Based in South East Asia, it’s logical Vee Tire Co makes a lot of tyres for the mopeds that are popular in that part of the world. You might be surprised to learn there’s a big moped street racing scene out in Thailand though, where Vee manufactures, and that performance tyres are therefore in demand. The brand specialises in making these and the knowledge gained and super sticky compounds developed have been translated into its off-road mountain bike line up, including this Attack FSX model.

This Attack FSX is the brand’s drier, more hard-packed conditions DH model (something like a Maxxis Minion or Conti Xynotal) aiming for faster rolling speed, aggressive corning hold and maximum braking bite. It’s available in a 2-ply DH Core casing for bike parks and DH racing and this enduro/ all mountain style GXE casing. At 1,100g the GXE looks bang on for what many UK enduro and all mountain riders will want to best balance weight and protection, with 1.5 plies, Apex bumper protector and a thick fabric belt at the crown for extra puncture protection and stability. 

The paddle-like tread pattern with broad, evenly spaced knobs uses Full 40 rubber, which is a low durometer ultra-tacky compound originally developed for moped racing. It’s right on the slurpy end of things and has a slow rebounding glued-to-the-floor feel and a dull, damped ride with tons of grip. With conjoined central alternating paddles and L-shaped Minion-like shoulder blocks, it looks a lot like the previous generation E*Thirteen TRS Enduro tyre and also that brand’s latest Grappler. Not that surprising, considering both tyres were made by Vee – we’ve have had good results with both.

Wet or dry grip levels are very predictable and very high friction and there’s zero pinginess, weird steering traits or odd behaviour. Whether it’s the tread being slightly more spread out and flatter than e*13’s Grappler, outright cornering grip and also damping feels slightly less planted and sucker-like here though. It’s hard to know why when the casing and rubber blend are likely pretty similar, so maybe the Attack FSX’s tread pattern lays down the rubber a bit differently on terrain.

Having such slurpy grip impacts on rolling speed and this is one of the slower tyres on test and, unfortunately, the soft rubber also has wear life that’s quite poor. After a very long e-bike ride in the Lakes (on admittedly tough and sharp rocky terrain), the rear tyre looked like it had done a day in the Alps on the ski lifts. And while it’s not uncommon to eat into a tyre in a day if you clock up 5,000m descending in the sun, it’s unusual in UK conditions dropping half that altitude.

We’d have zero qualms hitting up a bike park with maximum confidence or racing World Cup level enduro on these tyres, but as a day-to-day UK aggro trail tyre, the wear life being a bit quick to degrade means performance is more what you’d expect from a full-on Ultra soft or Super Tacky tyre, which might be a little bit overkill for many.

If it’s tyres you’re after, we can help. Check out our guide to the best mountain bike tyres which covers everything from terrain-specific to condition-specific rubber. Or if it’s wet weather riding you want to delve into, our guide to the best mud tyres for mountain biking will ensure you stay grippy when the riding gets slippy.