Delium Versatile and Rugged Tires
Diameters Offered: 27.5’’ and 29’’
Stated Width: 2.5’’
Versions Offered:
- “All-Round” casing + “Soft Triple Compound” rubber
- “Reinforced” casing + “Extra Soft Triple Compound” rubber
Stated Weights:
- Versatile:
- All Round: 950 g (27.5’’) / 1,000 g (29’’)
- Reinforced: 1,150 g (27.5’’) / 1,200 g (29’’)
- Rugged:
- All Round: 950 g (27.5’’) / 1,010 g (29’’)
- Reinforced: 1,150 g (27.5’’) / 1,220 g (29’’)
Blister’s Measured Width (on 30 mm internal-width rim):
- Versatile: 2.36’’ (casing) / 2.50’’ (tread)
- Rugged: 2.37’’ (casing) / 2.40’’ (tread)
Blister’s Measured Weight (29’’ diameter, Reinforced):
- Versatile: 1,092 g and 1,176 g
- Rugged: 1,135 g
MSRP:
- All-Round: $50
- Reinforced: $60
Intro
The high-end mountain bike tire market has long been dominated by just a couple of brands, but the list of companies making legitimately excellent tires has grown in the last few years. Continental has gained a lot of market share with their overhauled gravity tire lineup from a couple of years ago, and Michelin seems poised to do the same with their more recently updated — and vastly improved — offerings.
Unfortunately, that increased competition hasn’t brought prices down — most of the high-end options out there cost around $100, and in some cases a bit more. Delium is an Indonesian tire manufacturer whose goal is to make legitimately competitive tires at a more affordable price. It’s certainly an appealing idea — but have they managed to pull it off?
Design
Delium’s MTB tire lineup consists of four models, the Fast, Steady, Versatile, and Rugged. The Fast and Steady are both meant to be faster rolling options for Trail bike use in firmer / drier conditions; the Versatile and Rugged tires that I’ve been testing get more aggressive tread patterns and beefier construction options.
Both the Versatile and Rugged tires are offered in two different variants. The “All Round” construction gets both a lighter casing and firmer rubber, while the “Reinforced” version adds an extra layer of cut protection and butyl inserts at the beads for rim and pinch flat protection. To go with the beefier casing, the Reinforced versions of both tires also get a softer rubber formulation.
Both rubber variants use a firm base layer with softer compounds over the tops of the knobs, similar to what Maxxis does with their 3C rubber compounds. The durometer of the base layer isn’t stated, but Delium says that the center knobs on the “Soft Triple Compound” used on the All Round variants get a 60a cap; the side knobs are topped with 50a rubber. The “Extra Soft Triple Compound” rubber used for the Reinforced tires puts 50a rubber on the center knobs and 42a on the side ones. Shore durometer isn’t a perfect proxy for rubber performance, of course, but it’s still nice that Delium provides that extra information in an era when few other tire manufacturers still do.
Both construction variants use a conventional aramid folding bead, and are, of course, tubeless compatible. But what about the tread patterns?
Tread Pattern: Versatile
The Versatile tread pattern features a two-wide center knob design with no transition knobs between the center and side knobs and an ample channel between them. The side knobs have a subtle L-shape that’s oriented to offer a bit of extra braking bite when the tire’s leaned over. All the center knobs share the same shape, as do the side ones, but both are slightly staggered such that every other row is set slightly wider than its neighbors. The center and side knobs are nicely offset from each other to give them the best chance of gaining purchase laterally. Both also feature small mostly longitudinal sipes in the middle of the knob; they’re shallow, narrow, and don’t reach either edge of the knobs.
Tread Pattern: Rugged
The Rugged tread pattern gets an alternating two-three knob center knob arrangement, with the outer knobs in the three-wide rows acting as transition knobs to narrow the channel between the center and side knobs. The overall layout is reminiscent of the Maxxis Assegai and Continental Kryptotal Front.
Though it’s a familiar design, tires have converged on a handful of similar-ish knob layouts for a reason. Sure, there was more variety in tread designs back in the day, but that was because companies were trying all kinds of nonsense that didn’t work. (Does anyone remember the Marzocchi tires that just used their logo for the knob shape? Those weren’t even the worst offenders from that era.)
