Has anyone had any experience with the Ventures or come across any reviews? I see that these are now available, my lbs has said that they should be able to get them from the Canadian distributor in late January. I like the looks, and for what I will be riding they should be a better choice than the Byways, but have nothing else to go on.
Hi Jack, I presume that with what you will be riding, you mean trails that are wetter than where the Byway excels? This is exactly where the Venture is better, because the slick center of the Byway is not good on muddy trails and the side knobs really don't engage unless the mud is really deep or you are really leaning (the sort of lean you usually achieve on the way crashing down).
Another nice thing about the Venture is that there is not only a standard "RoadPlus" 650x47 version but also a 27.5x2.0" version. Same profile, but 3mm wider and classified by WTB as a mountain bike tire. But great for gravel if you have the clearance of course.
I live in the Vancouver area which, of course, means the potential for mud : ). This is my first 650b wheel set, so far my 700 x 35 Schwalbe G-1’s have been okay on a mix of road and gravel, but the 650 ‘s will be used for pretty much off road. I plan on using them for riding three 100 km plus gravel events this year. Two of these I have never ridden before so I don’t know what conditions I will encounter, although one does have patches of loose sand. I almost went for the Byways, but think I will need a bit more traction, and the Senderos seem like overkill for predominantly gravel roads. Can only fit 650 x 47 tires on my RLT9.
Gerard wrote:Another nice thing about the Venture is that there is not only a standard "RoadPlus" 650x47 version but also a 27.5x2.0" version. Same profile, but 3mm wider and classified by WTB as a mountain bike tire. But great for gravel if you have the clearance of course.
That's the first I've heard of the 2.0" version. Any word on availabilty of that? There's no mention of it on WTB's site and a google search didn't turn up much more.
That's the first I've heard of the 2.0" version. Any word on availabilty of that? There's no mention of it on WTB's site and a google search didn't turn up much more.
Oops, that may only be available as an OEM tire right now.
I live in the Vancouver area which, of course, means the potential for mud : ). ... Can only fit 650 x 47 tires on my RLT9.
Thanks for your reply Jack
If you can only fit 47mm then I think the 47mm Venture is a good choice. The Sendero is OK too, maybe it's overkill but it still rolls quite nicely over smooth surfaces. The ultimate combination of great grip and still acceptable rolling on even tarmac is for me the Schwalbe Racing Ralph, which of course is a full-blown mountain bike tire but still it rolls really well (and lab data confirms this). But it will only fit on a frame that can really take 2.1" tires.
So Venture and Sendero are your best choices I think, and given BC's weather maybe don't rule out that Sendero too quickly. Better lose a few % speed on the tarmac than walk through the mud. Then again, if you say the G-One was OK, the Venture should be too.
Hi Gerard, big fan of your designs (have an exploro LTD...luv'n it). Hey racing the DK200 for the first time what do you suggest for it running 700c, 25mm width deepish dish rim. thanks mark
I bought a set of Venture 47's for a couple races coming up. Although they are sold as 47's and labeled as 47's, they're not 47's. The embossing on the sidewall says they are manufactured as 44mm tires. And when you inflate them on HED Ardennes Plus wheels (21mm internal width), they inflate true to a 44mm width.
If anything, I was looking for a little more than 47mm, so this is a disappointment. I wish the 2" version were available!
Thats kinda odd. My Ventures are a true 47 on DTSwiss 22.5mm rims. They inflated to 47 mm right out of the box. After a few rides they have plumped up to about 48 mm. Could there have been a mix up during production? Maybe you should contact WTB, their customer service seems pretty good.
Thats kinda odd. My Ventures are a true 47 on DTSwiss 22.5mm rims. They inflated to 47 mm right out of the box. After a few rides they have plumped up to about 48 mm. Could there have been a mix up during production? Maybe you should contact WTB, their customer service seems pretty good.
I'm curious. What does the embossing on the sidewall say on yours? (There should be small raised lettering in the rubber on the sidewall that gives the "official" size of the tire. This is where mine said they were 44x584.)
At any rate, time is too short to contact WTB. I leave in 4 days for the first race and haven't ridden the WTB's, so I returned them. I'm going with another brand.
Incidentally, this isn't an unusual issue with gravel tires. Panaracer Gravel King SK's used to come in 40mm widths. Now, they come in a 38mm width that is still precisely the same 40mm width -- and is marked on the sidewall as such.
You are right, the embossing is 44x584. Remeasured tires and at the outside of the lugs they are 48mm but if I measure the tire between the lugs it is 46 mm. I wonder if that is where the 44 comes from. How did you measure yours?
I measured at the sidewall (without the lugs). Since my wheel is 21mm inside width and yours is a couple mm wider, I suspect that's why the same tire measures wider on your wheel. The "standard" wheel is even narrower than mine.
I'm only guessing, but I would guess that WTB brands these tires according to the (wider than standard) wheels they think most customers will be using, rather than the "standard" width wheel that almost nobody uses anymore. Apparently, they think most customers will have wider than 21mm wheels. I don't have a problem with that, but they should probably put that assumption on the packaging. If I had known, I would have bought a different tire in the first place. I needed to get to at least 47mm.
