Vee tire or nightrider lite for gravel

Unicycles and Equipment
1

Will be entering a hilly gravel race in February and The 36’er is currently running the old original heavy nightrider.

I do love the old nightrider but am looking to lose some weight for this event. If Anybody with experience riding gravel/offroad at slightly lower pressure with the Vee tire and/or Nightrider lite can offer some feedback i’d Appreciate it

2

I’ve used the Vee Rubber tire on gravel and it worked very well, it’s probably the best option out there.

I did not like the Nightrider tire on gravel as the tread is too tight to work well on loose surfaces and picks up small rocks. It’s not critically bad, just not ideal.

I have not tried the Nightrider lite, but I would imagine it would be like a Nightrider, but lighter…

3

Unless there’s mud involved you don’t really need tread for gravel. You’ll probably be fine on a Niterider.

If you’re going to switch to a lighter tyre I would do it sooner rather than later so that you can get accustomed to the feel. The old NR is four ply whereas the NR Lite (and I assume the Vee) is two ply. That makes the sidewall a lot more flexible and they ride quite differently.

4

thanks guys, i am leaning towards the Vee as i have heard that this course can get muddy in some sections if the weather leading up to the event is wet. i want to get the nightrider though as i ride alot of asphalt on this 36’er so it would transition back to my normal riding with the preferred road tire… hmmm decisions, decisions…

5

I’ll second that the Nightrider is not great for mud.
Powerslide city on the muddy corners!

I do like it for any other muni surface though.

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6

The Vee also rides great on pavement, but will wear much quicker. How much life do you still have in your old Nightrider? Could you switch back after the race?

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7

lots of life left in the old tire so i would likley switch back to it after the race if i went with the Vee

8

I treated my 36" to the new lighter Niterider and I had to put much more air into it. They saved a lot of weight by making the sides thinner, so if you run it at low pressure, it folds under you when you corner.

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9

Thats one of my concerns. I can run my heavy nightrider between 30-45 psi to soften gravel riding and it holds up fine

At what pressure do you notice the folding stopping? Over 50 psi?

10

I would run mine at 35-40 so that’s what I did when I installed the new one. Then had to go over 50 to make it behave on sharp turns.

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11

Never tried a Vee tire but I ride with my Nightrider Lite for about 3 years. It works well in gravel but has some issues with mud and sand.
Have you already thought about using a 29er tube instead of the default 36er tube? It can save a lot of weight, too.

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12

I have not thought about the tube. My current tube is a foss so i couldn’t imagine a 29’er tube making the difference i am looking for, but i will look into doing that with the new tire to save even more weight

13

I run my NR Lite at 40 PSI and haven’t noticed this. Maybe I need to ride more aggressively.

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14

I’ve used both a lot and the Vee is superior for mud/real dirt. Overall since I ride road and offroad I ended up using the NightRider lite. I don’t think you need the Vee for just gravel - the “LightRider” is just great for that. Also I get douple to triple the mileage from a NightRider vs the Vee. Both feel light and nice though.

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15

Thanks Nathan, I am very close to making my decision and I think the nightrider lite is the way to go.

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