Ritchey WCS Z-Min Older Tires

4.5/5 (2 Reviews)
Weight : 370 grams


Product Description

  • High performance XC tire specifically designed
  • New sub 400g proprietary casing and construction


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Reviews 1 - 2 (2 Reviews Total)

User Reviews

Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Mike a Racer from Thousand Oaks

Date Reviewed: January 16, 2007

Strengths:    Light Weight, Very Low Rolling Resistance.

Weaknesses:    Corning Grip.

Bottom Line:   
For a purpose race tire I really like the Ritchey Zmins. They are the easiest pedaling tire I have ridden which offer at least some traction and cornering grip although minimal. I use these with my Stan's Olympic ZTR Wheelset with American Classic Hubs. I run my Zmin's using Stan's Sealant with no problems. I run about ~37 psi rear and ~33 psi front. The tires grip fairly well up climbs of semi lose top coat over hardpack. Corning is better than other tires I have tried like the Maxxis Maxlite 310’s, which had, zero traction. Kenda's Kozmik Lite tire is equal or maybe
slightly better in cornering than the Ritchey Zmin but it also weighs about 60g more.

The tread of the Zmin is a smaller block of the popular Ritchey WCS ZED Race 2.1 which has excellent corning bite. At the pressure I run the tires roll very well and have a decent ride quality keeping good contact and traction with the ground.

They do wear quickly but I get about 3-4 weeks worth of riding on the rear tire. That's about three 20 mile rides a week. I then transfer the front to the rear and install a new front tire saving a little more tread life.

I wish Ritchey would add slightly larger side knobs and slightly larger casing 2.0. There seems to be a void of good race tires in the 400-450g range.

If you are a light weight racer under 175 lbs you should try these tires. They really accelerate quickly and offer some traction. Bottom line a very fast race tire!

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Favorite Trail:   All

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $19.00

Purchased At:   Ritchey

Similar Products Used:   Maxxis Maxlite 310, Kenda Kozmik Lite, Kenda Karma DTC.

Bike Setup:   2006 Extralite X-Link w/Stan's Olympic Wheelset.

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:3
Submitted by Tick Houk a Racer from Los Gatos, CA, USA

Date Reviewed: September 5, 2006

Strengths:    superlight (390gm, measured)

Weaknesses:    tread wears quickly

Bottom Line:   
These are great tires for hardpack racing, although the gains straightline acceleration are slightly offset by the lack of grip cornering in loose terrain. The tread doesn't last very long, which is a bummer. If you want to excel with a given setup you have to train with it, so that means wearing through the tread after only a few weeks. Compared to the lightest dedicated tubeless setup (conti twister pros UST), I was riding 1-2 gears higher, but felt like I bounced around a lot more and had more trouble keeping up the mo. With the UST setup I couldn't accelerate as fast but with the lower pressure (30lbs front & 35 rear) I had a little better climbing and cornering bite, plus I rolled more and bounced less. I used the Ritcheys with light butyl tubes pumped up to 40lbs front, 45 rear. 3 chilis for value only because you'll wear them out quickly. If you have the skill the control them in loose corners you won't find a faster tire.

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Favorite Trail:   jackass trail, henry coe

Duration Product Used:   3 months

Price Paid:    $39.00

Purchased At:   crossroads bicycles

Similar Products Used:   pretty much every tire out there, over a period of 7 yrs

Bike Setup:   turner flux with Mavic 819 rims & king hubs

Reviews 1 - 2 (2 Reviews Total)

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