The WTB VelociRaptors features exceptional front steering control, whileThe rear grabsTheTrail helping you get upThat killer climb, helpingTo makeThis aTire comboThat is great in wetTo dry and looseTo roughTrail conditions.26" Bead Folding Comp: Cable bead Comp: Steel bead Race: Aramid bead Weight Folding Comp Front: 719 g Folding Comp Rear: 718 g Comp Front: 795 g Comp Rear: 795 g Race Front: 700 g Race Rear: 700 g
Submitted by
Glenn98_11
a Cross Country Rider
from Bergen, NJ, USA
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2012
Strengths: Rear specific tire with its paddles is an awesome gripper!!! Eats hills for breakfast, lunch and dinner!!! Excellent bang for the buck.
Weaknesses: Wears quicker than I would have liked but hey, that's a trade off for a grippy compound. If you want something that will last forever, get a hybrid tire.
Bottom Line:
I bought my bike used 2 years ago and replaced the IRC Mythos XC tires which would spin in the mud and were getting dry rot. I chose the front and rear specific WTB VelociRaptor Comp wire bead versions and put thornproof tubes in them. The rear tire is an awesome gripper, the front tire is OK (front tires aren't subject to any torque so not much of an issue for a xc rider). The difference in the rear was like night and day!!! Trails where I would come to a halt and have to dismount and walk out of a mud hole, I was now pedaling out!!! Never had a flat but then again, they may have been due to the thornproof tubes - great piece of mind for those of us that don't care about weight!
Some have complained of high rolling resistance but here again, it's a xc tire, not a dh tire. The rear has worn down quicker than I would have liked but that may be because I have taken it on roads as well as trails. Down to about half worn in 1K miles. Am I being nit picky? Can't really compain as they're only $18. With many MTB tires costing over $40, I could go through 2 sets of these and still spend less $$.
Overall, great gripper and great bang for the buck!
Bike Setup: Cannondale 2002 F500 Hardtail with Headshok front suspension.
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Submitted by
larry6969
a Weekend Warrior
from mass.
Date Reviewed: March 24, 2012
Strengths: the front and rear specific work well together( just watch your front pressure) the rear is a paddle type tire that will climb up a wall, went up a rocky trail last week that i was unable to make with my stock bontrangers or kenda telonix that i had on at different times. i stayed in the saddle, put her in low and up i went, i cant say enough about the rocky grip, it was awesome! dry single track and such is equally as good, the soft crap,,,fair,but find me a tire that is great in that crap and ill buy it for you,lol. but now the reason ive been trying different tires,,, wet rocks and roots, and the result was good, i havent ridden in the pouring rain yet, but did have to cross a couple small creeks directly on to rocks and roots and i was happy, tiny(tiny i say) slippage, but was able to peddle out of it!! great price too.
Weaknesses: rolling resistance on pavement, but who cares, if you wanna spend most of your time on pavement, buy a road bike!! this most likely is not the tire for you if you race, as it is a med. to med high weight tire, its not ridiculous, but there are lighter tires out there.
Bottom Line:
so far these tires have not disappointed me, not really made for pavement, i sound like a jeep with huge tires,lol, but my main goal is trail performance, and so far, so good! i think these are a real good tire for the $$$. i will buy these again, and also would recommend them to a friend.
Similar Products Used: bontranger jones2.1, kenda hans rey telonix 2.2 & 2.4
Bike Setup: stock trek fuel ex8 with steve "the animal" hamilton platform pedals
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Submitted by
seanb561
a Weekend Warrior
from Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Date Reviewed: February 12, 2012
Strengths: Great at climbing, just stand up and pump it and you can get up anything. Cornering is fantastic too. Haven't had a flat yet either. The front and rear tread designs work extremely well together.
Weaknesses: Rolling resistance, but who cares about that. I guess noisy on road?
Bottom Line:
Great tire, inexpensive and rugged, performs better than I expected. They wear better than I thought with some on road riding. They measure wider than the 2.1 inches, which is a good thing. Would defiantly buy again.
Submitted by
Snake Plissken
a Cross Country Rider
from OKC, OK, USA
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2011
Strengths: Excellent grip on solid rock and cement abutments. Tough over sharp rocks or rough pastures.
Weaknesses: The rear wears quickly on pavement (not really a weakness, just fyi).
Stickers and goatheads (probably normal?)
Bottom Line:
From the limestone & sandstone trails near Tulsa to the granite hills of SW Oklahoma, I have NEVER cut a sidewall or pinch-flatted these tires the past 8 or 9 years.
Warm months I use the old ones for urban riding in OKC until there is nothing left, hundreds and hundreds of all-purpose miles.
$26 wire bead, I get roughly 6 or 8 months use from each set. If I used them for off-road only, they would probably last a year or more.
Favorite Trail: LAKE TOM STEED - Great Plains SP, Mountain Park, OK www.ridesteed.com
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$26.00
Purchased At: LBS
Similar Products Used: :( Conti Speed King: cut the sidewall 2 miles in. (not really similar, but the LBS put them on and said that I would like them)
Bike Setup: Trek hardtail
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Submitted by
ZUUL99
a Weekend Warrior
from Scottsdale
Date Reviewed: October 12, 2011
Strengths: Great tire, the front and rear specific tire is no gimmick it works and it works well. The rear tire is a paddle tread. it has lots if traction and while climbing with a loose surface there is no slip. The front tire has a directional pattern and stays planted to the ground. with these tires you can really push your bike.
its quite thick this is great if you are an AZ rider, less flats from thorns
Weaknesses: When first installed they flung debris but that stopped once they got dirty. on concrete and asphalt they are kind of noisey but that is expected from and off road tire. There are some molding issues, some spots have injection spots these can be cut off and dont affect the tire
Bottom Line:
Great tire, a lot of bite kind of priecy but well worth it.
