Trail Rider Magazine

Flashback! June 2025 5 I like to think of myself as a posi ve person, one who finds the good in a situa on rather than focusing on the nega ve. Always keep an open mind, I was told as a child. I'm also a realist, and as I've grown older, I'm also very much a skep- c and don't buy into hype easily. The fact of the ma er is that over the years, I've been disappointed. Not necessarily with people, mind you, with products that haven't lived up to the hype. Given this, I tend not to get too excited about new stuff, and if said products get my a en on, then I'll give it a go and see if it makes the cut. I do enjoy this process immensely. Tes ng products is fun. Ul mately, you're either impressed, middle of the road, or disappointed and dismissive. In recent months, I've been told I never give a bad review, and everything is always grand in Kurt's world. This really isn't the case. If a product doesn't perform as adver sed, I don't see any worth in flaming the manufacturer. I just won't give it any press. Zero men on, like it didn't even exist. On a posi ve note, if a product does make the pages here at Trail Rider, it's because we've tested it to the fullest and made it earn our praise. It's a special feeling when a product exceeds all expecta ons and impresses. Being impressed is a bit of a high. Sadly, we live in a rather nega ve world, and when something stands out and delivers, it's a great feeling. Well, my friends, your editor Kurt was impressed tremendously this month as a result of some cool new products from our friends at Bridgestone and Nuetech. The mission being re tes ng. The lure for our interest was Bridgestone's first-ever gummy re, the Ba lecross E50 Extreme rear knobby. Given our rocky/rooty New England loca on, gummy res are a favorite here at Trail Rider, and when an offer to test the new E50 Extreme arose, we jumped at the chance. Given Bridgestone's reputa on, we had high expecta ons for this re right out of the gate. Around this me, Jeff Douglas at Nuetech reached out to see if we'd be interested in tes ng the new Nitromousse 5150/Tubliss combo. It was then that we dis- cussed including the 5150 in with our E50 Extreme. As for a front, given the intended purpose, instead of going with the much-respected M59, we ran an X40F that worked so well in Nevada last month and stuffed it with a Nitromousse Plushie. We then headed out on the rocks to make the combo prove its worth. Yes, tes ng res is fun, but those who've ventured outside their comfort zone when it comes to rubber selec on have learned to tread lightly at first. It's no fun ge ng hurt, and I've been there tes ng res. Some don't work as well as others, and some can be downright scary. It's been an incredibly wet spring here in the Northeast, and condi ons were sloppy. As my new re combo began to earn my trust, I threw it into harsher condi ons searching for its weak spot. Well, this is where it got really fun. Over the course of a week, I pushed this new combo in a host of terrain without a hint of hair-raising. Basi- cally, this new combo from Bridgestone and Nitromousse is flat-out impressive. At the risk of sounding like a gloat, folks, it's been a while since I've been this impressed, and man, what an upli ing feeling it is! For those interested in learning more about this cool combo, we've included this re package in our KTM 150 XC-W refresh feature deeper in this issue. -Kurt

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