First Look – Vee Rubber Mission Fat-bike Tires

vee-rubber-mission-fat-bike-tire2

What we’ve got here is the new Mission fat-bike tire, a 26″ x 4.0 offering from Vee Rubber.

vee-rubber-mission-fat-bike-tire1You may recall that we reviewed, and continue to roll on, the Vee Rubber Vee8 and came away impressed. Let’s see how the more aggressive Mission stacks up.

The version of the Mission we are looking at here is a folding version in a 120 tpi casing and weighs in just under or just over 1400g. Our 6 tire order had Missions that ranged between 1370g and 1420g.

As you can see in that photo over there the Mission has a more open, aggressive tread than the Vee8 and uses a directional tread pattern. The knobs have a variety of shapes with triangular blocks with sipes in the middle, a polygon in the second row with a step down at the back, diamonds with sipes in them and an outer row that wraps around the side of the casing.

Mounted up on my 47mm Northpaw-S rims, the Missions are 87mm wide at both the widest spot on the casing as well as at the outermost knob. Almost exactly the same width as my Hüsker Düs on the same rim. The outer diameter is about 28-5/8″, or 728mm, slightly smaller in diameter than the Hüsker Düs on the same rim.

Initial rides have proven to me that Vee Rubber are making strides in the right direction at improving their fat-bike tire offerings. I did notice a bit of the “self-steering” feel that many riders noticed on earlier version of Vee Rubber’s fat-bike tires but less than previously. It is more apparent at lower pressures and lessens as you raise the PSI. We have a lot more riding to do as well as testing on different rims to get a solid impression of these tires so look for another report down the trail once we get more time with the Vee Rubber Mission.

Meanwhile, the Mission retails for $89.95 and is available in limited quantities now with another shipment due in about 60 days. Check with your LBS if you want to give them a try!

vee-rubber-mission-2612

For what it is worth, we purchased these tires they were not given to us for review but regardless of how we get product we will give our true and honest opinions on any items we review. Also of note is that Vee Rubber is a sponsor of the fat-bike.com web site. Again, that didn’t influence our review. Remember, these are our opinions, your experiences may vary so get out and ride!

8 Comments

  1. I bet that makes a great all around tire. My 60 tpi Missions rode fine on all surfaces for many, many miles. The self steer at lower pressures, I feel, isn’t as bad as people claim. The original Devist8ers were worse. On the rocky trails around here on the East Coast, I never run under 10psi anyways. For the price, I think the 60tpi Missions are great. These tires performed great on bikepacking trips that included hardpack and pavement.

    I can also say that their lifespan blows away the Surly Knards that I am currently “testing”. The 27tpi Knard I’m currently riding on the rear is “dying” after only 2 months of riding. They seem much more susceptible to premature death due to riding on pavement in order to get to the trailhead. I bet if you only ride the Knards on trails that you’d get more life out of them.

  2. These look good. I’ve recently been running an On-One Floater 4.0″ on the front of my Puffin, and it blows the performance of the Nate that was previously mounted out of the water. It’s a great tire that rolls surprisingly fast for its knobbyness (is that even a word?).

  3. Much better traction than the Surly Larry I was running, but it’s smaller and noisier. The tread grabs dry ground like a cat on drapes.

    Should I point out that the tire in your review pick is mounted backwards?

    • Thanks for the input! Definitely has traction. Not sure how you are viewing the image but the tire is mounted with the arrow on the sidewall pointing in the direction of rotation. That said, running tires backwards in some situations may work better for some, especially in the back.

  4. Just wanted to provide a quick review on these Vee Rubber tires (mounted to Rolling Darryl rims)
    Even though the price is attractive I highly recommend avoiding the Missions for a front tire! At least on the Darryl rims the “self-steer” on these tires is terrible at low pressure (I would even go as far as to say dangerous) around 20 + PSI helped reduce the self-steer but render the tire less than useful on snow and dirt.

    I have heard of users liking the tires on skinnier rims (50mm) and possibly for a rear tire.

Comments are closed.