The WTB Exposure has been updated with a new 120 TPI casing borrowed from the brand's gravel bike tyres, a dual-compound tread and new widths. Available in black or tan sidewall options, it’s an intriguing tyre that’s difficult to categorise, and one I’m excited to start testing.
The original WTB Exposure was quietly introduced in 2019. As one of the few truly slick tyres with supple(ish) casings available at the time, WTB Exposures were specced widely by OEMs who wanted to offer road-adjacent versions of gravel or endurance bikes – most notably on the Cannondale Synapse Carbon SE.
The tyre was also available aftermarket, and I have run both the original 30mm and 36mm options extensively on my All-City Mr Pink, Brown Bike, and Surly Steamroller.
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Tyres fit for today
Fast forward to 2025, and things have moved significantly since the original tyre launched.
Where a relatively sprightly 30mm-wide slick – let alone a 36mm slick – tyre once stood out, performance road rubber has grown ever wider across the board.
32mm tyres are now common, even on race bikes. And while they’re still a relative oddity, mainstream brands such as Pirelli now offer tyres up to a massive 55mm wide. New products continue to be released, with a 42mm-wide Vittoria Corsa Pro Control set to be available soon, having been first spotted on the new Cervélo Aspero 5.
In short, tyres are faster and fatter than they were five or so years ago.
WTB’s updates bring the tyre’s specs closer to what riders expect today. However, even then, the new Exposure is not really comparable to these aforementioned performance-minded treads.
To start, the 120 TPI SGS casing is lifted directly from WTB’s gravel bike tyres. That casing makes for a fine gravel tyre (the Vulpine S is my current go-to gravel tyre), but it’s unusual to see a fully slick tread paired with a gravel casing.
The tyres are available in 32mm and 38mm options – an increase of 2mm for both sizes versus the outgoing tyres. I weighed my 38mm test tyres at 392g each. They’re set to cost $69.95, with international pricing TBA.
So is it an endurance road bike tyre? Not really. In terms of construction, endurance road tyres are generally lighter than the Exposure. And where typical road bike tyres typically have a distinctly lightbulb-shaped profile, the Exposure plumps out with a big, round gravel-like shape.
All-road lives again (maybe)
Please forgive me for this, but it really is probably best described as a slick gravel tyre – or all-road, if you want to revive a briefly trendy niche of the early 2020s.
Regardless of how you choose to pigeonhole the tyre, it’s an intriguing option nonetheless – and one that appeals to me as someone who enjoys a cheeky unsanctioned mid-road-ride gravel diversion.
With a bit of self-belief, it’s remarkable how much you can ride on a slick tread, but a flimsy road bike tyre casing isn’t the best choice if you like pelting rims into rocks.
I don’t anticipate the Exposures will be topping any rolling resistance tests – Simon ‘Watts’ von Bromley won’t approve – but they bridge this gap nicely, and I'm looking forward to testing them.
