When it comes to choosing the right tire, you often have a choice. Do you pick the overbuilt tire to prevent flats? Or do you opt for the lighter, more supple tire and take your chances? It would be great if there was some middle ground, right? That’s exactly what WTB’s SG2 protection seems to offer-and now you can find it on WTB mountain bike tires as well as gravel.
As a refresher, SG2 is WTB’s replacement for their Slash Guard puncture protection. Offering a bead-to-bead protective nylon layer, SG2 offers a lighter, more supple protective layer while still safeguarding you from flats. It also offers better air retention thanks to the flat fibers used in the construction-that means less rubber between those fibers too, so there’s less weight.
The new single-wall tires with SG2 are supposedly 10-20% lighter than previous TCS Light tires with Slash Guard, and they offer 80% better sidewall protection than a single wall tire without SG2. On the enduro side, the WTB tires will run a 60tpi casing, but the new Ranger 2.25 XC tires are offered in a lighter 120tpi casing found on their gravel tires.
Actual Weight
WTB sent over two tires for us to check out including a 29 x 2.5″ Vigilante and a 29 x 2.4″ Trail Boss, both with the 60tpi SG2 casing. The meatier Vigilante weighs 1095, and the Trail Boss is over 100g less at 984g. For such large, aggressive tires with full casing protection, the weights seem pretty good. The casing also seems very promising, feeling much more supple than your typical “burly” MTB tire. We got these in just before leaving for Sea Otter so there wasn’t time to mount them or try them, but as soon as we’re back, we’re looking forward to getting these out on the trail – just in time for things to get loose this winter.
SG2 Mountain bike tires will start at $76.95 and will be available soon.
Updated Vigilante and Verdict Tread
But wait, there’s more! Hoping to improve their aggressive Vigilante and Verdict MTB tires, WTB has given them some updates to the tread. Both tires now see improved knob designs with new siping to offer more cornering support by decreasing knob flex, and offering a better transition from the center to side knobs. The result should be a more predictable, stable tire in gnarly conditions. You’ll be able to find both with the new Sg2 casing as well.
