Earlier this week, 45NRTH already let the cat out of the bag for Groomedsingletrack.com. So what’s better than riding groomed singletrack? Riding groomed singletrack on purpose built tires from 45NRTH. That’s right, the new Flowbeist and Dunderbeist are specifically designed for riding on groomed fat bike trails. That may seem like a bit of a stretch, but there are a number of design features that will make these front and rear specific tires perfectly suited to ripping the velcro ribbons.
Find out what makes a groomed singletrack specific tire after the break…
If you ask 45NRTH, they view groomed singletrack fat bike trails as the future of Winter cycling. But just like how different environments ask different things of your mountain bike’s tires, groomed trails have their own requirements and needs for optimal performance – namely traction, cornering, and braking control on packed trails. Divided into the front specific Flowbeist and the rear Dunderbeist, the 4.6″ tires are tailored to offer the most floatation but without the weight penalty of most larger tires.
Even though the tires are designed specifically, 45NRTH points out that they will excel in any situation with loose snow. Perhaps a “shredding” snow tire makes more sense as a category, than a groomed singletrack tire, but you get the idea. These tires are meant for aggressive riding on snow.
Instead of going with a full 4.8″ tire, 45NRTH settled on a 4.6″ tread width which offers more floatation than a 4″ tire, but still offers a lower profile. An added bonus is that the 4.6″ tire will fit in many frames that lack the room for full 4.8″ rubber. In order to grip better on snow, the tires use a dual durometer construction with 60a rubber in the middle of the tread and softer 52a on the sides.
On the front, the Flowbeist features a chamfered leading edge to keep rolling resistance at a minimum. The center tread also offers plenty of perpendicular edges for confident braking on loose snow. To keep cornering in check, the shoulders are armed with 8.3mm lugs that are reinforced and have hollow centers for improved grip when leaning. Out back, the Dunderbeist has more perpendicular edges for digging in on braking and acceleration, along with center cavities to add edges and create better grip. The more edges the better, so the lateral grooves on the shoulder knobs serve the same function. The rear lugs use two different designs for better cornering with 7.4mm side lugs with fore-aft grooves and 7.8mm shoulder lugs and hollow centers for improved stability.
Weights are claimed to be around 1350-1375g for the Flowbeist, and 1500-1575g for the Dunderbeist. Sold in a 120 tpi tubeless ready casing, both tires will start with limited availability in April 2015.
