Submitted by
bayou_ss
a Cross Country Rider
from Morgan City, LA Date Reviewed: May 13, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Anything, any terrain, any day!
Duration Product Used:
Tested or demo'ed only
Price Paid:
$90.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Competent on AND off the road. Great compromise b/w pavement/hardpack/mud!
Weaknesses:
Kind of expensive, but cheaper than two sets of tires!
Similar Products Used:
Tons of tires 1.5" to 2.0". Slicks, knobbies, you name it!
Bike Setup:
Rigid Singlespeed 26er
Bottom Line:
I'm a student, on a budget, and I ride both on and off of the pavement. I can't afford a dedicated road bike AND mtb, so a compromise was in order. I ride a singlespeed fully rigid mtb, and I've tried all kinds of tires from 1.5" Kenda Kwests (I like these on the pavement!) to Kenda Nevegals (I like these on singletrack!) However, changing wheel sets (I do have two) was kind of a hassle, and since I chose singlespeed for its simplicity, I didn't want "hassle."
So I figured that the logical step was to try and find a tire that worked equally well on pavement and singletrack -- easier said than done, I know! But lo and behold, the Holy Grail Ritchey Logic Speedmax Betas! I happened upon these by accident actually. I was test riding a bike at the LBS to try out saddles. However, the Trek that I was riding had Speedmax tires, and so I completely forgot about the saddle.
I was intrigued by the tread design of the Speedmax, and figured that it would be a GREAT dual purpose tire. Initially I thought that it WAS an off-road tire due to its aggressive tread, but I noticed that the center portion of the tire's tread was actually a bit below the surface of the surrounding "center ridge." Aha! Niceeee.
I can't say that I noticed any compromises at all. I'm still a beginner XC guy, but I can say that my confidence on, and off, the road has improved since I switched to these tires. They seem to roll about as nice as the Kwest semi-slicks, and "grab" almost as well as my Nevegals!
Of course on the singletrack trails that I ride there aren't any rocks or major inclines or declines. However, there are a lot of roots, hardpack, gravel, wooden bridges over ditches/swampy land and clay/mud after daily showers. I would say that that is quite a bit of terrain to throw at a tire, but the Speedmax handles it all. The only time I felt like I realllly needed my Nevegals was after a 1.5 hour downpour and the trail was swampy/muddy up to about 3 inches deep! Alas, the Nevegals probably wouldn't have helped anyhow!
All in all, DEFINITELY worth the money! I bought the WCS dual compound, by the way. A friend has the Pros and I actually may go that route when it's time to change these tires out. I'm not sure how they'll hold up since I only have about 30 miles on them (about 50/50 pavement/dirt.)
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
A K Rider
a Weekend Warrior
from Anchorage, AK USA Date Reviewed: August 22, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
Pavement performance, speed, quietness, off road capability.
Weaknesses:
None compared to any other tire used.
Similar Products Used:
Continentals: TravelContact, Town and Country, and many aggressive Conti knobby models.- Specialized: various S-works knobbies.- Bontrager: Jones ACX. – Tiogas, Onzas, Michelins.
I've used every size from 2.3 Ultra-mega-moto-diggers to 1.5 'racing' slicks on a Mtn. bike.
Bike Setup:
Fisher HiFi Plus.
Koobi PRS saddle.
Ergon grips.
Bottom Line:
I ride to and from the trail most of the time. If I transported my bike to the trail I probably would have a more aggressive tire. Don’t compare this type of tire to a dedicated off road or road tire. It is a compromise.
That being said, it is the best compromise I’ve ever used.
I got tired of fighting heavy knobby tires on the road.
Smooth road oriented tires are scary off trail and you STILL can’t go fast on the road with a mountain bike, no matter how skinny , smooth and hard the tires are. Face it, Mtn. bikes are slow on pavement. Wanna go fast on the road? Get a road bike!
I have the Ritchey Speedmax Beta Pro tires so they don’t have the dual tread compound that the WCS tires have. They are Kevlar beaded though.
These tires are pretty darn quiet and fast on pavement, much better than any knobby. You don’t feel like you are loosing too much energy through the tires.
Trail performance has been very good. The more you lean in corners, the more knob bite you get. Even going uphill in a straight line, the tires grip very well. I have not felt like I was missing any traction at all compared to knobbies. Even deep gooey mud isn’t too bad because aggressive knobbies pack up anyway. Sand performance is great. Greasy hardpack is fine. Gravel and dry hardpack performance feels as good or better that full knobs.
Semi-slick tires like these are noticeabley faster off pavement that knobbies.
Many small hills that I used to have to downshift all the way to low on with knobbies, I can now speed all the way to the top and over with these. They make that much difference.
I have several sets of knobbies in the closet that I can put on my rims if I transport my bike to a ‘serious’ trail. They may stay unused for a long time……
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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