3 word review;
Ouch my shoulder.
I am testing a bike with these tires right now, and had some hope for them given some of the reviews I've read. They have the most horrifically tight and malformed beads I've ever seen, the casings are rediculously thin for a DH tire. This is a bad combination, as I pinch flatted 3 times today on them.... Running them ROCK hard. For reference I ride Michelin All-mountain tires out there regulary and as long as they are pretty hard, don't have issues with flats...
As fars as handling traits;
I had two Dh bikes I was riding today, one with tubeless comp 16's and one with the Nokians.
Durometer- I like the compounding of the tire, seems like a good balance between grip and wear, would be great for non-racers who ride hard.
Cornering- No. Poor transitional knob means a very drift-happy tire that is hard to bring back in. I have more control over the back end with shortracker. The need to run them rock hard means that the lack of transitional knob is further empasized by a lack of tire roll. You can't load these at all.
Braking- My trails are either completely loam or huge slabs of rock. Great braking on the loam in a straight line, I'm guessing loose-over-hardpack would be okay in a straight line as well. Braking on transitonal surfaces is iffy, and hardpack/rock either in a straight line or in corners is UNACCEPTABLE.
A slight tap of the brakes at 25 mph in a moderately off camber left slickrock turn, the kind of brake check you use when you want to steepen up the bike and shift your body mass forward sent me low-side over the bike onto my shoulder and head. This is a corner I've hit far-faster in many conditons compltetely fine....
Pedaling- They are very light, and pretty hard. So they pedal pretty well, but I'll take the sacrifice of a grippier tire anyday!
Just thought I'd add my daily bit of content...
braking-
Ouch my shoulder.
I am testing a bike with these tires right now, and had some hope for them given some of the reviews I've read. They have the most horrifically tight and malformed beads I've ever seen, the casings are rediculously thin for a DH tire. This is a bad combination, as I pinch flatted 3 times today on them.... Running them ROCK hard. For reference I ride Michelin All-mountain tires out there regulary and as long as they are pretty hard, don't have issues with flats...
As fars as handling traits;
I had two Dh bikes I was riding today, one with tubeless comp 16's and one with the Nokians.
Durometer- I like the compounding of the tire, seems like a good balance between grip and wear, would be great for non-racers who ride hard.
Cornering- No. Poor transitional knob means a very drift-happy tire that is hard to bring back in. I have more control over the back end with shortracker. The need to run them rock hard means that the lack of transitional knob is further empasized by a lack of tire roll. You can't load these at all.
Braking- My trails are either completely loam or huge slabs of rock. Great braking on the loam in a straight line, I'm guessing loose-over-hardpack would be okay in a straight line as well. Braking on transitonal surfaces is iffy, and hardpack/rock either in a straight line or in corners is UNACCEPTABLE.
A slight tap of the brakes at 25 mph in a moderately off camber left slickrock turn, the kind of brake check you use when you want to steepen up the bike and shift your body mass forward sent me low-side over the bike onto my shoulder and head. This is a corner I've hit far-faster in many conditons compltetely fine....
Pedaling- They are very light, and pretty hard. So they pedal pretty well, but I'll take the sacrifice of a grippier tire anyday!
Just thought I'd add my daily bit of content...
braking-