized fast track, maxxis crossmarks and ignitor
Bike Setup: SS29
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Submitted by
tbaier
a Weekend Warrior
from Baltimore, MD
Date Reviewed: February 16, 2009
Strengths: Loves the hard stuff.
Weaknesses: Runs screaming at even the mention of mud.
Bottom Line:
I like this tire a lot, but you just have to be careful of the conditions you use it in. Running one on the back of my Salsa El Mariachi and its great for road and HARDPACK. I was very impressed with the traction while climbing even compared to much knobbier tires like the Rampage and Ignitor. I don't feel like I lose anything (except weight and rolling resistance!) when I sub it for a Rampage when the conditions permit.
Unfortunately the trial I most often ride borders water so there are small sections where streams cross and its ALWAYS muddy - even when the rest of the trail is a dustbowl. I can usually make it through these sections with the Nano but the problem is when I continue to ride down the trail, they have a hard time shedding the mud. They'll stay gummed up even at a decent speed. The tight knob spacing really hangs on to it. I don't expect a tire like this to have much traction in the mud, so it doesn't lose points for that.
If you have the right conditions, these are great light, fast tires that can be had for pretty cheap.
Submitted by
abosch
a Cross Country Rider
from San Rafael, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: June 18, 2008
Strengths: Fast & light
Weaknesses: traction & hard cornering
Bottom Line:
Great deal for a good tire. If you are looking for a 'meatier' tire, go elsewhere. If you are looking for a fast and light cross country tire, this is it. In dry conditions of sunny California, it's great.
Submitted by
Nate
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: May 28, 2008
Strengths: Fast and lightweight
Weaknesses: Front does not inspire confidence in loose corners. Rear tire developed a clicking noise in the bead or sidewall....not sure. Who know that tires could do this? Replace tire and sound is gone. Lower air pressure increases sound...hmm.
Bottom Line:
Fast race tire for hardpack conditions that may develop an odd clicking sound on rotation. Took me forever to discover that it was actually the tire making the odd sound..
Similar Products Used: Rampage. Nice, but rolling resistance and weight are killers. I ride mostly hardpack out here in SD
Bike Setup: Niner Jet 9 full XTR, C. King etc...all the goodies
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Submitted by
Derek
a Cross Country Rider
from Chadds Ford, PA
Date Reviewed: January 13, 2008
Strengths: Fast
Weaknesses: Weak Traction Harsh Horrible in Wet Not that light
Bottom Line:
These tires are okay for pavement. On the trail they have little to no traction or volume. They are even worse then small block eights when the trail is wet. I don't think this tire is very good at all. Save your money.
total garbage ... thank god they were the first ... honestly ... okay for the front on dry only ... rear is total crap ... kenda small blocks and bontrager dry x are so much better ... kenda is just as fast ... i compare the nanos to crows ... similar traction ... both crapolla.
Submitted by
Tobias
a Cross Country Rider
from tijeras,nm
Date Reviewed: August 9, 2007
Strengths: Fast, durable, tracks well
Weaknesses: skinny, low volume, small knobs
Bottom Line:
This tire came stock on the rear of my bike and at first I thought it would be too low volume and not enough traction, but... it turned out to impress me with its fast predictable handeling, relativly good grip in the loose rocky trails I ride, and great durability and pinch resistance at high enough tire preasures. I just switched to the rampage and noticed a dramatic reduction in rolling speed. Overall a great tire for southwest trail riding.
Submitted by
Bruce Brown
a Cross Country Rider
from Des Moines
Date Reviewed: March 4, 2007
Strengths: This is the starting point for all 29"er tires. It is a must own tire for those in the midwest who ride/race on our clay packed singletrack. In fact, I think it is the favorite tire in Iowa for mountain bikers - be it 26" or 29". I own the folding bead version and consider them my "go to" tire. They work very well on the pavement on the way to the trail as well.
Weaknesses: Claimed weight is much lighter than actual weight. My two tires weigh 606 and 666 grams respectively. I'd love to get my hands on a sub 600 gram pair. Wink, wink...
Bottom Line:
I've raced them in mud, in dry, in rain and have ridden these tires in the rocky terrain of the Black Hills and have ridden them on trails all over Iowa on a Dos, a Karate Monkey and a Sugar 293. Great tire that has never failed me. Again - it is the first "go to" tire that I reach for when choosing. Plenty of tire choices out there and not all tires are perfect for everything, but these are gold standard in my book. Volume/weight/price added together make these well worth the investment and performance. Highest rating in both categories as far as I am concerned.
Similar Products Used: As for racing and buff singletrack riding - Kenda Small Block 8's, Crows, Karma 1.9's, ACX's, XR 1.8's, XR 2.25's, Exiwolfs, Notos.
Bike Setup: Mounted on American Classic wheels on my Sugar 293.
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Submitted by
slim pickens
a Cross Country Rider
from washington dc
Date Reviewed: December 21, 2006
Strengths: FAST rolling, reasonably tough, fair volume, short stiff knobs for good traction on rock, wood, pavement, dirt.
Weaknesses: packs mud, bad traction in loose stuff - especially pea gravel
Bottom Line:
Great race tire, very smooth rolling, perfect for rides with long pavement sections or off camber rocks. The short knobs won't fold, but they pack mud and aren't deep enough for loose conditions.
Similar Products Used: exiwolf, motoraptor, acx, klaw, nevegal
Bike Setup: hardtail
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Submitted by
Stefan Griebel
a Cross Country Rider
from Boulder, CO, 80303
Date Reviewed: December 21, 2006
Strengths: *Fast*. Awesome in dry conditions. Great in wet conditions if it is not muddy. Surprisingly great traction on wet and dry rocks. Also surprisingly large volume for such a fast tire.
Weaknesses: Terrible in sticky mud. Sidewalls not as durable as Exiwolves
Bottom Line:
These have become my all-time favorite 29er tires. I used to just put them on for races and TT's but after riding with a buddy who could still clean all the gnarliest technical lines with these tires, I started riding them all the time too.
I have always felt the 26" version was too slick and did terrible on roots and loose dirt. However, the 29" version is completely different. It's fatter, and the tiny knobs on the sides seem slightly bigger. The 2.1" width adds a bit of volume for pinch flat protection, and these tires corner better than the Exiwolves or the Motoraptors. IMO, for XC riding and racing these tires are at the top of the pile.
