Review on 🚲 CST Patrol Trail Tire by Allen Tchida

This is an almost perfect tire when your mountain bike spends most of its time on paved trails but still sees some dirt. Narrow lugs in the center let it roll pretty fast, while wider lugs on the outside provide traction on rocks and roots. Air pressure has been a big influence since I first went down a dirt track at 50psi, skidded everywhere and couldn't grip the steep slope. At 35psi, it was a completely different tire, clinging to rocks and roots and capable of tackling the same steep slope. I use a 29x2.25 wire bead at the back and a 29x2.4 folded bead at the front. The sizing seems pretty accurate considering my rather narrow rims. The folding front is set very straight and it was easy to "massage" high and low spots to make them level. Adjusting the rear wire beads required more work, but that's to be expected with the cheaper wire version. The foldable version is higher quality and has a spike protection layer, but at a higher price. Having ridden both, I think that once you find a tire you like, a premium folding tire is worth the premium price. After a few hundred miles, 90% asphalt, I see some wear but nothing significant. They're durable and do a lot better than the awful Bontrager XR2s that came with the bike.