WTB Weirwolf Tires: Review
WTB has reworked and re-released their eminent Weirwolf tire. The new version sees radical changes to the side knobs and a tweaked tread pattern. Inside we test the 2.3" Weirwolf AM TCS version that uses a novel combination of a UST bead and standard casing. Included is a great video from WTB explaining the design process and featuring some great riding!
Read on...Watch and see the design process behind the new WTB Weirwolf tire:
The Tech
One of the major defining features of the new Weirwolf tire are its terraced side knobs. While they certainly look quite different to what you'd usually find, there is some science behind the design. Look closely at the side lugs and you'll see that their shape consists of three distinct levels, or steps, that taper towards the knob's full height. The narrower outer tip, slightly wider middle, and broad base, in effect provide an escalating amount of knob stiffness as speed and lean angle increase. At lower speeds and more upright angles the knobs are able to conform to the ground more because their outer edges are soft and flexible, but go faster and lean harder and you'll be using the knobs full height, including its wider and stiffer base. A standard knob will have roughly the same amount of deflection as forces acted upon it increase. The idea behind the terraced side knobs found on the new Weirwolf is to have them flex progressively as forces become higher.
![photo]()
Other changes from the original design include rows of three cornering knobs as opposed to the original versions grouping of four, and closer spacing of the center knobs. Having the center tread in a slightly tighter layout has decreased rolling resistance while keeping braking traction at a high level. One of the issues with the first generation of the Weirwolf tire was the transition zone to extreme lean angles. The guys at WTB were fully aware that not only did a lot of less aggressive riders never get the tire leaned over far enough to take advantage of its cornering capabilities, but that those same riders ended up spending too much time in the tires admittedly vague transition area between upright and leaned over. The solution on the new Weirwolf is a tighter transition between the crown and side knobs that should offer more consistent and predictable traction.
![photo]()
While the most visible change may be the new tread design, riders may benefit even more from WTB's updated bead and casing changes. Their TCS (Tubeless Compatibility System) system will hopefully remedy one of the biggest issues with converting non-tubeless tires to be run reliably - the bead itself. I have plenty of experience using a combination of standard tires with sealant and love the fact that I can run lower pressures without worrying about pinch flatting, but those same low pressures have resulted in many unseated tires in hard corners. It seems that one issue was created as another was solved. WTB's solution is to use a proper UST air tight tire bead combined with a light weight non-tubeless casing. The result is claimed to be a tire that is lighter than a full UST version, but is much less likely to burp air under hard cornering loads or awkward landings. If you're using a tubeless rim all you'll need to do is pour in a small amount of sealant of your choice and you'll be good to go. The new bead is also designed to seat quickly onto non-UST rims, although you'll still need to seal the rim bed with a tubeless rim strip. The final detail is the addition of thin nylon strips within the casing that are positioned just above the bead. WTB refers to these as Inner Peace and they protect against punctures and even help to minimize the chance of cutting the tire sidewall in extreme cases.
![photo]()
Installation and Riding Impressions
We were warned that the new Weirwolf's bead was tighter than some others, and while it certainly took some thumb strength to push the final few inches over and into the rim bed, it wasn't as tight as others. With proper technique you should not need to use any tire levers and I would discourage the practice any time you're dealing with a UST tire bead. Once installed on the rim I managed to seat the tires using only a floor pump. While this is common with number of tire and rim combinations, what impressed me was that they seated perfectly straight at only 30 psi. The fact that they didn't require excessive air pressure or soapy water in order to seat correctly was a pleasant surprise. Also a surprise was the actual weight of the 2.3" AM TCS Weirwolf, 950 grams. That's 150 grams over WTB's claimed weight.
![photo]()
I installed the new WTB tires on both the front and back of my personal Trek Remedy and they saw plenty of miles in nearly every condition imaginable, including the dry and dusty days to the muddiest of muddy days, and everything in between. The latest Weirwolf has a lot of great attributes, but it is certainly a tire with its own personality. It rides quite differently than most other large volume and highly predictable all-mountain tires. It was quickly apparent that the new Weirwolf rolls remarkably fast, despite the aggressive tread pattern relative to tires that roll as well. A lot of my climbing is done on steep and hard packed forest service roads and double tracks and this is where the lack of rolling resistance was most noticeable. All four separate knobs that span the tire's crown are ramped on their leading edges and this surely must play a role. They lacked the distinctive tractor tire feeling where each tire lug feels very pronounced on hard packed terrain, instead they took very little effort to turn which was greatly appreciated. Usually when a tire rolls this well, one would expect it to be seriously lacking in the braking traction department. Not so with the Weirwolf. In dry conditions the braking traction was on par, if not slightly better, than any other 2.3" width tire I've ever tested.
