Michelin Wild Enduro tyre review: hero dirt friendly grip grabber

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Looking for extra grip and safety on the trail to enjoy that hero dirt? Andi thinks he’s found the perfect partner with the Michelin Wild Enduro Tyre.

Editors’ Choice 2021

This product features in our Singletrackworld Editors’ Choice 2021 round-up.

Andi : “The Wild Enduro come either in a front or rear specific design, with the front being the tyre that really stands out. Michelin has performed some wild design and chemical voodoo on these tyres to ensure both incredible mechanical and chemical grip without losing too much rolling resistance in the process.

“Like other Michelins though they aren’t perfect and the rear especially could do with tougher sidewalls. Interestingly I didn’t experience leaky sidewall syndrome on the Wild Enduro while other Michelins do still suffer in this area.

“The tread design of the front has an aggressive spiked side knob design that provides almost telepathic front-wheel control. Hit a corner, tell the Wild Enduro to grip, and it very much does!

“Compared to the front, the rear is much less mind-blowing. The design has been made to ensure fast uphill progress and it will let go on corners, but I really didn’t mind that. With a front tyre capable of dragging me around root-infested winter berms and the rear able to let go, but in a predictable fashion, it offers nothing but fun.”

Michelin Wild Enduro Tyre Review

Michelin Wild Enduro tyre review

Michelin has been making tyres since 1888 so they should know a thing or two about producing a good quality rubber hoop that will grip and remain inflated during the rigours of enduro and trail riding. Let’s see how they’ve done with the Michelin Wild Enduro.

Generally, when a product or component is tested and reviewed it’s because we’ve arranged to have it sent in and we’ve got a clear plan, but now and then we’ll use a product in the course of another review and be so impressed that we’ll test that too. This is the case of the Michelin Wild Enduro, Michelin didn’t send us these tyres to test, instead, they came fitted to my Nukeproof Giga test bike, but I was so impressed with their performance that I decided they deserved a standalone review!

This review is a bit of a two-parter because Michelin produces front and rear-specific Wild Enduro tyres and that’s the combo I’ve been riding. Most of my time was during the snowy winter months with plenty of off-piste action on frozen dirt, muddy ruts and loose dirt.

Michelin Wild Enduro Front

Michelin Wild Enduro Front

The Giga came fitted with Wild Enduro tyres made of the Gum-X 3D compound both front and rear. Michelin offers its tyres in Gum X, Magi X, Gum X 3D and Magi X2 compound options to suit a variety of terrains, and to also suit either the front or rear of your bike. Gum X 3D sits firmly in the middle of the compound options and is aimed at providing the best balance of grip and speed in the largest variety of terrains. Racers or riders who spend most of their time in either rocky or muddy conditions might find the racer’s edge with either Magi X or Gum X compounds, but for the UK’s varied and ever-changing trails, Gum X 3D is a great balance.

Compared to say the Vee Tire Attack HPL made of Top 40 rubber, the Michelin Wild Enduro doesn’t feel as soft or tacky, but thanks to the construction of the tyre, they still provide flexibility and slow rebound for a controlled and predictable ride.

The tread design sees a central channel made up of dual knobs flanked by alternating knobs of a similar shape with siping in the opposite direction. As the tread pattern moves away from the centre the blocks become more aggressive and are raised slightly on the outside edge. The transition is quite subtle and the result is a spiky tyre that retains its rounded shape.

Side tread is raised nicely from the carcass for biting into the trail for predictable steering, and each knob has ribbed reinforcement to prevent it squirming when leaned on hard.

Michelin Wild Enduro Rear

Michelin Wild enduro rear

The matching Wild Enduro rear tyre has a tread pattern that copies the front, but at the same time has been put on a bit of a diet. Each knob is slightly closer together and the heights have been reduced to cut down on drag. With ample space between each knob, there is plenty of traction produced from each knob pressing into the dirt for efficient climbing in all but the most sloppy of trail conditions.

Each knob features siping like the front and the side knobs protrude further from the body of the tyre for enhanced cornering grip. Both front and rear tyres enjoy Michelin’s Gravity shield casing, though the rear tyre also benefits from added pinch flat protection around the bead.

Michelin Wild Enduro Tubeless

Nukeproof had very kindly set up the Giga as tubless for me so I didn’t have to, but in the interest of testing, I did remove the tyres to check how easy/difficult they were to seat. Of course, your experience may vary when it comes to actually fitting the tyres due to rim widths, heights, depths and varying ETRTO sizing, but I found the Wild Enduro to slip on easily and inflate with a track pump. Once inflated the Wild Enduro remained inflated with no leaking at the bead and no punctures during my time with the Giga. I’m not a huge fan of overly wide tyres, so I was happy that the 2.4in size of the Wild Enduro measured up accurately.

Michelin Wild Enduro Performance

michelin wild enduro review

Stunning! simply stunning performance. Tyres are something that I do like to test but, even now, I do tend to begin any ride on an unfamiliar tyre with some trepidation. After years of riding bikes fitted with Maxxis rubber I’ve become familiar with the feel and characteristics of certain tyres, and when boarding a bike with something new you might hesitate to attack the trail with the same gusto as you might ordinarily.

The Wild Enduro took no time at all to feel confident on. It helped that they were fitted to the Giga, which is an incredible bike, but I soon learned the benefits of the tyres and often swapped the wheels from the Nukeproof to the Orange Phase I was testing during the same period.

