WTB Trail Boss, Tough, Fast Rolling TT 2.6in rear tyre review

WTB's Trail Boss has a toothy tread pattern on the shoulders with ramped central tread blocks that are packed close together. I picked WTB’s Tough Casing (the heavier of two casing options), along with its Fast Rolling (harder) compound for use on the rear and it rolled surprisingly fast.

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In my tests, it was the fastest-rolling of the aggressive rear tyres I subjected to the roll-down test, just beating Schwalbe’s Hans Dampf.

However, braking and pedalling grip over wet rocks and roots is poor.

This was especially noticeable when brake-testing the tyres on the same section of wet tarmac, but also when riding steep, rocky and greasy chutes, where the tyre would skip and lock up more readily than others.

While cornering grip in loose soil is excellent, the splayed-out shoulder blocks fold when pushed particularly hard into hardpack berms (I’m talking cutties or committed cornering here) causing the tyre to squirm a little.

This is probably because, while the casing measures up at 2.37in wide (between the sidewalls), the shoulder knobs stick out a long way from the sidewall to 2.6in across. So they’re not as well supported as other tyres.

It’s also worth mentioning that this was one of the few tyres I struggled to install tubeless on a DT Swiss rim with a track pump.

Overall, the Trail Boss is a speedy and tough tyre, but despite it gripping well in corners it can squirm if pushed really hard and lacks some braking and pedalling grip.

• This tyre was tested as part of a group test. All tyres were tested back-to-back on the same tracks, keeping all other variables as consistent as possible to ensure our findings are as reliable and accurate as they can be.