Kenda Racers - What do you run?

I have been running Michelin tubeless for years, on many different rims, different rimstrips, with Stans and without when I had 823s.
All with great luck.
Its not tubeless that is the problem.

Neve 2.5's float too much, too many bulging lugs, must be cut to really perform.

2.3's are fantastic, but I like a teency bit more volume for the roughness.

Their compound is great, but I think most of their tread patterns are ass without modification.

SylentK, I thought you were on Maxxis again for Snowmass.

My experience with Kenda this summer was kind of a cross between SylentK and Jason. I had 2 punctures running tubeless. One was at AF and I thought it was because of the rocks. The 2nd happened on a fire road at Vail, no reason there. So I started running tubes. Since then I've only had 1 pinch flat, it was in the high speed section at the top of Snowmass. I've been running a bit more pressure now, 35 rear, 33 front. Last year with Maxxis tubeless I was at 30 rear, 28 front. I had zero flats with Maxxis tubeless.

I love the cut Excavator tread pattern, decent rolling speed and very predictable corner grip. They do pretty well in mild mud.

Next year I'm not sure what I'm going to run. I like the Excavator but I don't fully trust it. I have 823s and will get a set of DeeMax as race wheels so I want to go tubeless. I'm not a fan of Minions, maybe High Rollers. The team is also thinking about trying a different brand entirely too.

Why would anyone like to run second rate equipment and I'm being very generous with that statement. Especially when there are plenty of other first rate options at competitive prices?

SylentK said:

Angel Fire - Flatted in practice

Crested Butte - Pinch flatted front in practice. Tire rendered useless as it created a small rip in sidewall right by bead.

Nationals (Sol Vista) - Double flatted in practice (front and rear at same time). Same kind of rip in sidewall as in CB. there were like 5 holes/rips in one of those tires.

Snowmass - 3 flats. 2 in practice, third in race run = dnf. I was pissed.

Sol Vista (sol survivor) - Now back on Minions and tubes, no flats.

I have never had as many flats in the last 5 years as I did in just this last race season. Was it the Stan's? I don't know. I have stans and excavators on my trail bike with no problems.

Going forward I will not race with Stans. Too much hassle and $$ compared to tubes.

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So are you going back to Maxxis or something else now? I would hope so.

I did my own tire test this summer with Intense 909's 2.5 FRO lite. Tires held up very very well, no flats, they have a great feel to them and they absolutley blow goats when the trails get wet or damp.

End result:
Kenda tires suck ass still and they are second rate equipment like voodoohoo said.
Intense tires are great for dry and I am sure the rubber can be tweaked for better wet handling. It might have been changed for the new tires, I am not sure.
Maxxis tires are the bomb although some of the tread patterns are retarded and do not offer anything positive(Minion DHR, Mobster)
Michilen's and I have not spent any time together so I can't say anything. I am sure they are waaay better than Kenda.

I would like to try some of the new DH tires out now. Anyone have time on them? Schwable and Conti?

VooDooHoo said:

Why would anyone like to run second rate equipment and I'm being very generous with that statement. Especially when there are plenty of other first rate options at competitive prices?

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Care to elaborate? Maxxis(DHF) are at least $20 more than Kenda's(excavator), that's like 50% more..

You guys do realize that comparing two different tire brands on two completely different set-ups tells you absolutely nothing about the tire...durability or traction wise.

The 823/demax is the beefiest and heaviest rim from the mfg that uses the hardest aluminum material. THe rim shape makes the sidewalls even more resistant to deflection/dents.....the result is they are very hard on tires. Take away the cushion of double layer DH tube between the sidewall and tire, and they like to cut sidewalls. Search a bit here, it has been an ongoing topic for the last year with many different tires brands and models.

The outlaw is a completely different profile that allows for more radial compliance(sidewall denting) and is made out of a significantly softer material than the Mavic. Add to that, the DH tube to protect the tire......

There is no way to compare or conclude anything about tires run on these two completely different set-ups.

davep said:

You guys do realize that comparing two different tire brands on two completely different set-ups tells you absolutely nothing about the tire...durability or traction wise.



There is no way to compare or conclude anything about tires run on these two completely different set-ups.

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My personal testing of the two different tires was done with the same tubes and wheels. My conclusion was that the kenda tires had far less traction and control.

