World Cup Cross-Country racing has kicked off back in continental Europe, and with it comes a new batch of lightweight mountain bike prototypes engineered to go fast, and what better way to make your XC bike faster than some new tires. Sure, the latest and greatest carbon wunderbike is something we always lust over. But it is undeniable that the most effective – and usually most affordable – way to make your current mountain bike faster is to upgrade your rubber. And the tire companies are not sitting on their hands. In the first day of Czech racing on the popular Nové Město na Moravě course, we’ve already spotted at least 5 different tires sporting prototype labels.

Plus, at a time when mixed-surface tread tires are getting wider and wider, we’ve even seen dozens of riders racing and winning the short track XCC even on gravel tires!

XC World Cup Nove Mesto fast cross-country tire development (All photos/Cory Benson)

With dry and hardpack conditions prevailing, the ruling factor in tire choice was ‘anything fast’.

On day 1 of Czech World Cup racing, we’ve spotted new tires in development from Maxxis, Michelin, Pirelli & Schwalbe. Plus, Michelin, Pirelli & Specialized gravel tires get raced out of their original discipline. In fact, the elite men’s winner Christopher Blevins (and pipped at the line XCC World Champ Victor Koretzky) won on an existing Specialized gravel tread!

Michelin Work In Progress

For testing only. Not for sale.

Michelin’s ‘Work In Progress’ prototype badge covered the biggest departure from their current XC line-up.

With a big gap between their current Power Gravel and Jet XC2 cross-country tires, Michelin-sponsored teams were race testing at least two all-new dry conditions tread patterns.

This could be the successor to the current Jet XC2. It features low-profile knobs and an almost-continuous set of chevron center knobs for low rolling-resistance in a straight line. But it still has an open transition knob layout and well-supported staggered shoulder blocks for grip when you lean hard.

But it wasn’t the only all-new tire from the French tiremaker. Another prototype XC tread with tiny, tightly-spaced knobs looked perfectly suited for dry short track racing!

Maxxis Test Pilot

Prototype tire for professional use only. Not for resale.

Maxxis’ Test Pilot program is probably the one we’ve seen most in XCO & XCC racing, primarily because of this one tread pattern – the Aspen ST. For years, the Aspen ST was the quintessential pro-only XC tire. But since last spring, you can actually buy this tire, too! It has been ridden to numerous dry World Cup cross-country wins, and is still sought after in the pro ranks.

Is this another evolution – maybe a new casing or new rubber compound? Or is it just that there are so many pros who’ve been relying on this tire for years, that there are still tons of Test Pilot-adorned Aspen STs floating around in the paddock?

And don’t forget the original Maxxis Aspen, either. This is the XC race tire that pushed lightweight cross-country rubber to the seemingly giant 2.4″ widths that we see dominating today. We’ve heard (bike) rumors of XC pros asking for 2.6″ tires and even (gasp!) 32″ tires. But we’ve yet to see either of those materialize on the race circuit.

We did, however, catch wind of a 32″ Maxxis Aspen in Taipei earlier this spring. Yikes!

Schwalbe First Ride

Schwalbe’s XC tire development story seems to be pulling out proven cross-country race treads, and reworking them with the latest test. We spotted a whole slew of First Ride tires – some that must be made of silly soft rubber based on their minimal wear but missing, torn-off tread blocks.

So, it looks to us like the German tire maker is maybe reworking existing tires with new constructions and new rubber compounds.

That’s supported by a lot of tires with new labeling. The fast rolling Schwalbe Rick has been a fast in-between tire since it debuted on this Nové Město track last year. But the Rick Race Pro name suggests an updated casing in line with Schwalbe’s latest radial, gravel, and gravity tires. We can get behind the ‘simpler is better’ messaging, here.

Gravel Tires Racing XC, or at least XCC

After last weekend in Poland when we saw World Cup enduro and downhill riders search for any possible grip in snowy, rainy, and muddy conditions, the move across the border to Czechia for cross-country sees completely different racecourse conditions. It is dry and super hardpacked here. So, especially for today’s short track racing, the word of the day was ‘fast-rolling’. And what is faster-rolling than gravel tires?

A number of top XC racers swapped actual gravel tires into the XC bikes for the XCC racing. That’s not a big surprise, when the latest gravel tires often come in 45mm (1.7″), 50mm (1.97″) & 55mm (2.17″) widths. I mean, even Pirelli’s latest road slicks come in 55mm!

We spotted XCC World Champ Evie Richards racing Pirelli Cinturato Gravel RC tires and Chiara Teocchi on a Michelin Power Gravel rear tire (both above), while Christopher Blevins won and XCC World Champ Victor Koretzky (below) took second on Specialized Terra gravel tires.

Will Fast-Rolling XCC Tires Suit Sunday’s XCO Racing?

The short track XCC Nové Město course isn’t really technical, though. It could be described as a crit on an even mix of asphalt, fine gravel, hardpack dirt, and grass. Sure, there are a lot of small jumps with some new hard landings, especially if you come up short (we did hear a lot of rear wheels get cased and even saw one frame broken in half at the chainstay).

But the loose dirt, big rock gardens, and slick roots are saved for the longer XCO race Sunday.

Will we see such fast-rolling tires on Sunday’s racecourse? Will any gravel tires show up on the start line? We suspect not, but who knows? But, I’m sure we’ll see plenty of those Test Pilot Maxxis Aspens and Aspen STs!