Strengths: Downhill, xc, hillclimbs, freestyle just anything you throw at it basically tough tire if your willing to punish them really
Weaknesses: Only on loose sand will the front tire loses stability actually
Bottom Line:
These can get you anywhere wherever you want to go period no really best thing you could get for a even for a picky guy The only tire you have to buy if your really tear it up on everytime you ride
Submitted by
kdihlong
a Weekend Warrior
from Tavares, FL USA
Date Reviewed: November 8, 2010
Strengths: Sandy areas especially on turns, sandy hills going up or down.
Weaknesses: Not the best on asphalt but not a big issue.
Bottom Line:
This tire made the trail down the street from my house (Mt Dora) much more ridable. The trail is a great trail and fun to ride but its new- lots of sandy areas including turns and hills. The hills were tough to climb with the standard OEM issue Bontrager Jones or Connection. We often times had to walk. The sandy turns would send you into the woods. With Velociraptors you can ride must faster with confidence. Just bought my son a set. I highly recommend them and you can't beat the price at performancebike.com.
Submitted by
nickav21
a Cross Country Rider
from Bartlett, TN, USA
Date Reviewed: August 12, 2010
Strengths: Super cheap (I did the buy one get one free offer at Blue Sky), incredible traction in mud and really soft ground, durability
Weaknesses: Rolling resistance, bad cornering
Bottom Line:
Imagine driving a truck with hardcore mud tires down the interstate. Just purely unnecessary amounts of rolling resistance and traction. Until there's mud, then it's awesome! Same with these. On hard pack these are awful and don't even corner well (they WILL break loose if you push them in corners. I've proven this time after time....), but when there's mud, HOLY @#$% these are amazing!
5 chilis for value, because $25 for both tires is CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP
3 chilis for overall because they can't corner and are terrible unless it's muddy
Similar Products Used: Bontrager stock tires, a few other tires by WTB
Bike Setup: Trek 3900 SS, Rock Shox Tora fork, a bunch of other stuff
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Submitted by
rpalmer
a Cross Country Rider
from Salt Lake City, UT
Date Reviewed: July 20, 2010
Strengths: Tread does not wear down quickly. Good grip on the uphills. Generally good control and traction. EXCELLENT on Slickrock trails.
Weaknesses: Maybe its my riding style, but I have had TONS of flats with these tires. Seems like almost every time I ride. I have tried one method after another to try and prevent flats but nothing works with these tires. Also, they don't do sharp corners very well without sliding, especially on loose surfaces. Mud is not good with these tires either.
Bottom Line:
Good tires for a beginner or non-aggressive rider. My aggressive style and the types of advanced trailes I ride are not very compatible with these tires. I'll be looking for something a little wider (I have 2.1s, 2.5s with kevlar would be better for me). I'll continue to use them until they wear out, although I'm afraid that will take another season of riding or two, and I ride about twice per week. These babies are tough!
Submitted by
GTscoob
a Weekend Warrior
from Atlanta, GA, USA
Date Reviewed: May 9, 2010
Strengths: Really cheap, predictable, lightweight in folding bead, extremely easy to mount, strong sidewalls
Weaknesses: Very low overall grip, extremely slow rolling, front tire washes out when slightly leaned over
Bottom Line:
These are great tires if you're a complete mtb beginner, in that respect they're perfect for OEM tires. They grip pretty well if you keep the bike relatively upright but I still dont trust them in high speed turns. If you lean over too much the front tire will wash out 100% of the time and is impossible to save, in this regard the tire is extremely predictable. This is why I think they're a great tire for learning on, but once you develop your skills as a rider you will push the limits of your components and want to upgrade.
I like the rear tire for riding in really rough stuff and it was pretty easy to control when drifted. It was just hard to drift a tireset when the front end would wash out first. In car terms, my bike always felt like I was going to understeer in the turns and altering tire pressure f/r did not alleviate the problem.
I will never run a front Velociraptor again. I'll keep the back tire for really loose trails or muddy conditions. Another tip about the rear tire, run it in the cross country/dry direction year round, it is better in all conditions than the downhill/mud direction.
Similar Products Used: panaracer pro xc side wall busted
Bike Setup: 2002 Giant Rainier disc brakes 27 speed with my sweet velociraptors
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Submitted by
IdahoInbred920
a Cross Country Rider
from Salmon, ID, USA
Date Reviewed: March 24, 2010
Strengths: Cheap, tread pattern eats hills for breakfast, durable, long lasting, sexy
Weaknesses: This is an MTB tire, it will sound like the studded snow tires on my corolla, like a chainsaw. That said, what the hell are you doing with this thing on pavement anyway?
Bottom Line:
The ultimate tire for clawing your way up an insane grade you never thought you could conquer. This tire inspires huge amounts of confidence knowing it will grab any terrain save wet clay (and I can't think of a tire that can handle that stuff) and a price that is surprisingly reasonable considering the cost of most high quality gear.
Similar Products Used: Tons of WTB, Maxxis, Kenda, etc.
Bike Setup: 07 19" On One Inbred (Geared), Deore drivetrain with XTR rear derailleur, hayes nine brakes, Rockshox Tora 318, SunRims Blackeyes, Ritchey post & stem.
