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In this day and age with the bikes getting bigger and more powerful a lot of manufacturers are offering wheels and tires for ATV's and UTV's. And With the bikes getting bigger the tires and wheels are also getting bigger which is good and bad depending on how and where you ride. I was born and raised here in Tennessee where the hills are steep and the mud holes are deep and For the way I like to ride I think a lot of manufacturers are messing up with their wheel and tire choices because they are getting away from the 12" wheel and spending more time promoting and making 14" and 15" wheels. Honestly I have no problem with the bigger wheels and like the availability of new sizes but here in the hills of Tennessee we need plenty of side wall to really perform on the trails. Some one always ask what do you have against a 14" wheel but really I have nothing against a 14" wheel, they have there place but have you ever seen a rock buggy or rock bouncer with 32" wheels and 44" tires? definitely not and honestly you never wheel. A tire is not just for looks it is a big part of the suspension and the suspension plays a big part in the performance of the tire but with two much rim and not enough sidewall the tire looses its ability to flex and really perform like it should in the rocks. If you ride on road or on smooth hard pack you will never have an issue and you would probably prefer less sidewall with the bigger rims but on the trails we have here and for the way I like to ride I do see it to be an issue.
We expressed our thoughts on this to GBC a couple years ago and Thankfully GBC was listening to us, not only are they extending their lineup with larger tires for the bigger wheels but they are also extending their lineup with larger sizes for the 12" wheel! First they offered the 27" Dirt Commander and now the 27" Mongrels and who knows we may see them add some 28" to the 8ply lineup in the future! I know my fingers are crossed!
The 27" Mongrels for the 12" wheel are offered in 9" wide and 11" wide so when I ordered mine I went traditional with 9" in the front and 11" in the rear. These tires are 8 ply, have a deep rim guard, a tight tread pattern, a load rating just shy of 800lbs, and are DOT approved with an N speed rating which is 87mph! The day the tires showed up I was actually surprised to see the big truck coming up the drive but I don't guess the driver knew there was a solid sheet of ice under that snow, however he found out and put on a show on the trip back down. After the driver left I wasted no time mounting these tires on the stock wheels and taking them for a spin to the frozen creek to play.
I have several miles on this setup now and they have performed flawlessly. These tires empress ever ride out because they are so universal, on the road the ride is smooth with no shimmies and no shakes and on the trails the traction is awesome. In the rocks the tight tread design really shines with grip and in the hard pack it shines with great traction and predictable slides. On the trails the flat foot print helps to stay on top of slick mud covered ruts and in the common mud they clean out great while slinging a lot of mud, from time to time I find myself trying a mud hole that others tend to go around and so far these tires have not let me down they just sling mud and go. The 27" sizing is about right for my 800 S, it still has plenty of power to play when I want with good ground clearance and it looks awesome.
In conclusion if you don't like flats and you are looking for some long wearing tires that perform in a wide variety of terrain on and off road you may want to look into a set of these GBC Mongrels!
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