661 661 Bravo XC

Advantages: Light, excellent grip, fast rolling
Disadvantages: Fairly expensive, can puncture easily

...I have had a pair of these on my XC bike for about a year now and they perform brilliantly. They are very fast rolling and they provide excellent grip on medium to dry trails and the corner knobs allow the bike to be leaned right over into fast corners without sliding out. Although the tyres are a fairly soft compound they still last a decent amount of time on the road too so there are no worries of them wearing down too quickly if commuting to trails over a long distance. Their low weight ensures that they accelerate quickly and make climbing a breeze. There are only 2 downsides I can see with these tyres. First is the cost (although if you want quality they're not a lot more than the competition). Second is that I have found they puncture fairly easily if run at lower pressures due to their thin composition, although this is only... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: good in all conditions
Disadvantages: perhaps master of none?

...As a long-time keen mountain biker I've used many different tyres but for the last couple of years I’ve decided to stick with the Tioga XC's (26’ x 1.95’) as I've been pretty pleased with the performance in all conditions. Admittedly perhaps not king of anything but nevertheless at least competent in all conditions as far as I have experienced and I've done a lot of riding in different places and weather conditions. The knobbles are just the right size teat there isn't too much rolling resistance whilst maintaining plenty of grip on all kinds of surface including lose, wet and dry. The side knobbles also insure cornering stability and if you do push too hard they are quite predictable as they slide. Relatively hard wearing so long as you get the good versions rather than the cheap grey market ones... Highly recommended for all round... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Cheapish, good wet traction
Disadvantages: Easily punctured, encourage punctures!

...My Tioga factory XC's have not really lived up to their name. If indeed they are a cross country tyre, then I guess Tioga designed them for a very flat and uneventful country indeed. I have caught flats on innumerable occasions with these tyres, as for some reason, they embed debris into the tube far too forcefully. They do provide excellent traction in wet mud however, but their rolling resistance is a little greater than desirable on some tracks. Cornering can be a bit of a underwear laundry moment too. The edges don't give too confident a feel to the bike's handling, and on gravel you often find that gnarly descent looking like a trip to casualty is on its way towards you! On the whole, probably a good tyre for light trail work, but leave thanm off the higher spec bikes as they are not really up to the job.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful