Challenge handmade tires combine comfort, performance and grip in a way other tires can’t match. Unlike tires mass-produced through industrial vulcanization – a process that relies on heavy machinery and minimal labor to heat-mould synthetic butyl rubber and nylon into a tire shape – handmade tires are assembled step-by-step by experienced craftspeople. High quality natural glues and latex coatings are applied to ultra-supple casing materials like silk, cotton, or polyester. The natural rubber tread is moulded and attached with no vulcanization required – the materials maintain their superior characteristics. The result is a small-batch tire with a ride feel that is simply on a different level.

Using natural rubbers and adhesives to coat and assemble high quality fabric casings is a much greener process than vulcanizing tires.

To understand what makes Challenge Handmade tires special, it's necessary to cover the basics of bicycle tire construction. To make a standard vulcanized tire (including expensive high-performance models) nylon mesh is dipped in a bath of butyl rubber and then calendared (squeezed) between big steel rollers to create the casing. Because the thread count is low (up to about 60TPI maximum), there are big spaces between threads filled with stiff, bouncy butyl rubber. The final casing is about 70% nylon and 30% butyl rubber. The casing is then combined in a mold with the butyl tread rubber and vulcanized (heated) into the final shape. These tires are durable but not particularly supple or high performance.

The process is quite dirty due to its high reliance on non-renewable resources like petroleum-based rubber.