Vee Tire Co. Officially Announces Sponsorship of Intense Factory Racing & 3 More UCI DH Teams for 2022

Feb 16, 2022 at 5:52
by VeeTireCo  
Vee Tire Co. has a long tradition of supporting downhill racers and teams. This dedication to racing comes from the very top as Vee Tire Co's owner, Bike Sukanjanapong, has passionately followed downhill racing and made some great friends with riders along the way.

Vee Tire Co. continues to support riders even through the pandemic, and now as we enter 2022 and celebrate our tenth anniversary, we have stepped up our racing program support further still.

For the 2022 World Cup Downhill season, Vee Tire Co. is proud to announce support for 4 factory teams and thrilled to become the title sponsor of 2.

The 2022 Vee Tire Co. downhill factory race teams include;

Intense Factory Racing
Follow Intense Factory Racing on Instagram.


Vee Tire Co. has a long history with Intense. Initially as the manufacturer of Intense Tire System products and today as a sponsor for the race team. Bike and the entire Vee Tire Co. family can't wait for the season to begin, and we look forward to some exciting developments along the way!

The Intense Factory Racing team includes downhill superstar Arron Gwin, UK racer Joe Breedon, U.S hotshot Dakotah Norton and Seth Sherlock.

We're stoked to welcome IFR back to the Vee family!

Commencal Vee
Follow Commencal Vee on Instagram.


This team of young and talented riders spent the 2021 season on Vee Tire Co. rubber and we're excited to partner up with them again as title sponsor.

The Commencal Vee team includes 6th Redbull Hardline rider, Matteo Iniguez, 4th place junior overall racer Siel Van Der Velden, Raphael Iniguez and newcomers Jérôme Caroli and Tom Cosse.

The Commencal Vee Team promise more style for 2022

Propain Positive Supported By Vee
Follow Propain Positive Supported By Vee on Instagram.


Propain Positive Supported By Vee is a new team set up by long time Vee rider Phil Atwill. Phil and the Vee Tire family go back a long way, and we're stoked to help support his new program in 2022.

Phil will be joined by fellow teammates Athanasios Panagitsas and Sokratis Aris Zotos.

Long time Vee rider, Phil Atwill returns with a new program!

IJ Racing-Chigürio Extremo Team
Follow IJ Racing-Chigürio Extremo Team on Instagram.


Another new downhill squad filled with familiar Vee Tire faces. The IJ Racing-Chigürio Extremo Team is a new program formed by Alex Marin, who has raced on Vee Tire treads for the past few seasons. Rafael Gutierrez Villegas, another fellow Vee athlete, joins Alex along with Sebastian Holguin Villa and Cristian Suarez.

An exciting new program for 2022.

Vee Tire Co. has a packed season ahead, and our downhill squads are just the start of this ten-year celebration and our commitment to racing. Stay tuned for news on our EWS teams, Freeride athletes and BMX programs!

Follow Vee Tire Co. on Instagram.

