You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Been out 3-4 times now and on anything other than just 1 ride i'm pretty much despising the Barzos. At BPW i felt out of grip a fair bit and even at Swinley on the stones it felt terrible when we swapped wheels for some testing.
Do they get better when it gets to summer? Or do i simply need to take them off and swap them in the Classifieds ?
I intially bought them as fast and light XC race tyres, but if i'm honest i'm not having them on currently. I get they're summer/fast tyres, but Swinley wasn't wet yesterday and they felt very slidey.
For comparison, i was using the WTB Trail boss fast/light yesterday and got on with them a lot lot better
My lad is running a Mezcal TNT on the back of his Liv which i'm debating swapping sooner rather than later but he seems happy enough with it... But... Hmmmm. Not sure now.
To be fair, if you brought them as fast & light XC tyres, expecting them to perform at BPW is expecting a bit much.
I just replaced my Hillbilly / Ground Control Grids with a pair of Barzos, they nearly killed me on the first descent, but it was a fast, wet & loose descent.
I find they are very quick rolling & turn rapidly.
In that recent dry / hot spell I loved them. I'm still undecided if I'll put a Martello on the front or keep them as they are, but for next week's FoD mini Enduro I'll probably sling the Grids on one last time.
My take is that Yolanda Neff can descend like she does on fast tyres, then, maybe, I can learn to do something similar......
PS: Short travel, slackish HT @ 19/23psi.
If I went to BPW I'd have something Grid on to help save my rims.
For BPW i was only there with my 10 year old so wasn't cracking on... I honestly completely forgot when putting the bikes on the car to fit my other wheels, it wasn't a conscious decision to use them, it just kinda happened. I'd use the Trail Boss ordinarily.
I 100% agree with your last comment...but i don't have her level of skill to ride around what feels like a tyre that's on the edge of letting go all the time.
I can see these staying on the spare wheels in the garage until about July and not used at all.
I stuck a Mezcal on the front for todays ride( plotting to use them for the HTR550) and surprisingly, I slid around much more than with a Hanz Damph! I was doing it for a test..... best wait for some dryer weather for either of these Vittoria tyres.
On the hardpack it was superb though. And I think they are darn hard to puncture.
I've a pair of Goma's (£15 from on-one with free camelback bottle).
Fast rolling, quite supple, good all-round tread. Not the most edge bite and get less good the wetter it gets.
But by heck they are good at typical trail centre fare.
They aren’t a fast summer tire to start with - more of all season XC/trail tyre from the blurb at least..
I’ve ridden them on the Swinley cobbles too & TBH when those cobbles are damp grip can be quite hard to find with any tire. I’ve no issues with them elsewhere either at Swinley, Minley etc. In fact, interestingly, I ran them on a dry test lap at this years Torq in your sleep & then raced them the following day after all the rain - they felt fine.....I run a similar psi to you..
Bottom line: tire choice is a personal one.
tire choice is a personal one.
So is everything from pedals,grips, saddles, frames, forks. That doesn't mean I shouldn't ask for other tjoughts from people ?
Ask away by all means - in the same breath folks can venture their opinion in response..
You don’t get on with the Barzos, I do....&?
Well the consensus seems to be they're not ideal for the stones like Swinley or loose conditions.
You appear to be being argumentative to prove some sort of a point but for the life of me I can't work out what or why.
I asked for opinions, you gave yours, I accepted that, not argued it, but somehow you've taken offence
???????????????
FWIW Rocket Ron’s are even worse at Swinley ergo Swinley / metalled surfaces don’t suit a “spiky” kind of tire perhaps.
Having said that I got on fine at Swinley with Barzo’s. Pressures Weeksy? I run mine at 20psi.
I reckon I was at about 32psi give or take. I don't generally run my tyres particularly soft.
Crikey!
That’ll be why then.
Elaborate? They needing to be low?
32, assuming that you're running tubeless, is pretty high and will be compromising your grip.
Agree - you can go a lot lower than 32psi with TNT sidewalls. They're pretty sturdy.
assuming that you’re running tubeless, is pretty high and will be compromising your grip.
Yup, running tubeless... I'll check what it was when it comes back from my mates place as he has my spare wheel. In general though like i say, I don't really go silly low on pressures.
I won a pair of Trail Boss yesterday so if i'm honest i'll likely end up taking the Barzos off and either flogging them or throwing in the loft as emergency spares.
Unless any of you lot want them for £25 for the pair ?
Life is too short for tyres that don't grip, I'd always rather have a big heavy grippy Mary or hillbilly etc up front, sod the drag! 😊
32 psi is high for tubless - I run mine at about 21-23 psi & I think I could go a little bit lower. That high a psi (for tubeless) will have a lot to do with why you’re not getting on with them.
Well the consensus seems to be they’re not ideal for the stones like Swinley or loose conditions.
Couldn't disagree more if I'm honest, I run a Barzo (29 x 2.25" G+) on the front all year round and really rate them. Granted I only run about 24/25 psi tubeless. Raced them in everything from snow covered CYB rocks to bone dry dusty trails including in Slovakia when it went from super fast to claggy flinty chalk of death and only crashed once then.
I won a pair of these at a race (not sure why they gave me some XC tyres, when it was an enduro race). Put them on my hardtail as I never really had any XC tyres before.
Mostly found they tried to kill me, but then I was really only used to riding a bike with big, grippy Minions or Shorty's. I'm just not used to riding a bike with no grip in comparison.
32psi is quite the pressure too on a skinny XC tyre. I'd drop them ~5psi and see how I got on.
Interesting thoughts... Will be curious to see what pressure it/they have/had in them then. My track pump is a long way from precise.
I rate the barzo as a decent all round xc tyre for most things other than bone dry when a mezcal or similar will be faster. But it is 'spikey' so unless run soft you won't have the same level of contact as a more densely treaded tyre. Imo this is why the tnt sidewall is essential. I have a pair of both and the ones without the tnt sidewalls feel nice but I hit rim too often at the right pressure, and harder results in less grip. So for me the TNT one at about 17psi or so on my pump is right.
But as above - they are a xc tyre. I am not racing at the moment so am currently running an XR4/Nobby Nic combo because i can get away with more with them. If I get back into shape and a number ends up on my bike again, then i'll be back on the barzos.