Switched out wheels and tires on my Epic Evo. Had been running the stock Roval Control wheels with Ground Controls front and rear.
Pulled the Roval SLs off my other bike which have Ikons front and rear.
Felt much better. The Ground Controls seem to want to drift a bit and I want get that with the Ikons.
Hump
Not much love for Pirelli here, huh?
Coming from Specialized fastraks and Schwalbe Rays, I now roll a Pirelli Scorpion 2.4 at the front and am loving how it handles. This particular model is heavy but I am thinking/expecting the RC model might behave similarly, with less weight and rolling resistance. Anyone experienced these tires or has RR data? I see nothing in Rolling Resistance’s website on mtb Pirellis.
I almost picked up a set of Pirelli XC tyres from the clearance bin at the LBS. They looked super narrow and weren’t as light as if have expected, so I decided to pass and stick with the known Schwalbe/Wolfpack options.
I’ve a question. Do tyres go “off”? Now riding a Barzo & Mezcal bought late 2021 with only 25% wear, my bike is pretty skittish in the dry. I know the Barzo doesn’t like loose over hard, but its worse than usual. They will have been through to 40 degree to -9 degrees of the British season over that time.
Bike some kind of comparison and I appreciate it isn’t really, my sons recently new bike came equipped with 29 Ardent Race and the grip on those seems phenomenal by comparison.
You mean like how when motorcycle/car tires get older and despite having good tread, just don’t have the same grip? For road tires I’d say yes, probably. Same for Off road, but not as quickly since traction is a combination of tread pattern, compound, and inflation.
From a pure time standpoint I’d be inclined to say road tires will go off “sooner” than off road, and we’re also going to see variance by manufacturer and compounds.
So you’re not wrong in the general thinking, but the time scale of what constitutes “off” for any given tire or brand is a huge 
I mounted up a set of 2.4 Kenda Rush Pro SCTs on ENVE M525’s wheels and put them on my Supercaliber. Did a 25 mile single tract ride on a fairly hard packed but rooty and in parts rocky trail (Mohican in Ohio). Hannah Otto used this combo to win Leadville last year and also used them at Novo Mesto World Cup a couple of weeks ago.
I set them up with Tubolight inserts and ran 16/18 PSI F/R. The tire weighed 685gm on the scale before mounting.
Taken with the caveat that this was only one ride, but a pretty good length one, I have to say I came away impressed. Traction was excellent. I’ve run all kinds of tires here over the years in variable conditions and with something with minimal rear grip, like a Thunder Burt, I can get the rear wheel slipping a bit on the sharp climbs and on some of the roots. I had zero slippage on anything, even standing, with the Rush. From a cornering standpoint they also dug in. In the conditions that day I am not an aggressive enough rider to have been able to find the limits, they just stuck.
Rolling resistance is so hard to gauge but they “felt” fast and not draggy. My times were good and in keeping with days I’ve ridden well on other “fast” tires but I didn’t set any records. The tires are listed on Bicyclerollingresistance.com voting chart, so hopefully they get voted up to see how they roll compared to some of the other XC tires.
These seem to be a legit option in the 2.4 size as a fast XC tire. Kenda tends to fly under the radar but they are doing some good things with the MTB line up.
I’ve been on Mezcals for 3.5 years. They loose their grip despite having nearly perfect tread. I always put on a fresh pair of Mezcals every season even though the tread looks perfectly fine.
That’s a good looking tread pattern. Do they mount up true to size? I remember looking at the big 2.6" speedy Kenda because it ended up the 2.4" size installed. I didn’t know what the best combo was though.
I’m off to Kansas for Unbound but will try and measure them next week when I return. By then they will have been mounted for over a week, so that may give a more accurate measurement anyways. Eyeballing them they didn’t seem to be undersized, but we’ll see…
Thanks for the feedback, which kinda confirms my feelings the rough the bike and mirrors the Barzo on the front.
I raced last night including a fast , narrow DH section with trees on the corners and despite being dry had a lack of confidence leaning on that Barzo.
When it comes to rolling resistance, the RaceKing is right there in terms of the best and going to be hard to beat. The limitations are that it can be sketchy cornering and its limited to 2.2. It has more straight forward traction than something like the Thunder Burt though, especially on roots and looser climbs.
I’m really curious how the Kenda Rush Pro turns out if it gets tested at Bicyclerollingresistance.com If it’s close to the RaceKing it could be a real winner. Need some people to vote it up at BRR.
Looking to use my second (so non-racing) wheel set to put on some beefier tires for trails in the Alps (Austria/Switzerland).
If looking to optimize downhill speed and fun, what would you go with?
2.4 is the widest I can fit, my default pick would probably be Assegai/Minion DHR as it seems to come stock on many enduro bikes.
Thoughts here on training with Thunder Burts and then racing on Ray/Ralph? Getting used to sketchy handling then amping up the grip game after?
FYI - Specialized have an eBay outlet store, and have some of their XC tires down to $32.50.
Specialized Renegade Control 2Bliss Ready T5
Specialized Ground Control Grid 2Bliss Ready T7
Specialized Fast Trak Control 2Bliss Ready T7
Specialized Ground Control Grid 2Bliss Ready T7 Soil Searching
Specialized Ground Control Control 2Bliss Ready T5
I may have got some links mixed up, but basically all 50% off. I am 100% out of touch with tires as to which ones are good. I know specialized’s tires aren’t as popular as some other brands, but at $32.50 each with free shipping, I’m guessing they’d be worth buying for training.
Thanks for the heads up they had lots of good deals!
Is there a big difference in Kenda SCT version and regular? Usually you need to run a much more pressure without sidewall protection…
Back from Unbound, happy to say I finished the 200. Pretty challenging conditions but it was a blast. I had a chance to speak to the Kenda crew at the Unbound expo. I told them my initial feedback on the Rush and they are really excited about it as a racing tire. They have done their own internal rolling resistance testing and feel it is competitive but are eager to have Bicyclerollingresistance.com to test it. I told them that they should get all the Kenda employees to sign up for BRR and vote it up.
I put the calipers on the Kenda Rush SCT this morning. I re-inflated to 20psi. Tire is mounted on an Enve M525 rim and has been on there for a few weeks now. It looks like it is pretty true to size.
Anyone had issues with “Wobbly” Conti Race Kings?
I’ve verified that everything is seated correctly, pulled them off, done it again, used soap and water, verified it’s not the rim, etc. I’ve got two of them that are out of round enough that I think I’m going to have just pitch them or try and get Conti to send me replacements. One hasn’t been ridden, one was on one ride, then dismounted.
Just picked up a two more on the cheap and I have a third on hand I can try, but concerning…
Regular is like road race tire thin. Sct feels a little thinner than maxxis exo to me. I have run the booster pro regulars in 2.7 as low as 16 f, 18 r at 190 pounds on a 30mm rim. You can fold them at that pressure but they are fast and really compliant.
Did you use tyre levers to install?
I recently had a Rekon warrantied for a wobble, the distributor was really good, but mentioned that they have been having issues with tyre lever installs damaging beads and creating wobbles.
I don’t usually use tyre levers for the front (Rekon), but relatively often it’s needed on the rear with the insert.
Hopefully it’s just a batch issue. I’m quite keen to try the Race King/Cross King combo when the 2.4" RK is released.
