Vittoria Mazza Enduro Race Tires [Employee Review]

Words & Photos by Jared Erickson

Vittoria tires have been increasingly popular among riders lately in North America. Since they updated their mountain bike tire lineup with new tread patterns, casings, and compounds, they have proven that they can hang with the big dogs in the tire game. We've been testing out their Mazza Enduro Race tires, read on for more!

Overview

The Vittoria Mazzas are an exciting tire offering - we've heard great things about them from tons of riders and we were stoked to give these proper looking MTB tires a go. The front tire I've been testing is the Enduro Race 29x2.6 and the rear being the 29x2.4 version. These tires utilize a multi-layer nylon casing that helps contribute to the tire's durability and resilience against sidewall cuts, pinch flats, punctures, and other unwanted happenings. The rubber compound is a soft and tacky Graphene and Silica-infused compound which has a good combination of grip and durability. These sound like the kind of predictable claims one would expect from a tire manufacturer, so you'll have to find out how they held up on the trail later on in the review. 

Typically a tire with this kind of toughness, you run into some challenges while mounting them to the rim, although these tires were a breeze to install. I had no issues mounting them both with a floor pump and an air compressor on separate occasions and they seated nicely into place on my Crankbrothers Synthesis carbon wheels, and my Forge + Bond wheels as well. Interestingly enough, after installation they didn't quite measure all the way up to the claimed width on the sidewall with the front measuring just over 2.4 and the rear measuring just over 2.3. After leaving the tires inflated to their claimed max pressure overnight, the volume increased on the rear tire to just over 2.4 and up to 2.45 on the front.

Both the front and rear tires use the same casing and compound, and they aren't exactly light, but that's to be expected when it comes to this realm of rubber. The 2.6 weighs in at a portly 1410g and the 2.4 isn't far behind at 1340g. The weight is a tad over what you'd expect from a comparable dual ply casing tire, but they are pretty in line with other comparable DH casing tires - the equivalent 29x2.5 DH casing Maxxis Assegai comes in at 1382g while the 29x2.4 DH Casing Continental Kryptotal comes in at spritely 1290g, somewhat comparable to the 2.4 Mazza. The casing on the Vittorias feels more like a Double Down casing in hand as opposed to the Maxxis DH casing or the Continental DH casing, but has a more unique feel on the trail.

On Trail Impressions

I've had the chance to try these tires in a solid mix of conditions ranging from our standard SoCal loose over hard to some mud and proper hero dirt here on our local trails as well as in our local mountains. At around 185 lbs, I've been running these tires around 22-23 psi in the front and 25-26 psi in the rear on my Forbidden Druid V2. You'll find in this review I'll be comparing these tires to other popular offerings that I have a lot of experience with like the Maxxis Assegai and Continental Kryptotal. These tires definitely perform the best in descending heavy environments as the weight and sticky rubber aren't the fastest on the flats and climbs, and to be fair, that's not where these were designed to shine. When riding the Mazzas on our more technical and challenging trails, they inspire confidence and push me to take questionable lines all while staying off the brakes as I know I can trust them to grip and allow me to stop quickly when I need to - as I've felt with other sticky, thick casing tires. The casing on these Enduro Race tires provides support when pushing hard in corners and G outs, and also gives some compliance when navigating over rocky and rooty sections of trail. They don't have quite the same trail damping properties as a Maxxis or Continental DH casing. As far as trail feedback goes I'd put the Vittorias in between a Maxxis DoubleDown and DH casing, perhaps even closer to the DoubleDown casing, which I've really enjoyed on the trail. They don't damp the trail so much where it feels numb underneath you, yet they don't seem to deflect you off of rocks or roots either. 

The Mazza Race tires provide an abundance of grip and confidence when the going gets steep and loose thanks to the massive knobs, compound, and tire volume. The compound doesn't feel quite as soft as Maxxis MaxxGrip, although it feels like it's nearly there, and the level of grip has been seriously impressive in my experience with better durability than MaxxGrip. For many, that could be a tradeoff they are willing to make. Climbing traction is also very adequate - even hard out of the saddle pedal mashing doesn't seem to phase the Mazzas, even though they have more of a "sit and spin and get there when you get there" vibe, at least for me. The tires have a rounder profile than something like an Assegai, and combined with the reinforced and siped side knobs, I've really come to like the way these tires inspire confidence in the corners. There's nothing worse than a tire with unpredictable cornering traction and these tires have been far from that. The slightly ramped center knobs help maintain a reasonable rolling speed for the application, and sipes also assist with braking and speed control. The widely spaced knobs also aid in mud shedding which has been on par with other top tier offerings. So far in my experience running these tires as well as others from Vittoria, the performance of the Mazzas prove that they can hang with the top dawgs when it comes to rubber.

Final Thoughts

Over the last few months, I've been riding the Mazza Race Tires on the steepest and most technical trails we have to offer and I've come away thoroughly impressed. They haven't shown any signs of premature wear, and haven't had any issues like flats or punctures. They offer a level of grip and control that rivals offerings from the biggest competitors in the industry. If your riding consists of mostly steep, technical terrain and are looking to try something a little different, I'd recommend giving these a shot.