Origin8 recently introduced their first fat-bike tire, the 26×4.0 Devist8er. This tire, made by Vee Rubber in Thailand, is going to be, in one form or another, the stock rubber on the new Origin8 fat-bike called the Crawler that is due out sometime in the spring of 2012, though the tire is available now from your local IBD through J&B.
I met with J&B rep Greg Earle to pick up the set of tires for testing and discussed several fat-bike related items including the explosive growth of the segment in the bike market. Greg’s experience on the road at bike shops all over Wisconsin shows a massive increase in interest in fat-bikes!
The Devist8er comes in both wire bead and Kevlar bead versions. The set we got are the Kevlar version and weigh in at 1820g and 1850g respectively with an on-the-package weight of 1830g. Not the lightest fat-bike tires out there but there is a good reason for that. The sidewalls are noticeably thicker that any of the Innova tires that Surly offers (BFL, Larry, Nate, Endomorph). Plus there is a Kevlar belt for Flat Protection.
Actually, according to Greg at J&B, the Kevlar Flat Protection built into the Devist8er has TWO separate features going on at once!
- A kevlar layer around the entire tire including sidewall for puncture resistance
- A 1mm undertread (center section) for Loooong wear life and added sharp object protection.
With a 60TPI carcass the Devist8er falls in between the 27tpi and 120tpi offerings from the Innova camp.
For our first rides we mounted the Devist8ers up on Large Marge rims and found they measure a fat-respectable 94mm wide at 15psi. Notable was that the carcass has a flatter profile than the more “bulbous” Larry in our photo. Our initial test rides were done on tires with between 8psi and 15psi.
Ride #1 was an 11-mile ride around the Eastside of Milwaukee including Oak Leaf Trail (paved), Milwaukee River Trail (MTB trail), the streets of MKE and the Lakefront with a mix of pebbly and sandy shoreline.
Ride #2 was a 23-mile trek around Milwaukee for the Santa Cycle Rampage that included a bit of snow in the AM, a lot of road and trail getting from one holiday-festive bar stop to the other and some off road on the Art Trail.
Ride #3 was a 12-mile slog through slightly thawed, and thus greasy and muddy, John Muir trails in the Southern Kettle Moraine Forest in SoEWi.
Initial impressions are that the fairly open and blocky tread pattern works well on the pavement and lime stone trails and sticks well on the hardpack of the river trail, while the mud encounter was inclusive because the tires seemed to grip better in some spots other riders were having troubles in but they also packed up with mud more than the Endos or Larrys others were riding. Snow will have to wait until father winter decides to pay us a visit in Wisco! Of course not every tire will excel in all conditions so we will keep riding the Devist8er to learn more about its strengths and weaknesses.
My final initial impression is that the tire does not have quite the “lively” feel of the Endo/Larry and seemed to require a bit more OOMPH from the legs to roll. Settle in at a nice easy pace and enjoy the ride!
Expect to pay about $54.95 for the Kevlar and $44.95 for the wire bead version. Potentially a bargain, depending on how and where you ride.
FYI, while J&B did provide these tires at no cost for the review we receive no monetary compensation for this review!
Suprised that the trails were open. I can’t imagine riding those tires on muddy trails was the best for the heavily used trails
It should be interesting to see what new products come out for fatbikes in the next year.
I can’t believe it is that much difference in WIsco, but having a bike that muddy at the end of ride would surely get you a stink eye or two here. We are all suffering this winter. Either ride in the basement, ride early AM or surf the net. But intentionally riding a muddy public trails is bad form. Pizza cutters & foot prints are no fun for riding when frozen and bad for soil erosion in the spring. But then you guys know this. By posting this review on Fatbike.com, it gives the appearance of condoning riding a muddy public trail. If you got the land owners permission, then have it. Not hating, really, I consider this site a source for good info. That is why I thought I should chip in my 3 cents. I apologize if I misread the conditions and went on a needless “rant”. My bad on the typos too.
Wow. Trail Nazis are everywhere. Where I live, my tires are sometimes wider than the trail is and almost always does more good than harm as the fat tires smooth out the ruts left by narrower tires. Argue all you want but I have photographic evidence to prove it.
Yep! The trails were “Open” and are evaluated every day by the DNR for acceptable conditions.
Any updates for snowy conditions?