For the last week or two, I've noticed my back tire just skidding all over the trail. On Wednesday, I had a lot of issues getting the rear tire to stay planted on ascents where I stood up and whenever I was braking hard around turns. It's not that I was necessarily braking hard, it seems that it would just lock up at the slightest braking. After looking at the tires on Saturday morning, they almost looked like they were dry rotted. I've beat these tires up a lot and I've been very pleased with them over the last few months, but I really felt like new tires would be helpful. I had seen some WTB Exiwolfs at Wheels of Wellington for $26 each, so I decided to shop around and see who else had tires as well as any deals they might have.
Awesome. At first I was a bit hesitant about the Exiwolfs at Amelia Earhart Park, but I'm more confident after putting 22 miles on them today. 22 miles? How did I get that number? Oh yeah, since I was a little concerned about their handling in the turns, I hurried back to the apt and went to Pinehurst as the sun was setting. My idea was that maybe I hadn't given them as fair of a shake since I was at a place I had never been to before.
At the familiar Pinehurst trail, I had much more grip over logs and roots than with the Nevegals. The grip in the sand was better than the Nevegals, but I had to be careful not to turn too quickly or I'd wash out. Straight line grip is pretty good. I pushed myself pretty hard at Pinehurst and finished in 29 minutes. I probably could have been quicker, but I made some mistakes as I couldn't see the trail as well as I normally do and I was a little tired and cramped from the 14 miles earlier at Amelia Earhart Park.
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| Exiwolf on the left, Nevegal on the right |
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| Looking side by side, the Exiwolf 2.3s look thinner than the Nevegal 2.2s |
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| Nothing screams class and sophistication like this. |
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| I'm pretty sure I didn't hit 46.8 mph today, but if the computer says I did, then I'll take it. |
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| New lowest weight. I was 185+ a few months ago. |
The tires definitely roll much better than the Nevegals, especially on pavement. I was able to hit 20 mph and sustain it without bouncing. I couldn't go above 15 mph without bouncing on the Nevegals. I don't want to dismiss the nevegals because when they were new, they bit into everything. I loved them. After 610 miles though, they showed a lot of wear and almost looked dry rotted in places. I'm keeping them in case I rip the Exiwolfs, but I'm betting the Exiwolfs won't come off the bike for some time. I finished with 632 miles on my bike today. Here are some pics of the new tires:
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