Anyway, like both the Assegai and the Kryptotal Front, the Rugged’s side knobs are neatly staggered from the center ones; the Rugged’s side knobs alternate designs (similar to the Assegai and in contrast to the Kryptotal Front) with every other knob having a slight L-hook, again oriented to assist with braking bite.
The Rugged’s side knobs are spaced more closely than those on the Versatile, but wider than those on either the Assegai or (especially) the Kryptotal Front. The Rugged’s center knobs are also spaced a little wider than either the Assegai or Kryptotal’s, though the Rugged’s transition knobs are blockier and better supported than those on the Assegai; the Kryptotal’s are the beefiest of the three.
Mounting & Installation
Getting tires out on the trail starts with getting them mounted, and my experience has been that both the Delium options I’ve tried take a little more effort to seat and seal than average, but aren’t too hard to work with. If you’ve got an air compressor, seating them is easy; doing it with a high-flow floor pump is doable, but it takes a little extra effort to pump quickly.
Getting the tires to seal fully also took some extra time and care, but once I got there they’ve been solid. The Reinforced casing just seems a little more porous than some of its competitors and required a few rounds of sloshing sealant around the tire to get a good seal. Since that initial setup, they’ve held air normally and haven’t taken bigger / more regular top-ups than other average.
It’s also worth noting that the lighter of the two Versatile tires I’ve tried gave me the most trouble in getting a good seal by a long shot. That particular tire is substantially lighter than the the other sample in the same spec that I’ve tested, and undercuts Delium’s stated weight by a fair bit, too. It makes some sense that a notably light sample would get there by having a little less rubber in it, and might end up less fully airtight out of the box for it. I was able to get the other two tires I’ve tried to seal with a normal amount of sealant but the light one took a bit extra.
On-Trail Performance
I’ve run the Versatile and Rugged tires in various combinations both front and rear on a couple of different mid-to-longer-travel Trail bikes over the last few months (most recently the Transition Sentinel) and they feel well-suited to that duty, depending a bit on conditions and preferences.
One thing that feels noteworthy about both tires is that, while the outer caps on the knobs do feel pretty soft and tacky, they also feel like the firmer base rubber makes up a relatively large percentage of the total knob volume — for both better and worse, depending on the circumstances. Comparing the Rugged to a MaxxTerra Assegai, for example, the Rugged (again, in the softer Reinforced construction) feels slightly tackier on really firm surfaces where grip is at a premium — think wet rock slabs and the like — but the Rugged’s knobs also feel a notch stiffer overall.
A definite upside to those firmer, better-supported knobs is that both the Versatile and Rugged roll reasonably well for what they are, and tend not to feel mushy and squirmy as often as a lot of tires with overall firmer knobs — again comparing the Rugged to a MaxxTerra Assegai, for example. That slightly vague feel, particularly on the transition knobs at moderate lean angles, is something I don’t particularly like about the Assegai, and I distinctly prefer that aspect of the Rugged.
The tradeoff is that neither the Versatile nor the Rugged is a particular standout on things like wet roots, where blocky but softer or more heavily siped knobs tend to fare especially well. The Maxxis Minion DHF, in its softest MaxxGrip rubber, is probably my all-time favorite wet root tire, and despite some similarities in other areas, the Versatile is fine but not exceptional there.
Versatile
But, of course, there’s a lot more to riding than wet root performance — and many folks in many parts of the world hardly have to worry about them at all. Setting wet roots aside, the Versatile and the somewhat similar DHF do many of the same things well. Both roll better than average for a relatively aggressive tire (I’d probably put the Reinforced Versatile in between a MaxxTerra and MaxxGrip DHF on that front), and both are notably good in how smoothly and predictably they break into a drift if you push through their grip limit. Braking traction isn’t particularly the strong suit of either, but the DHF is somewhat less prone to stepping out if you over-brake and lock the wheel up, particularly when used as a rear tire.
