Gear Review
WTB Prowler MX Downhill Mountain Tire
Not too bad
By Nick Simcik September 23, 2009
I rode the tire front and rear on a variety of terrain. The tire is a great freeride tire. Running higher pressure, it was extremely fast rolling through freeride type dirt jumps. The tire tracks pretty well through rough and loose turns we have here in Colorado. The sipping in the side knobs help the tire hook up in corners and hold the line. I did not feel the tire fold or roll off the knobs. I do run higher pressure typically to prevent tires from rolling off the rim in hard cornering applications. I did not have the tire roll on me once. The tire loves hard pack and hard pack with loose over top. Knob penetration was excellent. Tire size was accurate. Compared to a Maxxis 2.35 and 2.5, the WTB was pretty close to the 2.5 Maxxis even on the same rim. Maxxis tires are notoriously narrow for size, so it was refreshing to ride a tire that was on par with what the claimed size was. Braking performance was consistent and predictable. The threshold for the tire breaking loose was also predictable and consistent.
My one complaint with the tire was the casing. It is a bit on the thin side for a DH tire. I think the tire would be a great all mountain tire where speeds are lower and trails less rough. Each of my 4 flats resulted from a square edged hit and a pinch flat even with 45 PSI in the tires. All of the flats were rear. When slowing down as result of the flat, the tire would roll off the rim and due to the 4 flats, the tire would no longer hold the rim properly and tears in the sidewall resulted. The tire was thrown out. I am continuing to run the front tire and it is holding up very well.
The rubber durometer has been great, slow enough to hold, but wears extremely well.
View Details: WTB Prowler MX Downhill Mountain Tire
Nailed It? 2 Yes
Change me.