



In 2015 Vee Tire announced it was bringing a new supersized tire to the market - the Snowshoe 2XL . Fatbike Republic got a sneak peek and shared some of the preliminary details. As this tire measured in at 5.05" the big question in the fatbike world was "what is it gonna fit?"





The folks over at Vee Tire share the following information on the 2XL





Snow Shoe 2XL the first bicycle tire with a width over 5 inches-available in 26×5.05. Inspired by the floating sensation of an actual snowshoe, the Snowshoe 2XL is currently the largest FatBike tire in the market. The exaggerated tread features aggressive knobs and deep patterns for increased traction and cornering, no matter what the tire pressure.







Since its introduction the shear girth of this float monster has challenged many a fatbike frame (and fork) to handle this beast. Fatbike Republic wanted to take an up close and personal look at this massive piece of rubber and Vee Tire were gracious enough to send one along.



Unboxing



Snowshoe XL, In its current version the 2XL is offered in the Pure Silica Compound (PSC) that has an exclusive off-white colouring. This super soft silica compound allows the tire to perform better on ice, makes it quieter and allows less debris to stick to the tire. For those tire geeks out there, the compound maintains a low hardness of 50A. The PSC compound is also shared with the Snowshoe Bulldozer and the all new Snow Avalanche.





The 2XL is tubeless ready with a 120 TPI, has a claimed width of 5.05” and weighs in at 1920g.







The 2XL sports an aggressive tread pattern on its super wide carcass. Running down the center of the tire there are alternating wide and narrow slightly curved lugs. Sitting slightly to the side and filling the space between the center lugs are mid sized rectangular knobs. The next two rows of transitional lugs are really interesting as they alternate between mid and large sized doglegged knobs that look super hungry for snow. And finally the heavy shoulder lugs swap between a horizontal modified dogleg and vertical rectangular lugs.









Lug depth runs from 0.25" for the center row to 0.33" for the shoulder lug and large dogleg. This is one meaty tire . . . with the carcass texturing adding that one last element of traction enhancement.







Vee Tire claims that the tires are 5.05" wide, however when measured with 8psi on 80mm rims they are closer to 4.77" lug to lug. Not exactly 5.05” . . . but still massive.







The claimed weight of these tires is 1970g per tire with the actual weight being pretty close at 1981g. Its no lightweight . . . but it’s a lot of tire.