![photo]()
Cornering performance was predictable up until a point at which the Weirwolf simply let go all at once. To their credit, in dry or tacky conditions the tires could be pushed quite hard at a very aggressive lean angle before they let loose in an all out slide. Just like WTB claims, in the right hands this attribute can be a ton of fun, but I found that the point at which they broke traction to be too abrupt and uncontrolled. The sudden event that may have caused them to lose grip could be as small as a slight amount of mid corner rear brake drag when the Weirwolfs were already on their limit. I experienced this sensation while pushing hard under many different riding conditions. Unfortunately performance worsened with bad weather. WTB makes no bones about the Weirwolf not being the ideal tire for muddy situations and I would have to agree. Barring mud specific models, all tires become more of a handful in bad conditions, but there are some that perform admirably enough to leave on all year up here in B.C.. The Weirwolf isn't one of those as it packed quickly and the tread compound had nothing for wet roots. While the Weirwolf was disappointing in the wet, it proved to be a reliable tire as I wasn't forced to fix a single flat when they were on my bike - even when running them at excessively low pressures when trying to deal with wet and rooty trails. I was not able to unseat the bead no matter how under inflated I rode them.
Pros
Excellent braking in dry conditions
Rolls very fast for having an aggressive tread pattern
UST bead and standard casing proved reliable when used with sealant
Cons
Unpredictable on/off feel
Not ideal in wet conditions
150 grams heavier than claimed
Visit WTB.com for more info on the Weirwolf and all their other products.
Read on...
One of the major defining features of the new Weirwolf tire are its terraced side knobs. While they certainly look quite different to what you'd usually find, there is some science behind the design. Look closely at the side lugs and you'll see that their shape consists of three distinct levels, or steps, that taper towards the knob's full height. The narrower outer tip, slightly wider middle, and broad base, in effect provide an escalating amount of knob stiffness as speed and lean angle increase. At lower speeds and more upright angles the knobs are able to conform to the ground more because their outer edges are soft and flexible, but go faster and lean harder and you'll be using the knobs full height, including its wider and stiffer base. A standard knob will have roughly the same amount of deflection as forces acted upon it increase. The idea behind the terraced side knobs found on the new Weirwolf is to have them flex progressively as forces become higher.
WTB Weirwolf 2.3" AM TCS
Other changes from the original design include rows of three cornering knobs as opposed to the original versions grouping of four, and closer spacing of the center knobs. Having the center tread in a slightly tighter layout has decreased rolling resistance while keeping braking traction at a high level. One of the issues with the first generation of the Weirwolf tire was the transition zone to extreme lean angles. The guys at WTB were fully aware that not only did a lot of less aggressive riders never get the tire leaned over far enough to take advantage of its cornering capabilities, but that those same riders ended up spending too much time in the tires admittedly vague transition area between upright and leaned over. The solution on the new Weirwolf is a tighter transition between the crown and side knobs that should offer more consistent and predictable traction.
WTB Weirwolf 2.3" AM TCS
While the most visible change may be the new tread design, riders may benefit even more from WTB's updated bead and casing changes. Their TCS (Tubeless Compatibility System) system will hopefully remedy one of the biggest issues with converting non-tubeless tires to be run reliably - the bead itself. I have plenty of experience using a combination of standard tires with sealant and love the fact that I can run lower pressures without worrying about pinch flatting, but those same low pressures have resulted in many unseated tires in hard corners. It seems that one issue was created as another was solved. WTB's solution is to use a proper UST air tight tire bead combined with a light weight non-tubeless casing. The result is claimed to be a tire that is lighter than a full UST version, but is much less likely to burp air under hard cornering loads or awkward landings. If you're using a tubeless rim all you'll need to do is pour in a small amount of sealant of your choice and you'll be good to go. The new bead is also designed to seat quickly onto non-UST rims, although you'll still need to seal the rim bed with a tubeless rim strip. The final detail is the addition of thin nylon strips within the casing that are positioned just above the bead. WTB refers to these as Inner Peace and they protect against punctures and even help to minimize the chance of cutting the tire sidewall in extreme cases.
|
Price
|
$60
|
$60
|
$50
|
$25
|
|
|
Weight
|
800 g
|
750 g
|
700 g
|
780 g
|
|
|
Tire Width
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
|
|
Diameter
|
26
|
26
|
26
|
26
|
|
|
Riding Genre
|
AM
|
AM
|
AM
|
AM
|
|
|
Bead Type
|
UST aramid bead
|
UST aramid bead
|
Aramid bead
|
Steel bead
|
|
|
Rubber Durometer
|
dna rubber
|
dna rubber
|
dna rubber
|
Standard rubber
|
|
Price
|
$60
|
$60
|
|
|
Weight
|
850 g
|
800 g
|
|
|
Tire Width
|
2.3
|
2.3
|
|
|
Diameter
|
26
|
26
|
|
|
Riding Genre
|
AM
|
AM
|
|
|
Bead Type
|
UST aramid bead
|
UST aramid bead
|
|
|
Rubber Durometer
|
dna rubber
|
Dna rubber
|
We were warned that the new Weirwolf's bead was tighter than some others, and while it certainly took some thumb strength to push the final few inches over and into the rim bed, it wasn't as tight as others. With proper technique you should not need to use any tire levers and I would discourage the practice any time you're dealing with a UST tire bead. Once installed on the rim I managed to seat the tires using only a floor pump. While this is common with number of tire and rim combinations, what impressed me was that they seated perfectly straight at only 30 psi. The fact that they didn't require excessive air pressure or soapy water in order to seat correctly was a pleasant surprise. Also a surprise was the actual weight of the 2.3" AM TCS Weirwolf, 950 grams. That's 150 grams over WTB's claimed weight.
