>>1052586>Knobs are only useful on soft mudI expect to see all MTBs that are ridden in dry conditions to convert to Compass's Enduro Allroad tires within the year! /s
How does Jan's jizz taste, anon?
Slick tires can do pretty well off road. I've actually been *most* impressed with them on slightly damp, slightly sticky "hero dirt". They also do well on gravel that's on top of soft-ish dirt.
They're not bad on deep gravel roads, like you find through farmland in the Midwest. But the round profile tends to dig into the deep stuff like a ship's bow, which causes them to not track straight very well, and they're prone to washing out in turns. I prefer tires with a squarer profile and side knobs for deep gravel.
The slick Compass tires are 100% hopeless in dry, dusty "loose over hard packed" conditions like you see out in the desert or SoCal. Absolutely useless on slickrock or steep fire road descents. I actually had to get stitches in my arm when I washed out at only moderate speed on a fire road - on a turn that I would have railed effortlessly on a Maxxis Ikon, WTB Nano, or BG R&R.
Jan's tires are ideal for the kind of stuff he likes riding: a thin layer of gravel over damp soil; very common in the PNW or Japan. Their off-road performance gets worse the further you stray from that kind of surface. If I'm doing a ride that's mostly off-road, I really prefer something like a Nano40C or Rock&Road. That said, if you're doing mixed-surface rides that are >50% on pavement and don't involve mud, Compass slicks are hard to beat.
