Teravail, owned by mega-distributor Quality Bicycle Products, is new to the mountain bike tire scene; so new, in fact, that you won’t be able to buy any of their mountain bike tires until July of this year. But as I found out at Sea Otter last week, the company has been doing their homework for quite a while now, and the result is a smart-looking MTB tire lineup.
The company’s Sparwood tire, measuring 29×2.2″, was designed in close collaboration with ultra-endurance rider and Tour Divide competitor Jay Petervary to be a fast rolling, lightweight tire that’s stable over variable terrain. While mere mortals will have to wait until July to purchase the Sparwood, Jay Petervary ran them in last year’s Tour Divide and claims he ran the same set for the entire race without a single flat!
Moving up the scale in terms of aggressiveness, Teravail offers the Cumberland, a “plus-size” tire that’s also meant for bikepacking, though not necessarily bikepack racing. The tire is offered in 27.5×2.8″ and 29×2.6″ sizes and features a mellow center tread buttressed by fairly burly cornering knobs. Teravail claims the tire’s “outer diameter is equal to a standard 29” tire,” which if taken literally, is a pretty big deal. As countless 29 to 27.5+ conversion owners–myself included–can attest, 27.5+ conversions generally result in a lower bottom bracket, a compromise that’s not always easy to stomach. Of course once tire deflection is taken into account, the 27.5+ tire will be lower to the ground than the 29er, but at least Teravail is attempting to give back some bottom bracket height. As it turns out, the company’s 27.5+ tire diameters not actually equal to standard 29ers; they are smaller, just like all the other 27.5+ tires on the market.
For an even more aggressive all-mountain bikepacking tire, Teravail offers the Kennebec. Also offered in 27.5×2.8″ and 29×2.6″ sizes, the Kennebec sports aggressive side knobs like the Cumberland, but subs out the fast rolling center tread for chunky dirt paddles.
Rounding out Teravail’s mountain bike tire lineup is the Coronado, which is currently only offered as a 27.5×3″ tire. The Coronado is billed as the rare sand tire, but don’t think beach cruiser; this tire is designed for the sandy desert conditions riders encounter in the southwestern USA. The extra 0.2 inches of tire width adds floatation, while the knobs work to dig in slightly for traction and control.
Pricing is not currently available. Look for tires to be available for purchase in July, 2017.
