tires ⁽²⁾

How wide is too wide? My wide tire journey for road cycling started on Compass Barlow Pass (700x38) tires back in 2016. WTB Horizon (650x47) followed in 2018. When I put 650B wheels on my Nordest Albarda, René Herse Switchback Hill (650x48) and Panaracer GravelKing (650x48, 52mm actual) tires took me a big step further on that journey. My Marin Gestalt X12 started rolling on René Herse Snoqualmie Pass (700x44) tubeless “shoes.” This bike has room for much more, so much, in fact, that 44mm looks skinny.

When I first set up my Stooge MK5 in March of last year, I mounted a pair of Schwalbe Nobby Nic 27.5x3.0” tires. For 3” wide tires, they were light, coming in under 900 grams. They climbed and cornered well but had one shortfall. As a rear tire, the Nobby Nic performed poorly when braking in steep terrain. The tire broke loose too quickly. I rode into stuff a few times where I had to get off the bike to get down that segment of trail safely. I would have easily ridden it with a better tire. For my second season on the Stooge, I’ve opted to equip it with a more aggressive pair of tires.