Being one of my favorite tires, I was excited to see a new version of the Mezcal floating around last year, ridden by pros and sponsored riders. They released them this spring and I ordered a set for the hei hei, which had been rolling on some syerras since last summer, and was due for some fresh XC tires.
Here it is next to the old mezcal. The previous xc-trail and xc-race tires were both available in 29x2.25 and 2.35, which is kind of not a big enough difference to bother imo but anyway the new one is now a 2.4, or 60-622. The old tires were the "anthracite" grey casing for the trail version and then a tan wall for race, both 120tpi but a little thicker on the trail version. The new "XC RACE" tire is 60tpi and available in both black and tan, with no apparent difference between the two other than color. I would have preferred black I think but tan was the color actually in stock so hey lets try a new look
Pretty good what with the matte green frame accents and copper chain and such. Guess I have an earth tone vibe going currently.
In addition to being wider and possibly more durable than the previous race version with the lower thread count, these use a new rubber compound that is supposedly softer, grippier, but still faster rolling. It also costs $10 more at retail, which to me seems a little strange given a lower thread count casing and a single compound rubber, where the old tire had a "4c," 4 rubber compound. That's one hard base layer, a medium hardness down the center, and then softer on the cornering knobs. So probably they're going to wear out faster and might have been cheaper to make. But it's ok vittoria i still like your tires.
I put both on the scale, listed weight is 730g, mine measured 742 and 760. I measure both because I'm a nerd and also to put the heavier one on the back. So a little heavier than they say, and not any different than the old xc-trail 29x2.35 I pulled out of the package (i think it was 750ish).
Maybe you can do this with most tan wall tires but it's a little unsettling that you can see light through the sidewalls
Seems like I should stay away from sharp rocks... The weight and thread count at least suggest similar durability to the old xc-trail, which i always felt were pretty reliable.
It does also appear the tread itself is slightly wider on the new 2.4 when put up next to a 2.35 but I didn't actually measure it
Anyway, I have a couple rides on them, both up mount dean stone actually. First one was thursday with team stampede, up to the top and back down. Then saturday after work I did a longer loop, riding up dean stone, across house of sky, down into pattee through sam braxton, up crazy canyon to the top of mt sentinel, and then back into town via chopsticks and the moZ.
So we did hit a few rocks out there, especially down chopsticks, and I managed not to slice open a brand new tire.
These haven't been tested on bicycle rolling resistance yet (as a pro member I voted for them as well as the new peyote), but the old version is pretty fast and definitely felt fast riding it. These new ones also feel fast, and currently my mtb tire speed butt dyno is calibrated to the schwalbe thunder burt, the fastest tire tested by BRR, on my pretty lightweight hardtail. So, "feels fast" to me coming from that bike at least is some sort of an indicator that they actually are.
The casing is still light and supple with the lower thread count and feels good. You could say lively, springy, responsive perhaps. The rubber is definitely soft and grippy and i didn't notice a loss in traction compared to the slightly worn syerras. But a new tire with fresh, sharp knobs always feels good.
So yeah, initial review, seems good. mainly I like that they have a bit of extra volume. Probably the only reason to not ride a 2.4 XC tire these days is if you weigh 100lbs. Wednesday night we're on the traditional xc course at marshall, which, I'll probably ride on the trek but it is tempting to take a spin on the hei hei, which definitely gets down to the bottom faster and is more fun, but probably is actually slower over a full lap due to the weight and tire difference. Should probably do some back to back test laps some day.
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