I generally do not get flats or tear tires so I can't say anything about first hand experience with that. I can say that Ulmer Jr. had flat tire issues far more often with Kenda than Maxxis /-:

boogenman said:

Ulmer Jr. had flat tire issues far more often with Kenda than Duro /-:

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Fixed for ya. Geoff has been running Duro 47a Compound Razorbacks with terrific results. Zero race weekend flats, he did have one freeriding in NJ. He'll be on them again next season. They will be widely available next year, def take a look when they come out. I've run their cut down spikes and have been amazed at the traction. Now I know what you guys are talking about.


Capt. I did not compare Kenda pricing with Maxxis pricing any where. Both are overpriced for the product. Make that all dh tires are overpriced for the product.

VooDooHoo said:

Capt. I did not compare Kenda pricing with Maxxis pricing any where. Both are overpriced for the product. Make that all dh tires are overpriced for the product.

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gotcha, just assumed you were part of the maxxis fanclub.. are you comparing the Kenda's to Duro's?

I can't agree about Kenda's, they have treated me very well this year on multiple bikes. I did run Intense primarily last year, and may go back to the next year. They don't last me as long as I wear through them, but they do perform.

Do the Telonics 2.4 and 2.6 share the same DH casings that you guys are referring to? I checked out a couple of them and they seem to have plenty burly sidewalls. I think I'll be running these soon.

Hacktastic said:

Do the Telonics 2.4 and 2.6 share the same DH casings that you guys are referring to? I checked out a couple of them and they seem to have plenty burly sidewalls. I think I'll be running these soon.

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Wurd. Ran them this weekend on the big bike at big bear, they hooked up just like if not better than high rollers....at like half the price. Haven't run them through anything SUPER rocky though, BB is fairly "tame" as far as that goes.

Our QLD, Australia 2009 season is done and dusted. I ran 2.5" Kenda Nevegals in dual ply Stick-E for the entire season. No flats at any of the 6 Rounds nor at the State Champs.

Running 18-21psi in the front and 20-25psi in the rear in combination with Alex Supra D rims and Maxxis DH tubes.

The last 4 or 5 years I've pretty much exclusively run Minion DHF 2.5 SRY, with a similar lack of flats. I've noticed no real tendecy for the Nevegals to pinch or puncture any more or less than Minions. As far as grip, I find the Nevegals are better than the Minions for dirt, roots and particularly excel in the mud where there was a night and day difference in mud shedding. However,the Minions still feel better in gravel and loose shale.

Given that at least the majority of our state race tracks tend to be on gravelly, blown-out dusty courses - I'm not too disappointed that the unavailability of Nevegals will probably have me back on Minions in the near future.

I will say however that running Nevegals this year has not been a problem for me whatsoever and is certainly an eye opener to the fact that a lot of people talking smack about certain brands are just recycling 2nd and 3rd hand opinions.

Don't know why people use the fanboy hatecard so easily. Maxxis has it's fallowing for a reason. I go threw 5-6sets of tires/season and I've tested really a lot of them. So far DHF/HR/Wetscream are the best for the most part, huchy barracuda 35a being close behind.

BTW. Actualy a lot of "fanboyism" on this board had a reason and sunday and turner are still one of the best bikes for the $$$ so cut the crap

norbar said:

BTW. Actualy a lot of "fanboyism" on this board had a reason and sunday and turner are still one of the best bikes for the $$$ so cut the crap

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No, no, and no. Owned a DHR, and worked on plenty of Sundays. Hardly the best, especially for what they cost.

As an avid user of Maxxis for years, I stick with them because of their casings. They've just gotten ridiculous with their pricing though. It no longer makes sense.

SylentK said:

I've been a Maxxis guy for the last several years (Minion DHF, mostly), but this year the team has Kenda. I haven't used a Kenda tire in years and don't really remember much except I pinch flatted a lot on their non-DH casing/Singleply tires.

So which tire would you guys suggest for hard pack and loose over hard pack courses? Lots of rocks and a bit of sand/loose conditions, but mostly hard pack.

Anyone try their UST tires yet? I would like to run tubeless on Mavic UST wheels.

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I run Kenda Excavator 2.35's (32psi front/rear) since they came out. Use them for all conditions, so far, so good. No complaints.

Hacktastic said:

No, no, and no. Owned a DHR, and worked on plenty of Sundays. Hardly the best, especially for what they cost.

As an avid user of Maxxis for years, I stick with them because of their casings. They've just gotten ridiculous with their pricing though. It no longer makes sense.

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You can get better than the dhr and sunday but at 1799$ for a dhr and for the prices used sundays/completes used to go it was very hard to beat. Also think of the DHR/Sunday when they were first realesed though it was not the point. The point was they had the following because they were good and the users liked them - look at the races how many people run sundays for example. Most of the popular stuff has to have at least some qualities to be popular.


