Leading up to the Taipei show WTB had slowly released all of their new treads one by one, but it wasn’t until we got to Taiwan that were actually able to see many of them. While the Horizon road plus tire was released at NAHBS, the rest of the tires were simply computer renderings with the actual rubber to be seen in Taipei. If you aren’t caught up on the the news from WTB it’s all about sizes – a lot more of them. From adding new sizes of endurance road tires to the somewhat new road plus category, WTB is bulking up on options no matter what your ride preference may be…
Falling into the endurance road/light gravel category, the new Exposure comes in two sizes with very different tread patterns. The 30mm tire has a completely slick center tread with a lightly textured cornering surface. This is definitely a big tire for pavement or smooth dirt. The 34mm tire on the other hand still has a smooth center tread but ramps up pretty quickly from the siped intermediate section to diamond tread to actual cornering knobs. WTB states these run a higher TPI casing than their standard tubeless and are fully TCS compatible with a folding bead and their fast rolling Distance+ rubber compound. Weights are claimed to be around 345g/370g and will sell for $80 starting in June/July.
Ah, road plus. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t at least curious to try it out, but at some point mountain bikes and gravel bikes will have to meet in the middle, right? The concept is that you get almost the same tire diameter, but with more cushion and clearance in more frames. Above the 27.5 x 47mm tire is side by side with a 700 x 30c Exposure. Meant for 23-25mm rims, the Horizon is expected to be run at 50-55 psi for a crushing-everything-in-its-path ride. The tire is full TCS with a claimed weight of 515g and will sell for around $67.95.
If you like the Riddler tread pattern enough to want it on all of your bikes, you’re in luck. The Riddler is now available in almost every size including 26, 27.5, 29, and 700c with tread blocks ranging from little micro knobs to the full mountain bike variety. The tires are also available in multiple casings/builds and will sell for $54.95-$76.95.
