Vittoria Syerra mountain bike tyre review

Vittoria's Syerra Down Country tyre is tougher than XC, lighter than Trail, easy to fit and a good price for a quad rubber mix. But how does it actually ride?
Thanks to Giro, Peaty’s and Crud for sponsoring the channel, Vittoria for sending the tyres in for test and for my Patreon supporters for their monthly pledges. If you like what I'm doing and want early, extended and exclusive edits, personal buying and tech advice and other Patreon perks click on the link here: www.patreon.co...
Any questions get busy in the comments.
Cheers
Guy

[@jeremyparsons5379]

Excellent, Guy. Really like the thorough tyre reviews 👍👍

[@andrewcruickshank7463]

Nice as always. Clear and concise and not too much fluff :)

[@GuyKesTV]

Thanks Andrew. I won’t tell you about the two fluffy attempts that got binned then 🤣🤫

[@benjy288]

I just went from agarro's front and rear to syerra's front and rear, and in the conditions I ride in which are hard pack and loose over hard I think the syerra has more edge grip than the agarro, because they have a channel between the transition knobs and the edge knobs, I also found them to roll nearly as well as the barzo, I really like these tyres, you can run them 2 or 3 psi lower than other vittoria tyres, I'm running 18psi in the front and I'm about 73kg to 74kg in street clothes, they seem to like being ridden aggressively.

[@michaelthompson1640]

thanks for the review, I was looking at these before I bought the Racing Ray/Ralph combo! What kind of "downcountry" or XC tires do you recommend?

[@kevinclark9176]

I just picked up an Evil Following MB and it came with 2.6DHF/2.4DHR combo (dual compounds). The trails I ride are more flows though and not super gnarly rocky recents. So I’ve been curious on something lighter & faster. What does this tire compare to in the Maxxis line? And do you like it front and rear or would an Agarro upfront make sense?

[@MaheshRengaswamy]

Running Syerra upfront and Barzo in the rear. Lots of fun on my local flow/xc trails. Works for me .. as I came off a DHF/DHR combo.

[@thephoenixcycle8854]

I'm glad i saw this video bc l was just going to buy these.. im not digging them as much now. I really liked the agaro tire because they rolled so fast but a little disappointed with these

[@GuyKesTV]

Yeah, I'm not sure what they really add compared to Aggaro as they're still pretty heavy and after lending them to other riders it seems they puncture easily.

[@nelson5786]

Excellent video!! What kind of tires would you recommend to "down country". I have used Sierra, but I´m not very satisfied. I have a Trek Top Fuel 9.7 and looking for good roling and confident tires. I have used it more like a XC than trail, even I have here in Mairiporã, Brazil hard trails. What would be your recommendation of tires like Syerra, down country tires.

[@GuyKesTV]

Glad you enjoyed the video. I was riding with Fernando from the Cafenatrilah KZbin channel in Brazil last week and he showed me videos of some trails there. I really like the Specialized Ground Control and Fast Trak tires in the Control model and they’re a good price too.

[@nelson5786]

@@GuyKesTV tks to answer Guy! Nice surprise, Fernando is nice guy! I like his channel. Be sure, here in Brazil you can find a lots of good trails!! You are very welcome here. I will try your tire suggestion! Let me know if you intend to come here and I would like to meet you and ride together! Best regards!

[@stuart3744]

Great review as I was considering this tyre, have a trek roscoe 9 with bonty Xr 4 team issue tyres 29x 2.6 and finding them too much for what I’m doing , possibly wrong bike purchase but I’m not selling so looking for something with better rolling and decent in the wet(uk) came from a gary fisher paragon and finding what I now have sluggish any tips

[@GuyKesTV]

If you're wanting something fast and decent in the wet either Specialized Ground Control or Schwalbe Rocket Ron should do the trick. Unless it's rocky where you are in which case they might be a bit fragile so something like the new Hutchinson Wyrm

[@stuart3744]

@@GuyKesTV Thanks for the advice , I will check them out, tyres are not cheap and want to get this correct.

[@GuyKesTV]

Specilaized are definitely the best value at the moment but Hutchinson are pretty reasonable too. Schwalbe not so much, especially if you get unlucky and split one @@stuart3744

[@jpandriesse3954]

Hi, do you also have experience with the Barzo/Mezcal combi? If so, how would you compare them with that combo? Reason of asking is that I do have the Barzo/Mezcal set and a set of Schwalbe Nobby Nic and was wondering whether it is worth to have them as something in the middle. Thanks!

[@GuyKesTV]

I didn't find the Syerra any faster than Nobby Nic and in mixed conditions (esp wetter ones) the Nic grips better. Syerra tread lasts a long time but found them quite puncture prone (after I'd posted this review). Same with Schwalbe Wicked Will which I sliced up very quickly. Currently running the new Maxxis Forekaster which is very much in this area so keep your eyes peeled for that review

[@jpandriesse3954]

@@GuyKesTVAt the end I found a used (good als new) set for a little money and decided to give it a try. They are out again, because sold the bike on which they where on, but after six months of use I can only fully agree with your review

[@jeroenberger9064]

When you say these tyres are not fast, how do they compare against, for example, the Maxxis Rekon Race?

[@GuyKesTV]

Definitely slower that Rekon Race and Rekon. More Forecaster territory

[@TheSpade83]

How does this compare to the rekons?

[@brucemolina6291]

Mine got sidewall tears really quick

[@jeremyatkinson4976]

I've never come across any tyre that stops a Blackthorn

[@tonyhruzek4250]

Advice: Ride your bike everywhere! Commuting with the new peddles will train you to use them intuitively with the least consequence of getting hurt.

[@maxlloyd3740]

Be interesting to see a comparison against Schwalbe Wicked Will another downcountry special!

[@GuyKesTV]

Ordered and inbound Max. Sick of everything ‘trail’ weighing over a kilo so aiming to work my way through all the options 👍🏻

[@tobyg4556]

@@GuyKesTV I couldn't agree more. I'm very interested in the specialised ground control for my next rear tyre, especially since the recent price drop. Any chance of a review being in the pipe line?

[@jeremyparsons5379]

@@tobyg4556 me too? Have had some issues with the light ground control, on Guys very helpful recommendation about to stick on some ground control T7s

[@GuyKesTV]

@@tobyg4556 Yes, vid coming ASAP I was just checking that price drop was permanent. Short answer GC or the Fast Trak in Grid Trail are awesome. Long answer in words here: www.bikeperfect.com/reviews/specialized-ground-control-fastrak-and-renegade-xcdowncountry-tires-review

[@tobyg4556]

@@GuyKesTV cheers, would you recommend the grid trail T7 or the Control T5 for the rear?

[@edlorenz1552]

Junk. I'd stick to Schwalbe snakeskin any day!