Getting a Kevlar-beaded, tubeless-ready tyre for this price is immediately impressive, but there’s more to the Eskar than on-paper performance. The tread design features plenty of good old straight edges, with sipes on most of the blocks contributing extra working edges as the tread deforms.
They’re at their best in softer or looser conditions, but are fine (if a little slow) on hardpack. The sidewalls on the basic Eskar aren’t as robust as some, and even if you run them tubeless you’ll want to keep the pressure up, but they work better a bit firmer anyway.
If you really need more meat on your tyres, Specialized also have reinforced Armadillo versions, although you pay a hefty premium for them.
This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine.