ABOUT THE WTB VERDICT AND WTB JUDGE TIRES
Combining the SG1 Puncture Protection with WTB’s dual-ply TCS Tough casing and High Grip rubber, this tire combo is not for the weight conscious rider. Instead, the combination is intended to offer the ultimate traction and durability for riding the most technical mountain bike descents at full charge.
SG1 Puncture Protection | SG1 is WTB’s Slash Guard protection, adding a layer of durable puncture protection under the tread cap. This is designed to protect against sharp objects on the trail and reduce the likelihood of punctures. This is combined with WTB’s Inner Peace + technology, which sees a triple-height apex added to protect the tire bead from pinch punctures, with the effect of reinforcing the tire sidewall and increasing rigidity under cornering loads.
TCS Tough | WTB’s TCS Tough casing is a dual-ply carcass offering exceptional puncture protection and support. This support allows riders to reduce tire pressure without sacrificing support, in theory improving traction and comfort. In practice, these reduced pressures are necessary to avoid the tire feeling overly rigid, but a happy balance of pressure is able to be found. The TCS (Tubeless Compatible System) is WTB’s convention for a tire optimized around use without an inner tube.
E50 e-Bike Rated | The TCS Tough tires by WTB are given sufficient reinforcement to satisfy the E50 rating, making them suitable for eBikes. This not only offers the strength, but also the support to handle the increased load from heavier eMTBs.
TriTec Rubber – High Grip | The High Grip rubber compound from WTB is given the TriTec treatment, using three different rubber compounds in certain areas of the tread to optimize the performance for traction, support and durability. The base consists of a firmer rubber compound, designed to give support to the knobs and prevent them from folding excessively under load. The top of the center tread is given a mid-compound to offer a balance between traction, durability and rolling speed. The side knobs are given an outer layer of ultra-soft and slow rebounding rubber to provide the most traction possible on off-cambers and when cornering.
WTB Verdict Tread
The WTB Verdict is designed primarily for use on the front wheel, targeted at loose and wet conditions but with provisions made to avoid it being overly washy on hardpack. The profile is slightly flattened to help to encourage the edge knobs to bite.
A 2-2 pattern with alternating rows of tighter and more widely spread ramped center knobs has plentiful space to promote mud clearing and penetration in softer terrain. The side knobs are consistent around the tire, with a small continuous channel to increase the edges available as the tire is leaned over.
WTB reduced the sipe depth on the side knobs to increase the support when pushed hard, with minimal penalty to traction. Siping alternates on the center knobs, which may offer a centering effect under braking, helping to keep the ship pointed in the desired direction.
WTB Judge Tread
Designed as the ultimate rear tire to pair with the Verdict up front, the Judge is a purposeful and meaty gravity-focused tire tread. The flat carcass shape ensures the side knobs engage before the lean angle gets too extreme, helping to ease the transition and promote consistency.
The Judge pattern is an alternating 2-2 design with the center knobs going from a long and narrow pair with a near-circumferential sipe to a wide and shorter pair with a lateral sipe. This is done in a bid to hit the sweet-spot between high braking traction and reasonable rolling speed
The side knobs alternate between a rectangle and an L-shape, giving some additional braking edges when the bike is slightly leant over. With side knobs that overhang the carcass, protection is offered in addition to increased grip on steep off-cambers.
Pricing And Options
WTB’s Verdict and Judge are both offered in both TCS Light and TCS Tough casing options. The Verdict is 2.5” wide only, whereas the Judge sits at 2.4”, and both can be had in 29” or 27.5”.
Retail prices vary depending on the option selected, between $76.95 and $89.95.
THE DIRT
I’ve been running WTB’s burliest tires for quite some time now, always with the same Verdict up front and alternating between a 29” or 27.5” Judge out back. They’ve mainly spent their time on enduro e-Mountain Bikes, though did find themselves attacking some bikepark onboard a downhill bike for a stint, and I even had them on a hard-hitting enduro bike for a week of mixed bikepark and pedaling. Though the weight was notable on this enduro bike, I was surprised by how pleasant they were to ride otherwise.
The weight was a shock initially, with a notably burly feeling in the hand that was backed by weights of 1350g (2.98lbs) for the 29×2.5” Verdict Tough High Grip; and 1620g (3.57lbs) and 1460g (3.22lbs) for the Tough High Grip Judge in 29” and 27.5” respectively. These weights place these tires at the heavy end of the spectrum, even for eBike rated gravity tires, but even so I’ve found myself reverting back to them time after time.
