Here’s some news we just spotted on Can You Dig It! Brian Foster’s signature FT1 tire from Merritt is OUT NOW. Get the full scoop on the tire direct from Merritt below!
“Trails nowadays are nothing like they used to be, very little pedaling and/or braking and the dirt is usually rock hard, it doesn’t make sense to mimic MX tires (that have to accelerate, brake and turn in soft dirt) with big knobs anymore. That lead to giving the FT1 a relatively smooth center section, to make the tire fast. Turning is when an increase in grip (instead of outright speed) is needed, lean the bike over in a turn and the micro-knobs come into play. The micro-knobs provide a perfect balance of surface area, stability and space in between for when the dirt might be a little soft still. The micro-knobs actually stick up above the main surface a super small amount, this allows them to sink into that slightly soft dirt and give an increase in surface area contact, but the amount they are raised isn’t enough to affect stability or grip on hard surfaces. At the edges of the tread pattern are smooth tread blocks that help protect the sidewall on ramps and street, you’d have to lean over more than a moto GP rider to get that part of tire on the ground, so anything in that area of a tire is about how it contacts ledges, rails, etc. Will be available in black or blue in 2.25, with more sizes in the works. The FT1 tire is designed for the way things are now, not how they used to be.“”
– Sean Curran / Merritt