The front end grip with the Wild Enduro is awesome. The tyre never faltered when attacking a trail and it didn’t seem to matter if the conditions were soft, icy, hard-packed or snow, that spiky Michelin takes everything in its stride with predictable handling. Never did I hit a corner and worry that the front might not pull me round, in fact, the performance was so impressive I purposely hit corners, off-camber sections and slimy roots faster and harder hoping to upset the Michelins, and each time they pulled me round in complete, controlled, safety.

With its shallower knob profile, I worried that perhaps the rear might come unstuck more often than it did, but surprisingly the fast-rolling rear offers a mighty bite in all but the sloppiest of slop. Even when the rear does let go in the gloop, it’s a gradual loss of traction and the front is always there to ensure you whip around to safety in a hail of hero dirt.

Michelin Wild Enduro Overall

michelin wild enduro review

There have been a few tyres that I have ridden on recently that have really impressed but the Michelin Wild Enduro REALLY impressed me, enough so to earn them a Singletrack Recommended award! The safe and predictable steering will have you leaning over harder and faster than before, and when it comes to winching back up the trail you’ll be happy for that fast-rolling rear.

Review Info

Brand: Michelin
Product: Wild Enduro
From: Silverfish
Price: from £56.99
Tested: by Andi Sykes for 3 months

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Andi is a gadget guru and mountain biker who has lived and ridden bikes in China and Spain before settling down in the Peak District to become Singletrack's social media expert. He is definitely more big travel fun than XC sufferer but his bike collection does include some rare hardtails - He's a collector and curator as well as a rider. Theory and practice in perfect balance with his inner chi, or something. As well as living life based on what he last read in a fortune cookie Andi likes nothing better than riding big travel bikes.

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Replies (24)

    Do they have much drag for those uphill sections? How do they compare to a maxxis shorty or minion dhf?

    Also how tough are they? Any puncture trouble?

    Interesting and indepth review, just that the summary goes against what i experienced! . Found they puncture easily, and whilst they are cheaper i won’t be moving away from Maxxis assagai/dhr2 anytime soon. Still, some of me pals rate them!

    @julians The rear tyre has quite a low-profile tread and rolls well on the climbs. Honestly, I do not like the DHF in anything other than dry conditions, and I would run an Assegai or Shorty over a DHF in most conditions anyway. The Wild Enduro vs the Shorty is an interesting one, I’d say the Shorty takes it in muddier and wetter conditions but the Wild Enduro is better all-round. I’ve not tried the new Shorty 2 yet.

    @julians sorry, forgot to mention that I didn’t have any issues with punctures.

    @howsyourdad1 interesting that you punctured them easily but I suppose it depends on the carcass you were running and how they compare to the carcass on the Maxxis you’re running plus a few other factors. I too like the Assegai but found the Wild Enduro better through winter in when it became sloppy and slippy while remaining fast when the trails dried up / were frozen.

    Yes fair enough Andi, all my trails are covered in snow and frozen, so i dont really get to ride in true winter slop too much! Great review though as said!

    No stock of 29’er fronts anywhere :/

    Ive got a set on my bike from last summer, they have now gone hard and starting to perish. but they where £20 cheaper than the other big brands.

    @spacebutler that’s disappointing hope that’s not normal.

    What are the weights for each, and how does the front compare to a MM ‘addix soft’ (ie more likely to be specc’d n a long travel trail bike than the super soft on an out and out DH rig?)

    me and most of my mates are running them, definatly get less punctures(very rare) than when most of us where using maxxis, both exo and DD. we do a lot of rocky lakes riding as well as the forests so they do get a hammering

    @stingmered mine are 29X2.4 the front weighs 1.1kg and the rear 1.2kg

    On my 2nd set.

    Fronts epic. Rears good but not as good as the front.

    Not ripped one but they’re not a light tyre at all. With inserts they’re a lump n half.

    Back on dhf n aggressor as its dry though today I missed the big tyres.

    I agree with the comments about the front tyre. I found the rear locked up quite easily in dusty/ loose conditions. It will be interesting to see what you experience when you get to ride those conditions

    Cheers Buccaneer. That’s worth a look, shaves about 400g of rotating mass off the current Schwalbe set-up!

    A mate has one and the sidewalls were leaking badly (from new), not just a pinhole or puncture.

    Running these on a 650b bike since middle of last year. Really like the front, but the rear not so much. Good in the dry but on anything greasy it’s poor an unpredictable. I got a Wild AM rear for my 29er hardtail and that seems a better rear then the Enduro but I don’t think the casing is as tough (and also think they’ve now changed the design)

    – A mate has one and the sidewalls were leaking badly (from new), not just a pinhole or puncture.

    Not my experience on any Michelin tyres.

    @b33k34 nor mine. Could it have been a warranty issue?

    I really like them, but find the AM casing a bit prone to damage whereas I’ve had no problem with the Enduro casing.

    How do the casings compare to Maxxis or Schwalbe equivalents?

    I have switched to these tyres recently. Previously run maxxis dhr’s or hans dampfs and can attest they are a great combination for scottish conditions and i cant see me wanting to change. If you have a shed full of summer and mud specific tyres then maybe but for most i think these will be a great all year option!

    Now on my second set of Wild Enduro’s. They survive the challenge of razor sharp downland flints without a problem and offer fantastic grip in all conditions from slippery chalk to glutinous Wealden mud. No punctures and easy to set up as tubeless.

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