There was a time when my experiences with WTB convinced me their tires weren’t made for riding in the the dank forests of Cascadia. As I recall, the ones I tried felt stiff and the knobs were too small, plentiful and close together. This was a long time ago but those early impressions left a mark. Despite seeing some good reviews about other tires, I remained skeptical about the Verdict 2.5 (regular rather than wet) I had installed along with a Judge 2.4 in the rear, despite the promisingly burly tread patterns.
Often tubeless tires I’ve installed lose a little air over the first few days and sometimes they don’t start to seal well until after they’ve been ridden. The Verdict and Judge aired up and seated easily, and then sealed perfectly from day one. It’s a treat to check your pressure before a ride and find it still in the sweet spot.
I opted for the TCS Light casing up front which comes in the High Grip TriTec compound only, which is a combination of three durometers; firmer in the base, transitioning to soft midway up the knob, and then capped with a firmer compound on the tops of the centre knobs for rolling speed. Side knobs are uncapped with the soft compound.
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