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72 Comments

  • 102 16
 SHARPIE Officially Announces Sponsorship of Intense Factory Racing & 3 More UCI DH Teams for 2022
  • 47 4
 Maxxis should just start selling blank tires to teams.
  • 27 1
 Has any Vee rider actually done that? I've only ever really noticed Specialized/Trek riders doing it.
  • 16 12
 Much original, much edgy
I’ve never heard that one.
  • 8 1
 I like how you didn't just copy & paste
  • 14 0
 @nickgarrison: I remember when Intense used to sell blank frames to riders on other teams.
  • 4 2
 @Vudu74:
I remember when intense use to have their own tires. None of this light weight 2 ply nonsense tires we have now.
  • 4 0
 @brassinne: I've got a nearly new pair, a DH and a 909 sitting in my spares box in the original bags..
  • 2 0
 @naptime: Nice. I still have a set of 24x3.0 dh on some sun ringle modo wheels.
  • 1 0
 @edthesled: Who of the upper echelon in WC DH has been on Vee tires the last few seasons?
  • 1 0
 @Ttimer: I guess that depends on what you consider the upper echelon to be, but George Brannigan and Phil Atwill come to mind. Both absolute rippers and have seemingly had no issues with the tires
  • 46 0
 This might be the worst advertisement Kenda has ever run.
  • 9 1
 I keep wondering this? Like what value does sponsoring someone have if you know at the end of the two year deal, they will ditch you for a competitor? It only gives off the perception that gwin doesnt know how to find a tire he actually likes? will maxxis just not sponsor him?
  • 4 0
 @adrennan: more like Maxxis won't pay him as much as the off brand companies because they don't need the exposure.
  • 1 0
 @adrennan: Probably hoping they're the sponsor de jour if and when Gwin ever returns to the podium. Sponsorships are a monetary transaction 99% of the time, every company sponsoring anybody knows they may lose to a higher bidder when the contract is up, just as every sponsored rider should know that if they don't perform they may not be worth resigning wen the contract is up. Hard to say if Gwin is leaving sponsors, or sponsors are leaving him, not like anything good came out of his relationship with Kenda, or Onza, or whoever else he's been with since he quit riding blacked out Minions.
  • 14 0
 I’m as much a Maxxis fan boy as the next PinkBiker, but my last 2 tires from them required a warranty due to a pretty severe tread wobble. I’m still running Maxxis but they’re not as firmly at the top of the list (in my mind) as they used to be.
  • 5 0
 Same problem here. I wonder if they started letting things through Quality Control that otherwise wouldn't have made it due to the huge increase in demand.
  • 4 0
 +1
  • 4 1
 had this happen a couple times years ago and haven't bothered with maxxis since. between wobble out of the packaging and pre-mature flats compared to other similar casings, I don't get the hype.
  • 2 0
 I've had new tyre wobble from all the biggest brands. Maxxis, Conti & shcwable Frown
  • 2 0
 Casing warp has been an issue for Maxxis for years now, it's not just a Covid thing. Minions and Assegai are phenomenal tread patterns, but I've given up on the lighter treads & casings. There are other brands that make lighter, faster-rolling trail tires that don't warp like Maxxis EXO offerings from Dissector on down.
  • 3 0
 I have no love for Maxxis, and really don't get the hype. My last tire purchase was a set of Assegais with DH casing and Maxxgrip rubber, and they don't have nearly the grip of my Michelin DH34 tires, not even comparable, and they run slower. If I were to fanboy over any tire manufacturer, it would be Michelin, and I also think they pulled off obnoxious yellow logos better too. Would love to try Vee tires at some point.
  • 2 0
 Been running Veetire for best part of 4-5 years and don’t have a bad word to say about them! Was slated by fellow riders initially but they are now starting to come on board and #bedifferent
  • 1 3
 Guessing that most people getting casing wobble are also running inserts? I have had similar issues, mount up tire with no insert to stretch the bead/casing. Tire is perfect, then pull it off to mount insert and casing wobble once everything is put back together.
  • 1 0
 @salespunk: I’ll have to try without an insert. The other factor for me has been MaxxTerra versus MaxxGrip. The MaxxGrip tires are the ones giving me issues. I don’t usually use them but they’re the only ones i can find in stock.
  • 1 1
 @salespunk: it’s mostly from people not taking care when installing tyres and forcing them on with tyre levers instead of putting the tyre bead in the rim well and gently installing the tyre with their bare hands and stretching the tyre in the spot where they forced it on with the tyre levers giving it that wobble from new. I’ll get downvoted for saying this because pinkbikers won’t understand that rubber stretches and won’t accept it’s partly their responsibility that the tyre has warped. On the plus side if it’s a new tyre generally the rest of the tyre will stretch in too and the wobble will go. You can also do this landing sideways etc when the tyre stretches past the point it’s designed and doesn’t go back to its original shape. There’s always going to be defects rubber products but most of the time it’s because it’s been forced on with tyre levers.
  • 1 0
 @thenotoriousmic: apart from when, in the case of conti. They switched ply materials in manufacturing an had a recall an refund in thier road tyres. Or so I was told by an lbs....
Bad manufacturing an QC
  • 1 0
 @thenotoriousmic: most problems i had was with minion DHF maxxgrip exo, no eay i am using a tirelever on those thin casings. On the other hand my E13 dualply tires would not go on even with soap and putting the bead in the middle of the rim, its possible i damaged the tire putting them on. My Schwalbe never wobble, no matter what i do.
  • 1 1
 @optimumnotmaximum: There’s definitely bad batches and defects. It’s not the tyre being forced on every time just most of the time. Maxxis are generally a tighter fit, when I’ve had to use a tyre lever to get the last bit on I’ll have a slight bounce there where the rubbers been stretched but along with riding the tyre in and leaving it over inflated it will go as the rest of the tyre stretches. Schwalbe are probably the best manufactured tyres I’ve used. They always go on without levers, never need more than a floor pump to inflate, last for ages. I can totally believe you’ve never had any issues with them ether.
  • 17 5
 Who's Vee tire co?

We know Gwin has mastered obtaining sponsorships and signing contracts, the real question is can he still win races?
  • 10 1
 Yes, if everything clicks I don't see why not, in Lousa he rode 4th just behind Bruni with a bike that didn't work at all
  • 8 0
 One of the largest tire makers in Thailand. Most in the professional bike industry know them as Vee Rubber Tire Company, they shortened the name of the premium bicycle tire division for 'murican consumers a couple years ago. They started out with bicycle and motorcycle tires in 1977 but now produce automobile, truck, and utv/atv tires also.

