Anybody that knows me is quite aware of my tendency to hit the deck while on a mountain bike. My legs look like a relief map with all the scars on top of scars and lacerations looking like single track. So when I started to entertain the idea of going to the skinnier 1.75 XDX Bontrager tires vs the factory 2.1 size everybody was looking forward to signing my cast.I ordered 4 of them, a set for the Fly and a set for the Paragon. I figured if I liked them on the Paragon it would only be fitting to put a set on the Fly too.

My first ride out on the Paragon was mostly loose hard packed fire road behind my house. I figured that if the test of pushing them hard out of the gate went badly I would at least be within crawling distance of the house. Well, no need for an ambulance avoiding crawl, these thing hooked up pretty damn good. I’m not exactly sure how much shorter the 1.75’s are but the reduction in height definitally added to the acceleration factor. The power needed to get to 20mph was notably less than with using the 2.1’s.

Hitting the first fast corner was an all or nothing affair. I figured that I should just jump right in and peg the corner like I would with the bigger brothers and well, they held. Steering was a lot snappier and felt to be more razor sharp, a welcomed feel for sure. I had them set to 30psi like the begins and they did seam to ride a little rough, I let out a little bit and they clung even better.When I got home I installed the other set on my Fly, tubeless. I was happy to see that they aired right up with my floor pump, no hassle at all. The next day I was taking ly Fly with its new feet to the local singletrack and a little more testing, tubeless style.

Now on my Fly equipped with the 1.75’s I was off down the road headed to the single track. 20 min’s of paved road then a 4 mile long steep fire road climb is what it takes to get to the single track. This 4 mile fire road is also where I do my TT’s to gauge power. My fastest time so far this year had been 20:17 after a rest week. I decided on the paved road the I would do a TT to see if these little suckers would shave any time. I wasn’t fully rested like I should have been. Just two days earlier I did 8×45sec with 30sec rest repeats on the same road at L5.

The acceleration of these tires was even better on my Fly. The carbon frame really plants the power to the ground in a hurry. I got up to the top of the fire road in 20:12, that’s 5 seconds faster than my best! I can only imagine what it’s going to be like on a fully rested day. Now I was in front the single track and ready to put these bad boys to the real test.

As I rolled into the first turn it was obvious that I needed to let some air out, psssst. Things were a little beter and I picked up my speed. Whack, a big water brake in the next sharp turn. The tires are pretty supple and clung on with little slip. Now at about 17 mph I was setting my self up for the next turn, a little rear brake, a little front and lean! I sailed though the corner and I could hear and feel the tinny knobs biting the ground and slipping just a little. I stopped and let out even more air. Everything got better with every psssst of air being let out. The front tire fet pretty soft in my fingers now and letting anymore air out was just not going to happen.

I let it rip the rest of the way down and enjoyed every grippe second of it. On the way back to the Super Honda I had to climb up and over a pretty good size pave road. I reached forward to lock out my fork for some out the seat singlespeed style climbing. Well if you haven’t guessed already, it was already locked. I had locked it for the TT and forgot to open it up for the singletrack!

To sum things up, these tires kick ass. The DA factor of the 1.75’s is 44/42 vs the 2.1’s carry a 53/51. This is apparently a huge thing because with a rigid locked out fork the softer compound really made all the difference in the world. Back at the car I checked the air pressure, it was at a scary 20psi! I would never set a tire this low seeing as I weigh 185lbs but the tire took it. There are no visible stress marks on the sidewalls and they never felt that they folded under a hard corner. Today’s ride will be in some pretty tight singletrack and some sandy sections too. I’m confident that with my for unlocked I’m going to like these 1.75’s even more.

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