I installed the new WTB tires on both the front and back of my personal Trek Remedy and they saw plenty of miles in nearly every condition imaginable, including the dry and dusty days to the muddiest of muddy days, and everything in between. The latest Weirwolf has a lot of great attributes, but it is certainly a tire with its own personality. It rides quite differently than most other large volume and highly predictable all-mountain tires. It was quickly apparent that the new Weirwolf rolls remarkably fast, despite the aggressive tread pattern relative to tires that roll as well. A lot of my climbing is done on steep and hard packed forest service roads and double tracks and this is where the lack of rolling resistance was most noticeable. All four separate knobs that span the tire's crown are ramped on their leading edges and this surely must play a role. They lacked the distinctive tractor tire feeling where each tire lug feels very pronounced on hard packed terrain, instead they took very little effort to turn which was greatly appreciated. Usually when a tire rolls this well, one would expect it to be seriously lacking in the braking traction department. Not so with the Weirwolf. In dry conditions the braking traction was on par, if not slightly better, than any other 2.3" width tire I've ever tested.
Cornering performance was predictable up until a point at which the Weirwolf simply let go all at once. To their credit, in dry or tacky conditions the tires could be pushed quite hard at a very aggressive lean angle before they let loose in an all out slide. Just like WTB claims, in the right hands this attribute can be a ton of fun, but I found that the point at which they broke traction to be too abrupt and uncontrolled. The sudden event that may have caused them to lose grip could be as small as a slight amount of mid corner rear brake drag when the Weirwolfs were already on their limit. I experienced this sensation while pushing hard under many different riding conditions. Unfortunately performance worsened with bad weather. WTB makes no bones about the Weirwolf not being the ideal tire for muddy situations and I would have to agree. Barring mud specific models, all tires become more of a handful in bad conditions, but there are some that perform admirably enough to leave on all year up here in B.C.. The Weirwolf isn't one of those as it packed quickly and the tread compound had nothing for wet roots. While the Weirwolf was disappointing in the wet, it proved to be a reliable tire as I wasn't forced to fix a single flat when they were on my bike - even when running them at excessively low pressures when trying to deal with wet and rooty trails. I was not able to unseat the bead no matter how under inflated I rode them.
Excellent braking in dry conditions
Rolls very fast for having an aggressive tread pattern
UST bead and standard casing proved reliable when used with sealant
Cons
Unpredictable on/off feel
Not ideal in wet conditions
150 grams heavier than claimed
Visit WTB.com for more info on the Weirwolf and all their other products.
Author Info:
Member since Oct 18, 2005
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Nevegals where a nightmare in this, Minions work ok, but to heavy for the heat in this region of the world, the Schwalbes seem too Knobby, except perhaps the racing ralphs.
This sound about right to give them a try, only question is: how true are they to the size??
2.35 Minions are more like 2.1 in reality.
So, ummm, what about all the other surfaces one might encounter on this planet?
In fairness, I've run Weirwolfs and they are good for riding out West in the dry, I'm sure these are good for that.
Having been on the WTB's in the Whistler Bike Park I can say they suck balls for anything here in the Sea-to-Sky corridor!
The tires I have been outfitted with have been the Weirwolf's, Timberwolf's and the Dissents 2.5 and 2.3's. They all suck big donkey Balls. That's right I have finally come out and said what anyone working in the bike park has been bitching about with WTB tires. They flat out don't work unless it is completely dry and buff. Which isn't the WBP!
I wonder why Maxxis is now a sponsor of the WBP? Bring on the Minions!
Where the reviewer and I part ways is with the wet weather and "on/off" feel description. In my experience, I simply cannot agree with the evaluation in these areas. With years of riding, and loads of tires tested, I, like so many in this part of the world, have found the Dual Compound Kenda Nevegal to be the benchmark for performance for our conditions. With this in mind, I viewed the performance of the Weirwolf in direct comparison to the Nevegal.
The bottom line from my experience, is the Weirwolf is on par with the Nevegal in all categories, with the added benefit of less rolling resistance. The tire is very predictable at the limit and I simply am not experiencing the "on/off" feel the reviewer describes. I am running tubeless with 24 psi front and 27 psi rear, I am a 215lb rider with gear on the bike. Grip in the wet and over roots is certainly as good as the Nevegal. As this tire is narrower than the Nevegal, rolling resistance is further enhanced for the upcoming winter conditions. The Weirwolf will be my tire of choice for the foreseeable future.