Peace of mind is so valuable to me with an eBike tire, as I regularly find myself in adventurous situations and often riding gnarly trails with slightly less line choice precision compared with an enduro mountain bike. With the power of the motor and what is already a more planted and sluggish feeling on the bike, it makes sense to equip an ultra-protective tire that’s going to deliver excellent braking and cornering traction, and that’s exactly what this WTB combo has provided.
There’s no mistaking the burly nature of the TCS Tough SG1 casings of these tires. The combination of the stiff dual ply, puncture protection under the tread and sidewall reinforcement adds up to a rigid tire that needs low tire pressures to allow for enough conformity to generate maximum grip and comfort. These pressures were low at just 23-25 psi front and 25-27 psi rear for my 100kg/220lbs mass on an eBike, depending on the trail conditions. It was tempting to air up higher than this to follow my normal patterns, but the levels of reinforcement provided the support required. Above these pressures, the WTB tires transmitted a lot of feedback through the bike and weren’t quite able to latch onto the trail as well as they could in the sweet spot.
I was thoroughly impressed by the consistent grip that the WTB Verdict up front provided, across a wide range of conditions. It was only on rock-solid hardpack that I ever wished for anything different, and even so I was impressed by the stability of the tire. Otherwise, predictability and maximum traction were high once I got the pressures in the right place. The transition channel was narrow enough to avoid any feelings of vagueness or washing, as you might find running a Minion DHF. I found there to be solid turning traction regardless of the lean angle, with plentiful hook-up even on corners where getting fully tipped-in wasn’t possible. Similarly on steep climbs, the Verdict did a stellar job of keeping the bike pointed in the right direction, coming close but not quite matching Schwalbe’s Shredda Front.
The Judge offered all of the traction that I could ask for across the majority of terrain, only losing out slightly when conditions were softer and the large amount of rubber on the ground decided to float on top rather than penetrate. This led to some spin-out going up and slightly reduced braking confidence going down. In these conditions a Verdict would have undoubtedly been the better call, but for my local trails the Judge offered a finer balance of characteristics and much more surefooted nature to leave me happy running it year-round. I was amazed by how solid this tire felt, and by the protection it offered the rim all the way down to 25 psi on the rear of my super hard-hitting Orbea Wild long termer. I managed to get the tire to burp a little air on the hardest of shralps in hero dirt conditions, but many other tires would have left me rolling down on the rim in these instances.
Rolling speed of this tire combination was unsurprisingly not excellent, however far from the worst I’ve experienced. The Judge feels like a tire that rolls faster than its grip would let you think, even if the compounds are on the softer side. The rubber also held up impressively well given the grip on offer and the aggression encouraged on the descents. Even once the braking edges had begun to fade, the tires remained fairly well together without crumbling and cracking, and kept on hooking up turn after turn.
As for carcass durability, these WTB tires have truly been subjected to the most heinous of ride scenarios, pummeling through sharp rock and smacking off of exposed roots. They came out the other side not only puncture-free, but having also offered similar rim protection to a tire insert. Considering this fact, it makes the high weight feel a little more acceptable, since you might just be able to pull that insert out.
The Wolf’s Last Word
As a combination for year-round Scottish riding (which applies also to the PNW or Alps), the WTB Verdict and Judge are absolutely excellent in the TCS Tough High Grip SG1 varieties, provided you can stomach their weight. Offering excellent predictability and incredible toughness, these are some fantastic burly gravity mountain bike tires. 
Price: $89.95 / £80 / €74.50
Weight: Verdict 29×2.5” 1350g
Weight: Judge 29×2.4” 1620g
Website: WTB.com
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ABOUT THE WOLF
Robert’s habitat is the Tweed Valley, Scotland, which is renowned for its root-littered enduro mountain bike trails. Robert has been developing his bike handling skills for the last 16 years. Since he was a pup, he’s been riding everything from BMX through to enduro and downhill bikes. Combining a playful style with occasional speed-focused aggression, he favors supportive bikes, and does his best to push them hard.
Rank: European Tech Editor
Size: 6’2” / 189cm | 220lbs / 100kg
Social: @robert_johnston
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