Both the Versatile and DHF also take some commitment to get over onto the side knobs and tend to feel a bit drifty in the window of lean angles where the center knobs are starting to disengage, but the side ones haven’t fully hooked up yet. That said, the Versatile’s side knobs come into play a little quicker than those on the DHF — I think largely because the Versatile’s overall profile isn’t as round as that of the DHF — but the DHF (especially in MaxxGrip rubber) offers a bit more cornering grip once you’ve really committed to getting them up on edge. The Versatile also seems to clear mud a little better than the DHF, though I wouldn’t say either tire really stands out there.
As for the Butcher comparison, it feels less similar to either the DHF or Versatile than the latter two do to each other. The Butcher has the best braking traction of the three but the least secure feel up on edge when really cornering hard; it’s also got the least pronounced channel between the center and side knobs.
So while I distinctly prefer the DHF as a front tire over running it in the rear, I actually like the Versatile better on the rear. As a front tire, I’m willing to put up with the DHF’s less-than-stellar braking performance for how it corners and how well it works on wet roots in particular, at least in the right conditions. The Versatile is less of a standout than the DHF on those latter two points, though, so I’ve found myself liking it quite a bit as an option that rolls relatively well, and drifts really cleanly and predictably when you do push past the limit of traction. That’s a fun combo in a lot of situations.
Rugged
While I’ve been happy riding the Versatile as a rear tire, I’m more impressed with the Rugged on the whole. For one, the Rugged brakes much better than the Versatile, and while that does come with a little bit of a rolling resistance penalty, it’s not a huge one. To compare the Rugged to the Assegai again (and I’ll stick with MaxxTerra rubber for the latter since that feels most apples-to-apples), the two feel pretty close in their braking performance on firmer surfaces, but in softer, more damp conditions, the Rugged pulls out a slight lead. I think the biggest reason why is simply that the Rugged clears mud a little better, and gets less clogged up when the soil is soft and somewhat sticky — a notable limitation of the Assegai.
Despite that, the Rugged actually rolls a little better (distinctly not the Assegai’s strong suit, to be fair), and as I mentioned earlier, the Rugged displays much less of the vague transition knob feel of the Assegai, especially on hardpacked surfaces.
Comparing the outright cornering grip of the Rugged and the Assegai is a little trickier, and depends substantially on the trail conditions in question. In softer, wetter ones, the Rugged starts to pull ahead — I think largely because its more open tread pattern clears mud more effectively. The Assegai is just more prone to clogging up and losing grip due to the knobs no longer being able to dig in effectively.
That said, the Assegai starts to have a slight edge as things firm up — at least if you’re okay with its more vague feel at moderate lean angles before the side knobs really start to hook up. That trait is probably my biggest complaint about the Assegai, but it does offer very good cornering grip — especially on surfaces that aren’t too wet and slimy — if you’re willing to lean through that small window where it feels somewhat vague and let the side knobs do their thing.
As for the Kryptotal Front comparison, the Rugged doesn’t offer quite as much cornering grip (particularly on firmer surfaces, but in a fairly wide range of conditions overall). Both brake well in most conditions short of full-on mud, but the Rugged starts to pull ahead when things start getting soft and damp.
The Reinforced casing also rides pretty well, and I’ve yet to have any flats with it. I’d only caution that folks not get too hung up on the name, and expect an ultra-beefy DH tire construction. To be very clear, I think the Reinforced casing feels reasonably supportive and well-damped for its weight — I’m not calling it wimpy for what it is by any stretch. It’s just a notch lighter and correspondingly less burly-feeling than options like Maxxis’ DoubleDown or Schwalbe’s Super Gravity casings, to say nothing of any true DH casing I’ve tried.
Bottom Line
Mountain bike tires have generally gotten quite expensive, and Delium’s Versatile and Rugged tires offer impressive performance for their comparatively modest asking price. There are options from some of the bigger brands that still have a performance edge in certain particularly demanding conditions (especially on wet roots and in full-on mud), but the Delium siblings are genuinely good all-rounders in many conditions. Delium’s Reinforced casing also isn’t as beefy as many brands’ Enduro and DH-oriented options — but is also lighter than most of those, and feels reasonably stout / well-damped for its weight. If that’s a combo that works for you, and you’re interested in saving some cash compared to many of the bigger brands, they’re very worthy contenders.