I just ordered a pair of Barzos. The Swiss plateau is quickly going into full autumn mode, which means mud, leafs and slime, so will be able to report on their grip quickly
Very interested to hear what the Barzos are like and how they might compare to the new Specialized Fast Trak.
I don’t ride Dubs
I like this approach. Folks often talk about peyote rear and mezcal front since its the “next step” but for me the mezcal is a rear tire. I have used it it the front, but moving to the barzo the bike felt sooo much more balanced. These experiences are with the older tire compound, but I imagine still relevant.
Sorry.. that was for @BCM
Cheers
Missed that. I’m 175# ish. Bike is 23.5#. Add in kit, spares, water, fuel, etc.
I’ve been running as low as 14/16 (With inserts)
which inserts?
I’ve used Tubolight Evo SL and Vittoria Airliner Light (XC). Marginal preference to the Vittoria, but both are super light and haven’t had an issue with either.
Ahhh… I’m 30lbs less with similar bike weight. No inserts and flatted my front at 15psi. Going to try 16/18 this weekend at a XC race.
How many psi do you think the inserts afford you? We have a nearly identical system weight, and I’ve been going no lower than 17f/19r.
Hard to tell. I’ve been running pretty stupid low pressures since 2023 and have had a total of one freak flat on a combination of 2.2 Race Kings and 2.4 Dub’s (Freak Sidewall Slash on a new RK - not a pinch) and that includes 4 trips to Leadville and all my training up / down Columbine, Powerline, and Sugarloaf plus riding / training here in the Northeast. In fact in 2023 I think I probably ended up 14/16 on a 2.2 because I filled them thinking the temp would come up and it didn’t.
The one thing I am working on though is pushing the bike harder in corners and seeing if I’m getting any squirminess or if things start to feel better slightly higher. And, honest answer is I’m a conservative descender compared to some and not sending it (Top 25% on Powerline, but closer to top 40% on Columbine) and that’s a small focus for me for next year. But, I can’t say I’ve noticed anything on my trails and rides.
Just mounted a set of 2.4 XC Race Barzos. 61mm wide on 30mm IW rims. Will leave them at 35psi overnight to induce some growth. Knobs are way bigger than I imagined, look very aggressive, make the Racing Ray look like an hardback tire. Eager to try them
interested to hear what you think
I had a set of the last gen Barzo’s and found them to ride very pingy/not damped at pressures required to keep the sideswalls supportive (21f/23r for my 165lbs). I also did not feel confident on wet roots. My son has one of the newer ones and I am tempted to give them another try.
I am holding out for Schwalbe’s 2.4 casing used on the Ricks to come out for a redesigned Ralph/Ray to replace my existing set, but they may not make it much longer.
Hopefully more models in XC PRO casing for 2026… I finished testing the Ricks this week and leaving them on to keep riding some.
Did a 60km loop this morning, with a bit of everything, from tarmac to gravel to a local XCO track. Quite wet everywhere. Some basics:
- They settled at 62mm wide, so very good volume.
- The casing feels quite stiff and bouncy. I ran my usual wet weather pressures of 17f/19r as I did with the Aspens, but the Barzos felt overinflated. I suppose this is a matter of re adjusting pressures, so won’t necessarily list it as a con for now.
- This doesn’t seem to have an effect on performance, but the rear tire knobs squirm audibly when putting the power down on paved climbs. It’s quite annoying.
Let’s start with the pros:
- I won’t comment how fast or slow they are on pavement, but they don’t seem to be a penalty there. Did a PR on a local paved climb, my previous record being on Racing Ray/Ralph. Mind that my previous go at it was during the spring training ramp up, so hardly apples to apples.
- Climbing traction is really really good in most conditions.
- They clear mud well enough, much better than the Racing Ray/Ralph and almost as well as the Aspen.
- Traction on slimy conditions and leaves is good, and they break traction very slowly and progressively.
- Gravel cornering traction seems to be very good.
Now the cons:
- In proper mud, they are nothing special. But again, I’m yet to find a tire that is. The Racing Ray/Ralphs are remarkably bad at proper mud for me, as they pack and become slicks. The Barzos feel maybe marginally better than Aspens.
- This was the worst part for me, these things DO NOT like even slightly wet roots. Im a bit disappointed on how bad they are there, noticeably worse than the Maxxis Maxxspeed compound and the Racing Ray/Ralph.
Key takeaway for me (for now) is that the Barzos seem to be quite a competent tire but not a silver bullet for winter riding.
I’m currently riding Vittorias that measure 62mm (2.45”) also. The extra tire volume is much more confidence inspiring (more grip, absorbs chatter better, fewer rim strikes) than my previous 57mm (2.25”, supposedly 2.4”) tires.
It’s different enough where I’ll never ride an undersized tire again (except for maybe a course like Leadville where the best tires - eg Conti Dubs - tend to run undersized).
By the way, I’ve found the following formula to work pretty well for me to estimate tire size based on bead-to-bead measurement.
Installed width = (bead-to-bead width + rim width) / pi.
So for my Vittorias:
Installed width = (165mm + 30mm)/3.14 = 62mm, or 2.45”.
This allows you to estimate installed tire size before going to the trouble of buying them (eg measure quickly in the bike shop) and installing them.
In contrast, my Schwalbes were 153 bead to bead, and measured a little over 2.25”.
I was looking at my dubs yesterday and all of the knobs are basically coming off in roughly 400 miles. First set i had the knobs rip off on the fire ride and it was warrantied. Anyone else having these tires wear out quickly?
Funny you mention it - I just had a lug (just one though) rip off on my rear tire. Not sure how many miles, used them for Leadville, some training and riding before and after. But, not a huge amount of miles and I wouldn’t have considered them worn out by any means even though the rear was wearing faster than the front.