Looking for something that rolled fast but could bit in the corners, UBI tech and Ashland, OR, local racer Nathan Riddle brought some ideas to WTB back in 2013. Now, the fruits of those conversations are here as the new Riddler 27.5 x 2.4 mountain bike tire.
Designed to be used on the rear wheel, it combines the fast rolling, tightly spaced knobs of the Beeline’s center section with more aggressive cornering knobs similar to the Vigilante.
“This tire was born out of a discussion over what makes a good tire line,” stated Jason Moeschler, WTB’s global OEM sales manager and racer for Team WTB. “I showed Nathan [Riddle] what we had mapped out and he liked what he saw but he definitely identified a hole in the lineup. I got him in touch with Evan [Smith, WTB’s product design engineer] and before we knew it, a tire was being drawn over a race weekend.”
Riddle had this to say:
“Tires are really one of the biggest tech advantages a bike rider can have over the terrain or competition. I had been struggling whether to run the Beeline due to its light weight and fast rolling characteristics for a given race that incorporated an XC stage and a DH stage (with no tire changes,) or the Vigilante for its aggressive cornering traits. Then I realized… Why compromise one for the other? I pitched the idea for a tire that blended the best traits of both models into one tire – The Riddler.”
Two versions will be offered:
Riddler 2.4 27.5” TCS Light
- Lightweight Casing (single layer)
- Dual compound, Dual DNA rubber
- 868g
- $67.95
Riddler 2.4 27.5” TCS Tough
- Enduro Casing (dual layer of Lightweight Casing
- Dual compound, Dual DNA rubber
- 1108g
- $76.95 MSRP
Both are available now.
