The upcoming Tioga Edge 22 trail mountain bike tire takes the concept of open space and runs it through a fresh filter. The idea is to make a front-specific tread design that very quickly creates a cornering edge as soon as you start leaning. Then, as you lean further into a corner, the outer knobs provide a second row of cornering edges, effectively doubling your grip.
A quick background on the idea: The Kenda Nevegal introduced the concept, but it put the open-spaced row between the center knobs and the outer row. While some riders loved them (it is, after all, one of the more popular tread patterns of all time), others felt that the gap had a weird, um, gap in traction that let the tire slip just a bit before the outer row hooked up. It could be disconcerting if you weren’t expecting it. Tioga’s solution lets the tires start using that first biting edge as soon as you start leaning, then keeps both inner and outer biting edges engaged for the majority of your cornering angle. That’s the theory, anyway.
The design is front specific, with extremely ramped leading edges that also bolster the knobs against braking forces. Tioga says because the center-ish knobs have such long ramps and are fairly long themselves, the design still rolls smoothly and efficiently
The Edge 22 will have a bead-to-bead puncture protection layer, which should be especially helpful since the center section is so open. Look for it to launch as a 27.5×2.5, with a 29er model likely coming later. It’s planned for a first quarter 2019 launch, final specs later this year.
The Binary isn’t new, but worth sharing. It has longer ridges in the intermediate area that help maintain traction as you transition into a corner. It’s aimed at the mostly road crowd that might go off road a bit.
Fastr is based off their BMX tire of the same name and uses recessed micro bristles to provide traction only when needed but won’t add rolling resistance.
