WTB VERDICT TYRE
SPECIFICATION Width: 29x2.5in • Weight: 1,280g • Compound/casing: High Grip/tough • Contact: wtb.com
The Verdict is the kind of tyre that makes most others feel a little inadequate, thanks to the size of its lugs, which are very large indeed. Incredibly though, it’s the less aggressive of the Verdict tyres, with the Wet version boasting 1mm taller centre knobs and 1.6mm taller side lugs. Without those overly lofty lugs then, and sharing the same compound, casing options and tread pattern, could the standard Verdict prove a more versatile version than its Wet brother?
The short answer is yes, I’ve been running the Verdict on the front for nearly two months on my e-bike and the conditions have been dry with a hint of bone. On steep, natural trails it delivers truly amazing levels of traction as those tall lugs bite into loam and pretty much anything else in its path, finding grip where there really should be nothing but a face full of dust. The Verdict will climb out of a dry rut if you’re not very careful, leaving you beached with your rear wheel scrabbling to keep up.
I found the same last winter too when riding it in the mud – its grip levels aren’t quite as tenacious as the Wet version but it still clings on where it has no right to.
The Verdict comes in two casings, Tough and Light; I’ve been using the former on the YT Decoy to better deal with the rougher life of an e-bike – more descending, more abuse, less precise lines. It’s been a revelation just how low you can run this tyre in terms of pressure, a scant 18psi kept me trucking without burp or roll, and I never felt a hint of squirm.
I was set to score the Verdict a perfect 10 then, until I took it to flatter and faster trails, bike park-style stuff with berms and hardpacked features. Take the pressures up above 20 and they don’t squirm or roll over like the Verdict Wet does under heavy loads, but there is a slight vagueness as you transition from the centre lugs to those on the side, caused by the void between them, and you easily feel when the grip disappears before
returning with a vengeance. It takes some getting used to, especially if you come from a Maxxis background – the Minion DHR and the Assegai especially have more rounded profiles that let you smoothly lean the tyre into a corner. It’s not as comfortable on hardpack as either of those two either.
The Verdict is an astonishing tyre that works best when you use those big side lugs to full advantage, so the advice is to always be turning. It’s decently damped, there’s no pinginess off roots or rocks, and even on hardpack it performs well.
The Verdict Wet is a mud tyre while this iteration will do it all in mixed conditions so is a better fit-and-forget option.