These tires actually changed with my taste in tire selection. How can this happen? Well just bear with me for a minute and I will tell you how I rediscovered this tire after a few years of letting it sit.
These tires came stock on a bike I got about 6 or seven years ago. At the time I was a one set of tires guy. There were tires on my bike so I rode them. Why would I want to have more than I needed? So I rode these tires regardless of conditions and they were actually a good pick for this type of riding.
The Knobs
The Velociraptors have very large and tall knobs with sharp blocky edges. The Front tires knobs are angled in the center for better traction in the turns, and they even tacked on some large side knobs. The rear also has large side knobs, but the central knobs look more like paddles than knobs. (So if you are hydroplaning… ) Despite the huge amount of rubber on these tires, the knobs are spaced far enough apart that they shed mud well in all but the most tacky conditions. In the end these tires have amazing traction in almost any condition.
The Problems
While all these huge blocky knobs make for great traction, they also produce quite a bit of rolling resistance when conditions are fast. In recent years tire makers have all started producing “beveled knobs” which allow the front of each knob to produce less resistance while leaving the rear for traction (see Specialized Roll-X and IRC Serac). The other benefit is that the beveled edge allows the tire maker to use less rubber and save weight. So compared to more recent tires the Velocoraptors are a bit heavy and have high rolling resistance. This makes them great all around tires but no longer a strong racing choice except in certain conditions.
Pleasant Surprise – They get better with age
After riding these tires almost exclusively for a few years I started getting into picking different tires for different conditions. At this point this tire got put into the rotation and eventually used less and less as the version I have has a wire bead and I started leaning to the Kevlar beads. Somewhere in this process I lost my front tire. I think I actually sold one of my bikes with this tire on it. The rear tire however has stayed in the arsenal but I have found that my use of it has changed. As this tire has started to wear down, the knobs have gotten a little shorter. Also the knobs wear faster in the places that have the hardest contact (the front of each knob). This meant that they have naturally created a slightly beveled knob making them much faster than they originally were. So after all my complaining about rolling resistance what I found is that after riding them for a few years they actually changed to meet my wants and needs.
Durability
If you read the last section you will have noticed that I have owned this tire for 6-7 years and they are still rideable. None of the side knobs have ripped off and the sidewalls are still intact. I don’t thing I really need to say more on this topic. These are very durable tires.
Final Recommendation
If you are a racer there are better off the shelf picks, but this is still a good choice. It is probably not worth you while to try to ride this tire to the point where it gets fast. If you are looking for a good long lasting all around training tire, this is the one for you. As a new tire this one shines in loose dry conditions or muddy wet conditions. As it wears it works better in dry hard to loose conditions.
li All season cross country performance tire for beginner through Pro riders li Precise steering control and great soil clearing characteristics li La...More at eBay
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