I use Ricks f/r without inserts for riding and racing in the Midwest. It’s my favorite tire by far I’ve used over the past 10 years.
1 Like
For an anecdote from the elite world, at last year’s Marathon Worlds Kate Courtney made a late decision to run an insert in her back tire (Rick), and it arguably saved her the World Championship. She punctured late and rode on the insert for the last ~20 minutes, if I recall. Since the insert was a late decision, one could assume it’s not a part of her normal setup.
I did a CX race on my FS mtb last year. The opening was a really bumpy grass section. I rolled off the front and got a large gap doing 150w. If it wasn’t for having some boards to go over that I haven’t practiced at all I would have had a 30 second gap within the first few minutes of the race.
Being on a FS bike was basically a cheat code
3 Likes
Non-scientific N1 post. Just finished the Cape Epic, my partner and I were both on Air Traks front/rear. We were both really happy with them. Tons of punctures (and destroyed wheels) around us, but we had zero issues. Traction was great and I was rolling away from the people around me on trails and gravel or paved descents. I’m a bigger guy (86kg before gear) and comfortable descending at high speed (bike park background), so that has something to do with it. I’ll use them again for events like this. Nothing quantitative here, but figured I’d share.
12 Likes
What tire am I looking at? Is that the new pirelli?
2 Likes
That is most certainly what you are looking at 
1 Like
It’s the XC RH. Less than 25 miles total and it left me stranded twice. It doesn’t puncture like normal tires and just tears/rips open. I’m putting the XC RC on the rear and have a XC M coming to try and finish testing Pirelli’s but I don’t have much confidence in them. I will never use the RH again.
Also, since my first ride with the Mezcal/Peyote, I haven’t wanted to put anything else on. I’ve PR’ed almost every segment over the ricks, Pirelli’s, and dubs. They are so smooth and confidence inspiring that the speed feels easy. I haven’t even found the limits yet and raced them this last weekend and won.
I just ordered two more and a barzo to experiment with.
5 Likes
Thanks, I was wondering if they would be a good option for leadville. Ill take that as a no
1 Like
Was it 2 separate punctures or the same one that you weren’t able to get to seal effectively the first time?
1 Like
Do you have the lite or Prowall casing?
1 Like
Two separate slices on two separate days. This happened at my home trails where I have never had a puncture or tire slice. I also coach our local NICA club and a kid with the RH’s front and back had a double flat a few weeks before my incidents.
These were the Lite casings. I’m sub 150lbs.
Below is a chart of my two fastest recorded times on a tight and mixed conditions segment at my local trail. Tire pressures were all approximately the same (16f-18r)
Unfortunately, I only had two runs on the Pirelli’s because of the flats. Once I get the M, I will go back and see what they can do.
The Ricks and Dubs almost feel identical and the times reflect that. They both lack front end confidence when pushed hard although they were both predictable.
The KOM and my fastest time was set with the Vittoria’s and it was on one of my first laps with the tires. I’ve since set a handful of sub 5:20’s and never felt on the limit like I did with the dubs and ricks.
7 Likes
Is the lite vs prowall difference in the sidewall only? It looks like yours was in the tread so the more durable prowall likely wouldn’t have helped?
Glad you posted this info because I thought I was narrowed in on the XC M/XC RC combo but now I’m back to Tri/Dub or Barzo/Mezcal (I had the previous version trail and while they rolled fast I crashed the most I ever have on those tires. I also thought they were quite slick on dew covered roots and rocks on cool evenings and mornings)
1 Like
The peyotes are lightning fast, and my preferred tire on hero dirt. I can manage them as things get dried out a bit, but once it turns to loose over hard I just loose confidence in them. Part of that might be me having 30 pounds on you, that is a lot more mass to try and get around a corner.
I’ve switched to the dubs because they are much more set and forget for me. I can trust them to hook up no matter the trail conditions.
Never had much issue with the peyotes on slippery rocks. We have one race that features a bunch of sandstone ledges that can get pretty greasy. There isn’t an XC tire that is amazing at that in my mind. And if there is one, it is going to be slow af for the 95% of the course that doesn’t have those features.
1 Like
Those are some dramatic differences in time, 316 seconds for the vittoria vs. 333/335 vs. the contis and schwalbes, a solid 5% faster. Push that out to a 100 minute race and you’re halfway thru your beer before the “other you” gets across the line.
Joe
1 Like
I’ve only run the Peyote on the rear but it hasn’t felt any more loose compared to the ricks or dubs. Once my next tire shipment comes, I’m planning to do a mez/mez and barzo/mez test.
Not that I have anything against the peyote, but I really believe I’ve been going about this all wrong. My focus previously was on BRR data. After a few years of racing I’ve noticed the fast guys aren’t all running what’s fast on BRR. I think I’m on to something now and ironically a GMBN video just came out that I concur with 100%.
1 Like
I’m as shocked as you are and even more so considering I spent all season on the dubs and ricks and have very little time on these Vittorias. They got so much confidence and for me that appears to be more important than a few watts faster rolling resistance.
1 Like
I’m very surprised to see how slow the Pirelli appears to be…quite shocked actually as they appeared to test extremely well on bicycle rolling resistance (I know a drum is not the real world)….I have the Prowall version with an XC RC up front and an XC RH in the rear and was hoping to get a faster set-up than my previous all Specialized setup. We still have snow on the ground in eastern Canada so I won’t be able to test anything until May. Are you using the new Pirelli compound (the 2026 model) or the older model?
These should be the 2026 version. As previously stated, I only had a few runs on the Pirelli’s. I took them out two separate days and the rear sliced each time. I was also a fool and used BRR data to select my off road tires but this test has changed my perspective. I will do some testing in the next week or two and have a few races coming up. I will keep everyone posted on my findings.
3 Likes
Thanks. I just can’t get myself to buy Vitoria tires as they are so expensive!!! Keep us posted!
1 Like