And the maxxis prices in yurp have been the same for quite some time so I don't really notice it that much. Not even close to hutch/michy prices anyway.

I haven't ridden them but a lot of my homies at Diablo use Kenda Telonix. They are relatively cheap and seem to hook up nicely through the gnar.

Whatup, K? How's the Kenda choice going? I don't know if you got a chance to check out my Excavators before I went home, but 3 mountains and countless runs and not even a CHUNK missing off my tires, but Corey's Minions and Adams Bontrager things are absolutely JUNK. And I was on the 6" travel airshock bike! I was being pretty careful not to skid, but I was certain I'd be skittering that rear tire through alot of that stuff, especially on the rocky steeps at V***... but not a single issue with tubes, and 12 psi front, 14 rear. And let's not leave out multiple cases at SV...
I don't know what the hell everyone else's prob is, if some of you guys can't pick and hold a line, maybe switch up to a monster truck or something? Geez...

The other thing about the Excavators...they are kind of a blank slate from the factory...go buy an end cutter and email me, I'll tell ya how to trim them babies up. But cut or even stock, they have SUPERB braking. Even though the ground won't hold, the tires take with them what they can when it goes!
I've always been a Kenda guy, prob always will be. The only thing that Maxxis had that Kenda didn't was a decent spike...but then everyone's beloved tire company made the 2.5s IMPOSSIBLE to obtain. Plus they needed to be cut to perform at all on anything that wasn't 2 inches deep and soggy. Now Kenda has the KOT out and whaddaya know, kinda looks like a cut, 2.5 Wetscream! lol! That's the other thing, Kenda runs true sizes, none of the "says it's a 2.5 but looks like a 2.1" crap...
My $.02, plus a little extra...

Oh...and don't run Stans in Kendas...

2.35 El Moco in the rear and a 2.5 nevegal in the front. The el moco is one of my favorite tires at the moment.

dan wask said:

2.35 El Moco in the rear and a 2.5 nevegal in the front. The el moco is one of my favorite tires at the moment.

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In the rear? Really?
I was actually thinking about flipping that setup, Nev in the rear and ElMoco up front, for it's Mohawkian center knobs for speed and it's sideburns for carving... It's like the Mr. T of tires!
The 2010 El Moco(might have a new name now?) has flat bars instead f the little "55" circles now... But fear not, Lopes got his 55s in the shoulder lugs, so all is good and fast...

VooDooHoo said:

Capt. I did not compare Kenda pricing with Maxxis pricing any where. Both are overpriced for the product. Make that all dh tires are overpriced for the product.

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They probably aren't as cheap as you think they are at cost. I'm sitting here right now doing a pricing analysis and no, DH tires ain't cheap! They also have a 10% duty rate (30% on tubes). From previous tire importing experience, a big chunk of DH tire pricing is in the freight. They cannot be folded down for long transport and are hollow when stacked. Lots of empty space on those shipments.

-ska todd

ska todd said:

They probably aren't as cheap as you think they are at cost. I'm sitting here right now doing a pricing analysis and no, DH tires ain't cheap! They also have a 10% duty rate (30% on tubes). From previous tire importing experience, a big chunk of DH tire pricing is in the freight. They cannot be folded down for long transport and are hollow when stacked. Lots of empty space on those shipments.

-ska todd

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Nice post. I've never thought about it but makes a lot of sense. I guess you can place 10 xc-foldable kevlar tires in the space that takes for 1 DH casing tire.

The Telonix was a nice suprise for me. I got it really cheap, so i decide to givem a try and it turned to be a great all arround tire

Patan-DH said:

The Telonix was a nice suprise for me. I got it really cheap, so i decide to givem a try and it turned to be a great all arround tire

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Yep, been on mine for about a dozen rides now. Pretty consistent and predictable. I've been trying to flat it just to get an idea of its limitations, but so far so good. Holding up just as well as the michelins. Bottom the tire HARD on the rim many times.

ska todd said:

They probably aren't as cheap as you think they are at cost. I'm sitting here right now doing a pricing analysis and no, DH tires ain't cheap! They also have a 10% duty rate (30% on tubes). From previous tire importing experience, a big chunk of DH tire pricing is in the freight. They cannot be folded down for long transport and are hollow when stacked. Lots of empty space on those shipments.

-ska todd

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so the freight on my car tires must be off the wall.





but they're cheaper.....