Fat Bike Tire Test: VeeRubber Vee 8
Contents and Test Summary
- Introduction
- Manufacturer Specifications
- Size, Weight, Thickness
- Rolling Resistance: 38.3 Watts
- Puncture Resistance: 37 Points
- Conclusion: 4 / 5 Recommended
- Comments
- VeeRubber Vee 8
(100% is fastest - lightest - highest - strongest)
The Vee Rubber Vee8 fat bike tire is based on a classic Vee Rubber mountain bike tire. With its 8 low knobs, spaced in a V shape pattern, this tire is made for medium to hard pack conditions. Some of the Vee Rubber fat bike tires can be found at very low prices and this makes it interesting to test these tires as well to see how a cheaper alternative to the more expensive competition performs.
One of the negative things about the Vee Rubber tires is that it's hard to find a lot of information about them. From the sparse information found on the internet, it appears the Vee8 fat bike tire is available as a 72 TPI wire bead or tubeless-ready 120 TPI folding version. Both versions appear to use the same single-compound silica rubber and specified weight is 1800 and 1430 grams respectively. I'm testing the 120 TPI version as that one should perform a bit better.
Manufacturer Specifications
| Manufacturer Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Brand | VeeRubber |
| Model | Vee 8 |
| Year | 2016 |
| Supplied By | Bought in store |
| New or Used | New |
| Mileage | 0 km |
| Price Range | Med |
| Buy At | |
| Manufacturer part number | |
| TPI | 120 |
| Compound | |
| Bead | Folding |
| ETRTO | 102-559 |
| Size Inch | 26" |
| Width Inch | 4.00 |
| Specified Weight | 1390 grams |
| Max Air Pressure (psi) | 20 |
| Made In | Members Only |
| Available Sizes | 26x4.00 |
VeeRubber Vee 8 Test Results
Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
| Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements | |
|---|---|
| Specified Weight | 1390 grams |
| Measured Weight | 1385 grams |
| Measured Width Carcass | 90 mm (un-round) |
| Measured Width Tread | 90 mm |
| Measured Height | 81 mm (un-round) |
| Measured Knob Height Center | 3.3 mm |
| Measured Knob Height Edge | 3.6 mm |
| Measured Total Thickness Center (excluding knobs) | 2.20 mm |
| Measured Total Thickness Sidewall | Members Only |
| All size measurements are taken at an air pressure of 16 psi / 1.1 bars on a 65 mm inner width rim. | |
Specified weight of the 26x4.00 120 TPI Vee8 is 1430 grams, my sample came in at 1385 grams which is a good bit less. Maximum width of the casing is 95 mm, from knob to knob it measures 90 mm wide. The maximum height is 81 mm.
The center knobs have a height of 3.3 mm, the shoulder knobs are only slightly higher and come in at 3.6 mm. The sidewalls have a thickness of 1.0 mm which is thicker than the very thin 0.5 mm thick sidewalls some fat bike tires have, but a bit thinner than the 1.5 mm thickness of some other fat bike tires.
Rolling Resistance Test Results
| Rolling Resistance Test Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Inner Tube | None (60 ml sealant) (current protocol) | Schwalbe SV13J (390 gr) (test protocol) |
| Rolling Resistance 20 PSI / 1.4 Bar | Members Only | Members Only |
| Rolling Resistance 16 PSI / 1.1 Bar | Members Only | Members Only |
| Rolling Resistance 12 PSI / 0.8 Bar |
29.7 Watts CRR: 0.00890 | 35.2 Watts CRR: 0.01055 |
| Rolling Resistance 8 PSI / 0.6 Bar |
38.3 Watts CRR: 0.01148 | 45.8 Watts CRR: 0.01373 |
| All numbers are for a single tire at a speed of 29 km/h / 18 mph and a load of 42.5 kg / 94 lbs. Use the formula: RR (Watts) = CRR * speed (m/s) * load (N) to calculate rolling resistance at a given speed and load. |
||
Rolling resistance of the Vee8 comes in as a bit of a surprise. I didn't expect much from this tire, but it performs quite well in the rolling resistance test. The cheap Vee8 outperforms the much more expensive fat bike tires from 45NRTH and Surly. At the higher air pressures, it even comes close to the leading tires. At lower air pressures, performance is a bit worse, but still good.
If the performance of the Vee8 is anything to go by, the other Vee Rubber fat bike tires should at least perform decent as well. I'll look into testing some more Vee Rubber tires.
Puncture Resistance Test Results
| Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better) | |
|---|---|
| Total Puncture Score Tread | 37 Points |
| Total Puncture Score Sidewall | Members Only |
| Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle | 9 Points |
| Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle | Members Only |
| Tread Total Tire Thickness | 2.20 mm |
| Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle | Members Only |
| Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle | Members Only |
| Sidewall Total Tire Thickness | Members Only |
In the puncture resistance tests, the Vee Rubber Vee8 outperforms all other fat bike tires that have been tested up to now. Combined with the decent performance in the rolling resistance test this is excellent as puncture resistance and rolling resistance are closely related.
Conclusion
- VeeRubber Vee 8
(100% is fastest - lightest - highest - strongest)
The Vee Rubber Vee8 is a tire with a decent rolling resistance and very good puncture resistance. If you ride on medium to hard pack conditions a lot and also like to run your tires at medium to high air pressures, these are excellent tires for the money and even come with tubeless-ready beads as a bonus. Because of the closely spaced knobs on this tire, I do not expect this to be a great tire for loose or mud conditions.
I rate the Vee Rubber Vee8 a 4 out of 5 because of the decent rolling resistance, very good puncture resistance, and low price. Faster fat bike tires are available that probably also provide more grip. Visit the fat bike overview page (overview) to find out which tires perform better in our tests.
RATING:
4
/ 5
TEST VERDICT:
Recommended