veetireco.com

veerubber.co.th/2016/?v=3e8d115eb4b3


They're one of the few bicycle tire makers to use silica in their bike tire compounds (its pretty common in the automobile world for winter tires) to maintain a low durometer in colder weather.
  • 5 0
 @deeeight: Vee Rubber says they own their own rubber tree farm so that probably means they are enjoying an extremely low cost of labor on raw materials. The rubber industry is a more or less a cartel. no way to buy futures in raw rubber or ETFs like other commodities.
  • 1 0
 No. As evidenced by all the “content creation”
  • 1 2
 @deeeight: >one of the few bicycle tire makers to use silica in their bike tire compounds

Everybody uses silica in their rubber compounds for temperature stability and rolling efficiency.
  • 11 0
 I ran some Snap WCEs and they were the grippiest tires I've ever owned. Would definitely buy again.
  • 5 0
 I’ve been running the snap wce and flow snap for over a year now. They are superb tyres before you consider the price, and unbelievable when you do. I have some of the semi slicks to go on the rear of my trail bike when I can next be bothered swapping tyres.
  • 8 0
 Unfortunately, your test came back propain positive.
  • 8 0
 Dammit, Bobby!
  • 6 0
 Seems important. Definitely worth two articles.
  • 5 1
 “Vee Tire Co's owner, Bike Sukanjanapong”

Well at least he is not called E-Bike
  • 1 2
 his nam means Bike Patient pong g
  • 5 1
 I’m starting to feel like Aaron just want to get paid to test and develop now, rather than actually win races.
  • 2 1
 I think WC DH should move to the same concept as used in F1 where every team has to use the same tires from a certain brand and they get maybe like 5 options or so that they can choose from based on the conditions. That would make DH racing even more interesting, I, unfortunately, don't think anything like that would ever happen.
  • 4 0
 Did I read correctly that the company owner is named 'Bike'?
  • 2 1
 I luv "Arron Gwin"
  • 10 0
 Yup that's his English knickname. A lot of bike industry people I know from Thailand, Taiwan, etc use an English first name to make it easier for Western folks to talk to. Bike is a super nice guy, fun to hang out with and I can confirm he is super passionate about mountain bikes.
  • 2 0
 @sprockets: so like Tim Apple!
  • 2 0
 Yes his English name is Bike. He is from Thailand.
  • 5 1
 This is my new standard for judging industry execs' commitment to cycling.
  • 3 0
 Look at that.. another Intense prototype with a security sleeve on it...
  • 4 0
 @danielfloyd the best part is you can see the high pivot if you zoom in on the photo, you just can’t see the shock/linkage
  • 7 1
 @beansmachines: The sleeve doesn't hide the high pivot or the Horst pivot. Unless there's something wild happening with the shock(s) and/or linkage, it's not the most effective sleeve!

Intense's marketing department is going have to pull out all the stops to connect this to Intense's Horst roots and hope the nostalgia is enough to overcome the questions is raises about their existing twin-short-link models - may even have to call the new frame the M1. Maybe the M now stands for "Mulally"?

(Not implying there's anything wrong with the Horst design or anything superior about twin-short-link designs. I think they're equal and other parameters determine the virtues of the bike, just pointing out it's going to be a tough job for the marketing department to create a plausible narrative and cohesive brand identity.)
  • 1 0
 Are their skinny tires any good? I've got their Snow Avalanche tires on my fatbike and those are great, but I don't think I've ever even seen Vee tires on a regular mtb...
  • 1 0
 My kid’s high-ish end bikes came with some 24” versions.
They look pretty killer actually. I would definitely try if they come in cheaper than the old standards
  • 1 0
 Depends on how you define "skinny". I got five years out of a set of the T-fatty 3.25s and only replaced them because I wanted something faster rolling and better suited to the local trail / soil conditions i'm usually riding. Usually though you need to actually know tires to have ordered/bought their aftermarket models. Despite a lot of OEM sales to fat bike makers being one of the first brands to offer production tires, and on plus tire bikes again for the same reason, they're less known on "skinny" bikes because there are so many more brands to compete against for market share.
  • 2 0
 Now a better look at the HP Intense proto
  • 3 1
 I predict I'll be buying some Kenda Pinners really cheap, really soon.
  • 3 1
 Don’t waste your $$
I liked the tire but it deformed in a few rides
  • 2 0
 I like them
  • 1 0
 Good thing they are cheap, while grippy they wear faster than any other tires I've ridden
  • 2 0
 Look three posts down from this one
  • 2 1
 What happened to intense tyres?
  • 4 1
 Read the comment by @WRDCH in the other intense/vee post for the unabridged history of intense tyres...
  • 1 0
 Propain, nice GMBN kit! Wink
  • 1 1
 Many of my friends in the 2000's use the Ninja skinwall tire before get trendy
  • 1 1
 I am more intrigued why Seth Sherlock shaves, the rest of his team does not.
  • 1 0
 weee
  • 3 3
 Maxxis ran out of tires for the race teams?
  • 4 5
 Vee for the show, sharpie Maxxis for the go.
  • 1 2
 Vee who?
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