Review: 700 X 45mm Vulpine S

 Note: WTB sent over one set each of the Vulpine S, Vulpine, and Resolute tires for testing and review to Guitar Ted Productions at no cost. I was not paid nor bribed for this review and I will always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

 I did a review of the three new WTB tires back in early July and now I want to break down the review into parts focusing on each tire in the release.This time I am going to focus on the Vulpine S 700 X 45mm tires. Two weeks ago I updated the 700 X 50mm Resolute review. You can check that out HERE. Last week I updated the 700 X 45mm Vulpine review HERE. 

This is the new tire of the three I am looking at. WTB has had Vulpine tires before, but the "S" variant did not exist, until now. You can also get the Vulpine S in a 40mm width, but I have the 45mm tire here. Currently it measures 45.4mm and 46mm on 25mm internal width rims. 

The Vulpine S is distinguished from the Vulpine by its smooth center track on the tread. Otherwise it looks fairly similar to the 45mm Vulpines I have here. Both tires feature WTB's dual compound rubber and their "SG" (Slash Guard) sidewall protection. There is no puncture protection under the tread cap. By the way, all the details on the three WTB tire models I have here can be found in the introductory post HERE.

I haven't run the Vulpine S tires for several weeks up until recently because I wanted to distance myself from my initial take on the tires. At first, I was fairly enamored of the ride quality and speed the Vulpine S tires had. But could that have been just because I was excited about this new model? 

The Vulpine S excels on smaller sized gravel, hard pack roads, and hard dirt trail.

The first ride after the long break did nothing to change my initial take on the Vulpine S. It is still a fast tire, it still has a very damped quality to the ride, and it still is fun to ride. I thought about how much better this tire feels to ride versus the Vulpine and Resolute and all I can come up with are two things: One is the wheel set I chose to mount the Vulpine S on which has Berd spokes. These spokes do damp the ride and have a very different feel compared to steel spokes. Second: This set of tires is just different. 

What I am going to do next is peel off these tires, mount them on an aluminum rimmed wheel set, and then see what happens. If the tires still feel amazing, it will have to be that these tires, and maybe just this set, are great performers. 

Right now though, these have become my favorite tires to ride. They have their quirks though. This tire hunts around a little bit in deeper, looser dirt, sand, and gravel. Wet dirt, really wet pavement, and mud? Nope! The tread isn't up to those surfaces. Keep the Vulpine S on dry terrain and it does really well. 

It has a drifty quality sometimes when pushed a little hard into corners on dirt or finer gravel. That style is not 'my style' of riding, necessarily, but if you are into that and like to live on the edge of traction in corners, the Vulpine S might prove to be a fun tire for you. 

I could see a mixed tire set up using the Vulpine S as a rear tire. Keeping things all WTB here, I might suggest trying the 700 X 50mm Resolute up front matched up with this Vulpine S tire. Especially if you were riding buff single track. That sounds like fun right there. 

But extreme riding styles aside, this tire still strikes me as the "all-road" tire in the WTB range. I used to feel that way about the Byway, and I still might, it's just that I have not ridden a Byway in ages. Both those WTB models are similar in ride feel and performance though, and I recommend either for a 'mostly paved' gravel tire.

Stay tuned for a final verdict late in the Summer.