It Finally Happened! (With WTB Bailiff News)

8:30am, Tuesday, January 8th, 2024

 The warnings were all over the airwaves starting Sunday and into Monday. We were finally going to get a significant snow event. The weather people were saying we'd see anywhere from 5" - 9" of snow. By 7:00am we already had 6+ inches and it was snowing heavily. We ended up with a record one-day snow total of 10.5" for that day.

I'm not complaining. First of all, we need moisture here in Iowa. We are still in a drought and anything we get is welcomed in terms of precipitation. Secondly, fat biking! This amount of snow should pack in and be groom-able. In fact, my testing out of the initial snow layer we got showed great packable snow and a higher moisture content which should show up as a great base layer. 

By the way this snow is acting in the wind, I'd say that it might just prove to be some of the best riding snow we've seen. but time will tell on that front. 

Thirdly - This makes the cold weather worthwhile, in my eyes anyway. Because if it is just too darn cold to ride in the country without snow, it just makes life miserable - for me - and it is not very fun. But add in snow? My attitude changes 180 degrees. 

Plus, all that white snow just makes everything look better. Again, maybe that's just me. But a drab, grey and brown scene is harder to draw any uplifting inspiration from to brighten my day. So, this snow is awesome, and Winter finally looks the part. 

The new WTB Bailiff tire in 27.5 X 4.5" (image courtesy of WTB)

WTB Finally Makes A Fat Bike Tire:

Yesterday news broke concerning a new fat bike tire from WTB. They are offering the new tire as a 4.5" X 27.5" diameter only tire at this time.

The new tire, called the Bailiff, comes in a studded or non-studded versions with studd-able pockets molded in. These accept any Terrene or 45NRTH studs. 

The rubber compound is designed for grip in cold weather conditions, so it is a softer compound. TCS ready means these are tubeless ready tires. Prices are $134.95 for the non-studded and $279.95 for the studded version. (Prices for one tire only)

You can read more about these HERE on WTB's site. 

Comments: Wow! I recall asking about fat bike tires probably ten years ago from my WTB contacts and they weren't real interested in them at that point. Apparently more pressure was brought to bear from some "Canadian bike partners" and so WTB went into development with some testers in Vermont to come up with this tire "after several revisions". 

"Bike partners" means "OEM spec", and so I would be looking for new fat bikes coming out with WTB branded Bailiff tires soon. I suspect that since the "amazing bike partners" were only interested in 27.5" diameter tires that this is why WTB is not offering a 26"er version. 

Question: If I told you this tire was a 45NRTH tire, would you have believed me? I think the design is very derivative of a 45NRTH Wrathlord tire, but maybe I'm not seeing that correctly.... Anyway. Too bad there isn't a 26"er version. I might have tried those on my fat bikes. 

One last note: WTB sells these Bailiff tires saying they are TCS compatible, but their own TCS sealant is not rated for temperatures that fat bikes often see. Kinda weird..... Their is always Orange Seal Sub-Zero.