Over the last couple months I’ve taken the Terrene “McFly” 29 x 2.8 tire on a variety of overnighter trips, singletrack rides and dirt roads. I’ve even commuted on it, which in my rural part of Idaho is a little different than the typical urban commute, and encouraged me to take a lot of detours through dirt lots and such on the way to and from the office. The McFlys were mounted on Surly Rabbit Hole rims on a Surly ECR the entire time.
The Terrene McFly is an excellent choice for multi-day adventures off the beaten path.
The McFly was introduced into the Terrene line-up as a lower-tread, faster rolling alternative to the aptly-named Terrene “Chunk,” which is firmly in the aggressive, knobby category. At the same time, I’d still say that the McFly offers plenty of large, widely-spaced knobs for most trail riding short of full-on technical shredding. Its open design clears mud reasonably, and while the center knobs are moderate in height, the side knobs are substantial, creating a tire that corners very well. Combining a Chunk up front with a McFly in the rear would be a good combo to consider for more aggressive trail riding.
As a low-tread, faster-rolling option, the McFly offers a good alternative to the Terrene Chunk.
I weigh 170lbs, and I ran the McFlys at about 14psi front and 16psi rear (higher with an overnight load), and that felt like a pretty ideal pressure to take advantage of the plushness of the large tire without being so soft that sidewalls felt compromised. Actual casing width for the McFly, after being mounted on i45 rims for two months, is still 2.68” – basically the same as it was shortly after mounting, so they haven’t really stretched out at all in that time. A bit shy of a true 2.8” tire, but honestly, I’m more concerned about tire performance than splitting hairs over 1/10 of an inch. It’s also worth mentioning that the 120 tpi version has a noticeably supple feeling to it, all the more so when set up tubeless. This “suppleness” is a comment I often seem to hear about the compound that Terrene uses (a top-secret formula), particularly on their “Light” versions.
My ECR got along well with the McFlys – in fact, it’s pretty much the ideal tire for this rig.
Our test pair of McFlys were the “Light” 120tpi version. As I mentioned in my initial overview of the McFly, these tires are impressively light – lighter even than the weight stated on the Terrene website. With that in mind, the McFlys held up to everything I threw at them, though I admittedly was using them more in an exploratory and bikepacking mode than for aggressive, chunky trail riding. I think that if I was going to run these tires on a 29+ trail shredding machine, or if I was planning a remote, multi-day trip and needed durability/dependability over a little weight savings, I’d opt for the “Tough” version, just to be on the safe side.
The McFly has great cornering abilities and would be a fine choice for most trail riding as well.
Terrene continues to expand its already excellent lineup of adventure-oriented tires with the new McFly. If you’re looking for a lightweight, fast-rolling 29+ tire for a variety of off-road adventures, from multi-day dirt road treks to trail riding, the McFly should be on your short list to check out. The McFly is also available in a 27.5 x 2.8 version, and all versions list for $80.00 (US).
You can learn more at www.http://terrenetires.com/
Given that these tires are 2.7 on an i45 rim, on an i35 rim they would be about 2.6. Maybe they should be labeled 2.6. Any of the the new crop of 2.6 tires which are designed for i35 rims tires would be 2.7 on an i45 rim.