WTB Byway tyres - Drag and protection

[EddieV]

Hi Guys.

Just want to share my experience wih these tyres.

I have a pair of WTB 700 x 44c tyres on my steel/gravel/commute bike, mostly road use. About 2000km on them now.
Was looking for a pair of smooth rolling tyres (solid mid section), and the WTB Byway looked like a good choice.

My experience:

1. These are not easy/fast rolling tyres, the tyre squared up with the side knobblies. No matter how hard you inflate these, it makes square contact with the road. Literally feels like you are dragging the tyres around.😁😅

I could live with above, but ....

2. The puncture protection on these tyres is dismill. I have them setup as tubeless, but they puncture and cut worse than my 25c racing tyres. I use Stan's race sealant in them, but get sprayed often, and end up with half flats by the time I reach home. 

3. And then thirdly, and this might just be me, is wet road sliding  .... I feel useasy cornering in the wet with these, even at slow speeds, don't know if it's the compound, or the square tyre contact?

I've used WTB Nano's for years and they were awesome .... The Nano's only issue was getting a warped tyre out the box, and then you'd have to do the return thing.

I got a pair of 50c Kenda Smallblock tyres off Bikehub a while ago ...  decided not to wait till the BYWAY 44's are finished, will do the swop now. 😉 The punctures are driving my crazy 😁

Edited 2 hours ago by EddieV
spelling

[MongooseMan]

Having ridden both the Byway and Spez Pathfinder, which has a very similar tread profile, I found the Pathfinder to be far superior to the WTB.

Fast on the tar, grippy in the corners, very few flats.

[renayg]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I find that interesting, as I borrowed a set of carbon gravel wheels from a friend earlier this year that had ByWays on and I had no issues with rolling or punctures. I did not find them the grippiest in the corners though. I rode Swartberg 100 and Gallows with them and had no punctures. I was previously riding Vredenstein Aventura which felt heaps slower and also not that grippy, although that was on a set of alloy wheels, so perhaps I was just feeling the weight advantages more than anything else. The ByWay tyres were also not new by any means when I got onto them.

[guidodg]

WTB tires are truly crap, especially the tan wall ones which fall apart at the seams...had a set replaced under warranty..for a black one.

Stick to Pirelli Cinturato Ms...best tires I have used, period