Vittoria Peyote Tyre Review

Lets be honest. Until a few weeks ago I'd never heard of the Penyote. Vittoria as a MTB tyre brand wasn't on my radar. However, in the cellar at City Cycles I found of box of this 29 x 2.25 tyre. The tread looked promising and at under 600g it passed the weight weenie test.

Vittoria market the Peyote as their "Go to XC tyre", with positive remarks from sponsored rider Pauline Ferrand-Prevot the 2015 World XC Champion. This means a low profile and fast rolling tyre are guaranteed, but what is the grip like? The sipped knobs and stepped side lugs are a positive start. The sidewalls aren't wafer thin either, like some lightweight XC treads; which should help the durability.

I mounted the Peyote on the front wheel tubeless, without any problems. Visually the width was a little disappointing for a 2.25 tyre. For comparison the tyre is just a smidge plumper than a Specialized Fast Trak 2.0 and definitely narrower than the Rocket Ron 2.25 that it replaced.

I tested the tyre on the North Downs at Peaslake on a cold day with very mixed trail conditions. Fast frozen hard packed man made trails, slithery greasy roots, slippery mud on top of hardpack and deep claggy glop! This ride had it all!

I was asked frequently during the ride how I was getting on with the Penyote. My response was slightly non-committal because what could I say? It had handled everything that had been thrown at it. The tyre is nicely predictable and I had just forgotten about it and concentrated on riding!

It is a cross country tyre, but I found you could lean on it pretty hard and still find grip. On firm trails like "Barry Knows Best" it held a tight line on the berms, handling quick direction changes nicely. In softer, loamy conditions the knobs dug in well. This type of tyre is never going to be brilliant in the proper sticky stuff, but it was controlled and manageable. I was also pleased to find it handled wet roots without any scary moments. At the end of the day I was pretty impressed. This tyre definitely gives the Schwalbe Rocket Ron a run for its money, in fact I'd be tempted to say I preferred it trail manners. (I've been running a Ron upfront on the race bike for several years now.)

As a punt in the dark I've been impressed with this Vittoria tyre and will definitely be leaving it on the bike to form a longer term opinion. The Rocket Rons I've had have just gone on and on forever, so I'll post again in a few months when I have a better idea of the durability of the Penyote.