TESTED: Vee Tire Company 27.5+ tyres

Words: Adam Macbeth

Vee Tire Company had until recently been pretty much an unknown in the mountain bike industry, until the rise of the fatbike. Vee were slightly ahead of the curve with fat bike rubber and offered a lot of very good, tubeless ready options at a time when there was little else available. This gave them the means to expand their range into more common genres of bicycle, and the first stop was Plus sized.

Here we test the Crown Gem in 27.5×3.0” and the Bulldozer in 2.8”. Both tyres feature 120tpi casing, a tubeless ready bead and weigh it at a very respectable 925ish grams. It’s clear that to achieve this weight Vee have had to create these tyres around a reasonably thin sidewall but mounted on a nice wide rim between 40 and 50mm they should still allow for some seriously low pressures without fear of burping.

Tubeless set up was a piece of cake, the more rigid treaded part of the tyre opening up nicely out of the box and helping the bead easily find its place in the WTB Scraper i45 rims I mounted them on. About 150mL of sealant through the valve and they were good to go. Even mounted on the 45mm rim both tyres maintain a nice round profile proving that they were designed and tested on wider rims and indicating that their trail behaviour should be spot on.

Once fitted the Crown Gem and the Bulldozer both measure slightly wider than stated, the Crown Gem at 3.12” and the Bulldozer at 2.9”. This put a big smile on my face as I knew my frame and fork could handle it and bigger is better, right? It would be worth making sure you’re frame has the clearance to handle these widths, especially if you’re on a more modern bike designed with both 27.5+ and 29 inch wheels in mind as clearances are sure to be tighter.

Tread blocks on both are evenly spaced with no glaring channels that might create some self steer common on many tyres over 2.8 inches including Vee’s own Trax Fatty 3.0 which I bought for myself earlier this year and didn’t like very much for that reason. 

The first thing to do with any tyre, but especially a Plus tyre, is suss out what kind of pressure you are going to be able to run for the way (and where) you ride. On a 45mm rim I have generally found that 15 psi is a great place to start and depending on sidewall thickness and the rebound quotient of the rubber you can go from there. After a few solid runs of a local, rock strewn trail I found that the Crown Gem being a little more voluminous was happy to go a little lower, to 14psi. A Bulldozer in 3.0 would likely allow the same on the rear. It doesn’t sound like a huge difference but once you start to get into the low teens every psi is noticeable and it’s worth investing in a digital tyre gauge if you purchase yourself something with big rubber.

On the trail proper the Vee tyres are lively and predictable. I rode the proper Bulldozer 4.8 tyre on the Salted Sandfly we tested in Issue 149 and was impressed by the all-round nature of them. It is nice to see that Vee have been able to replicate the performance of the big tyres and bring the fast rolling, and great climbing traction to a tyre in 2.8”. The Crown Gem goes where you point it every single time and there’s no sign of it even thinking about letting go regardless of the camber or trail condition.

At $145 they are definitely at the pricier end of the spectrum in this genre, but tread wise should last really well if you keep them off the tarmac. Which you really should.

Hits:

• Easy tubeless setup
• Supple casing
• Great tread variety

Misses:

• Pricey, but a quality tyre

RRP: $145ea

From: dirtworks.com.au