Vittoria Mezcal III XC Race G2.0 29 Inch MTB Tire

Awesome tires.

Had to have a pair on my old Salsa El Mariachi. The bike is set up for long distance MTB tours and the tires performed great on a rugged 80 mile day. I was surprised to find no damage at all after ploughing through plenty of chunky stuff. Then I find out they are a top choice for Tour Divide racerriders. I know why - fast, plenty grippy, tough, light - couldn't be happier.

I have several bikes and have the Vittoria Mezcals in different sizes, widths and compounds offered on all my mountain bikes.

The bike I have the Vittoria Mezcal G2.0 TLR 29" x 2.25" tire on: Cannondale F-SI (hardtail)

Wheel set up: Rear Vittoria Airliner, WTB STX i21s, front and rear tubeless. 25 psi front and rear (I like my tires firm).

These tires really, really shine as a great XC race tire as they feel like a light tire, almost road bike tire light and the traction is super predictable and confident when on loose terrain whether it is blown out berms, pebbly/moondusty flat turns or pine coned littered trails. And on hard pack trail, gravel access road and asphalt pathways, these tires roll efficient and just feel like a fast tire. Ascending on dry, steep >15% grade, technical trails, I also found this tire to be 4 out of 5 stars very good. In fact, I think the Mezcals are better than the Barzos (and other tires).

For those rainy, wet weather day rides, these particular Mezcals are 3 out of 5 stars because they evacuate mud really well, the mud traction is predictable and has very good feedback to let you know when it's about to break traction. If you ride trails with roots and wood features, traction is going to be a 3/5 but if the roots or wood features are a bit at an angle or off camber, traction then falls to a 1 out of 5 stars bad. Niche note: I find this to be a really good trials tire too, if you're into trials.

Durability and mileage. I have not put in a full year on these tires but places I do ride, I have not had a sidewall tear, no flats (mind you, it is a tubeless set up with a rear tire liner) and no tire burps. I get a lot of factors come into play but these Mezcals and none of my other Mezcals on the other bikes have had issues with many lasting well into their 3-4 XC race season.

Do buy: You are a trail rider or XC racer looking for a lightweight tire that is going to be an all weather great generalist where you feel like you're faster than you really are.

Don't buy: You unreasonably are expecting to get DH deep knob tire traction because you're trying to make your trail bike as light as possible for the climbs from a tire that says "XC Race" on the sidewall. Trust me, I know a guy with a Santa Cruz Hightower and he literally had these expectations. True story.

Overall, I hope Vittoria does not remotely change the tread pattern on this tire, etc. because this is a really good tire and I think it's better than even the "downcountry" or whatever ridiculous terminology to make more sales from creating dumb words, Vittoria Syerra tire.

I purchased two of these tires this last fall during a seasonal sale. Decent price. I�m not a pro bike maintainer, but I have worked with dozens of rim/tire combos- repair, replace, or change out tubes. I write that to try and qualify my next statement: this was the stiffest set of tires I have ever worked with to get onto a rim. I went tubeless with this tire set, and one of the tires arrived with a small hole that the sealant plugged successfully. So far, I�m happy with these tires overall. I have NOT ridden outside on them yet. My stars and review opinion are subject to change with actual outside use.

These tires are excellent on/off road the road. I have them mounted on a niner hardtail. They have good grip on x-country trails but become a little slippery in loose gravelly material. Good overall tire but given the shallow tread pattern I would recommend not using on enduro rugged terrain.

Probably the best tire I've had in 30 years of doing this type of riding. Predictable, good traction, low rolling resistance. Wear seems reasonable after 800 miles. I wish the race casing was available in a 2.4 or 2.6, bit I don't like how Vittoria scales up their tread patterns on their wider tires. It came out at 2.30 on 29 internal rims after breaking them in.

Great fast tires for hard pack. No issues with traction on less loose terrain.

The tires perform as described but the description is misleading. The 29x2.1 also has the lighter sidewall despite what the description says.

Put these in my bikepacking bike. They are great

Great value. Currently using on my Trek 920 gravel grinder. Efficient enough on pavement and provide a sweet roll on gravel. Plenty of volume to air down. Knobbies just the perfect size... not too big, not too small, just right. Tight fit, easy tubeless set-up. Highly recommended.

Super fast and light. The 2.35 floats over dry sand. Not terrible on wet roots and rocks. Braking? Meh... Great on the rear with a 2.35 Barzo on the front.

My go to gravel tires and single track speeders. Nothing better out there.

These tires were build to roll. Crushing my local single track with my Gravel bike with these bad boys strapped tubeless.