The Legend of the WeirWolf
The original WeirWolf tire was introduced in 2002. It was a groundbreaking tread design that offered exceptional traction, even at extreme lean angles. In fact, Mark Weir and Mark Slate designed this tire so that the further you leaned over, the better the traction.
The compromise with that design was a slight fall-away feeling before the tire's large side knobs engaged. Some riders perceived this fall-away transition zone as the tire reaching its limits, and never learned to push the original WeirWolf to its true potential.
While the original WeirWolf had an army of devoted followers, Weir and Slate knew they could make this classic trail tire even better. They spent years poring over knob modifications and tinkering with the mechanical design of the tread. Once the new tread was finalized, Weir still spent months testing various rubber compounds and casing thicknesses.
The Redesign
The countless hours of development really paid off — we're proud to say that the new WeirWolf is the most advanced trail tire on the market. The new tire is a different animal entirely. We tightened-up the channel between the crown and side knobs, brought the center tread closer together and changed the outer row of side knobs from four to three. Additionally, the side knobs are terraced and offer progressive flex. In the initial stages of a lean, the knobs slightly conform to the terrain, as pressure increases the knobs become more firm.
These alterations give the new WeirWolf a positive feel and consistent traction at any lean angle, from moderate to extreme. At this point you might be thinking, "what's the catch?" It's true, mountain bike tire design is a game of compromise. No tire can excel at everything. And the new WeirWolf is no exception to this rule. Its added transitional knobs make the tread more tightly packed and less suited to really muddy terrain (we'd recommend the Moto Raptor for these conditions). On most trails, however, the new WeirWolf offers a remarkable improvement. Weir himself says it's the best tire he has ever ridden.
The Design Team
The WeirWolf tire was conceived by Mark Slate, WTB's chief product designer and company co-founder. Slate has been designing mountain bike tires since the sport's infancy in the early eighties. He's designed every tire in the WTB line, he's developed tires for other brands, and it's safe to say Slate has designed more mountain bike tires than anyone on Earth. The man knows tires, but still relied heavily on co-worker Mark Weir for critical feedback.
Although Mark Weir is best known for his career in bike racing, he holds a fulltime job with WTB and specializes in public relations and R&D. Weir joined WTB in 1994 as a sales guy, and before long convinced the company to allow time out of the office for racing and training. Weir has won the prestigious Downieville Classic downhill seven times and is now the unofficial icon of All Mountain riding. Weir's feedback and testing of the WeirWolf tire was instrumental to the design process.
Jason Moeschler is the third member of WTB's tire design team. Another veteran pro of bike racing, Moeschler began working fulltime at WTB three years ago, but has been a WTB-sponsored rider since '96. He now juggles racing with responsibilities as WTB's OEM sales manager and still frequently wins pro races. Moeschler's career highlights include winning Downieville's All Mountain Pro category three times (he has gotten second in All Mountain Pro the last two years).