Was looking for some new tires. Its coming into Summer here and the most of the trails are bone dry. hard packed with some loose sandy stuff where heavily worn.
Long story short the CRC "best selling" screen seems to show a lot of Michelin tires. Mum always said you get what you pay for. Is this the case here or are they just not cool?
Summer here and the most of the trails are bone dry.
You sod 🙂
I've only tried the 'country' which were sort of a 1/2 mud tyre... they were horrific, they lasted 2 rides and were binned.
Yes had to get the quick gloat in! Been the wettest winter in fifteen years so I am told. Was just like Summer in Northumberland really!
I had a pair of the 1.7 country, or something like that, on my commuter. I used them occasionally off road and for one CX race and considering they were only £8 each I thought they were pretty good. Mostly used on the road though but I would buy them again for the same duties.
I think they import them. They will have a margin to play with.
I've used the Mountain Dry 2 kevlar bead ones and found them to be pretty good. As fast rolling as a Small Block 8 but with more grip. Put a set on my wife's bike for cinder tracks etc.
They've got the reinforced ones for a great price. They'd suit your hard packed conditions perfectly.
Yes they are terrible in short!
Mixed experiences for me.
Mich Country Mud wire has been excellent on a hardtail for winter use.
Mich XCR Trail folding was awful on one mostly dry ride at Swinley...literally binned it when I got home.
Mich Country Trail wire as ghetto tubeless was excellent in the Pyrenees foothills last month, and only €15 at Pau Decathlon...bought 2.
Mich XCR Extrem folding as ghetto tubeless was excellent for a friend in Pau last month...certainly a good choice for their winter trails.
Bought as end-of-life in early 2012 and no longer available.
They may be getting better and worth a chance.
PaulD
They used to do a "wild gripper" which would slide out on Tarmac for no reason, renamed wild slipper after I went down when the rear broke away on a normal Tarmac corner, car coming the other way almost ran the bike over, car behind almost ran me over.
The rubber compound must have been shite.
Michelin Mountain Dry 2 came fitted to my 456. Until i used them i generally thought tyres were tyres but these are special.
To be fair, it wasn't exactly dry conditions but they are terrible in wet/slippy conditions and skim off the smallest rocks and roots in not a nice way. On dryer ground they were decent enough and roll fast. They'd probably suit your hard, dusty, dry trails pretty well. Just don't push the front to much in corners until you get a feel for them (even on tarmac), there is a point where they give up grip completely.
I ditched the front but kept the back on - it's good fun
I had some mich all mountain's and liked them. not great in wet muddy conditions but quite fast rolling and grippy in the dry. Looked pretty cool as well cos they were grey!!
As with most brands... Some good, some bad.
Hotlines import Michelin, so CRC will always have the best deals on on them.
The 2.3" Dry2 tyre is a superb rear tyre for summer (what's that) use I found, it's very fast, very predictable, very tough (and seals easily) and is way better than something like a SB8 or most other sparsely treaded tyres if it does get a little damp.
I've got a 2.25" Wildrock'R on the front of my full sus right now, been running it for a few months. Have been quite impressed with it. Vastly better than the Bontrager XR4 it replaced.
But then there are a load in the Michelin range that I wouldn't touch with a shitty stick!
have had the "wild race r" tyres for the last year or so, and love them.
As a comparison my other tyres are small block 8's for the dry and bontager mud x's for the wet
the michelins are a little squirmy on the side blocks on the road, but great off road, have had the least punctures of all, and have also worn really well..
not as fast as the kenda's but faster than the mud x!
nico vouilloz runs them too!
I have some old Michelin DH16s that had been stockpiled in the shed from years back. Ran them on my dh bike over the summer and they were excellent. They appear to have been re-launched as these: [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=48156 ]CRC[/url]
Not their cheapest tyre though, so i guess you do get what you pay for. I've not tried any of their others either, but wouldn't be against it based on experience.
I've got Wildgripper 2.25s as rears on a couple of bikes. They blow up very fat, more like a 2.4 and work well in loose sandy, sloppy conditions. I prefer something with more side tread on the front though.
very hard rubber, good grip on tarmac, poor grip on mud and gloop, cheap, but small sizes and theyr narrow.
The last Michelins I bought were shocking. Designed for gravel or something, but were like riding slicks on wet leaf-covered tarmac.
i have the wildgripper 2.25`s as mentioned by mostly balanced above. they dont come up big at all. about proper size. about hte same size as my 2.35 swampthing if not a bit smaller.
soft compount rubber seems to stick quite well on wet roots. not enough side tread for full corner commitment in the real slop though but otherwise theyve been ok. good for fun xc where you are riding techy stuff in the slop. not so good for flat out drifty corner fun although to be honest that probably my clipped in bottle running out.
tubless has been not great though i think i've been unlucky rather than poor performance. not as robust as i'd like.
I ran tubeless wild grippers and I found them very good off road for greasy clag. Looking at the tread patterns I think they are still available under a different name and they are calling them a mud tyre now.
very hard rubber, good grip on tarmac, poor grip on mud and gloop, cheap, but small sizes and theyr narrow.
That sounds like the Country Rocks I have on the commuting bike (90% tarmac riding). Seem nice and fast - wouldn't trust them on anything demanding. Am expecting good longevity from the rubber hardness..
TM
I've had a pair of the all-mountain ones on my Enduro for the past while and they've been excellent. Big volume for a 2.25 and pretty consistent over all surfaces.
However, I've also had a pair of Wildgripper 2.1s which were appalling. No grip whatsoever on anything.
No idea about the CRC ones though.