Submitted by
turf
a Weekend Warrior
from Marietta, GA
Date Reviewed: August 2, 2008
Strengths: Fastest tire I have ridden that's still acceptable on easy trails
Weaknesses: Not as good as a slick on the road and not suitable for anything other than beginner trails on a regular basis
Bottom Line:
I had these on an old DBR with blown forks that I gave away years ago. The bike was recently given back to me and since I now have a couple of decent mountain bikes, I turned the dbr into an errand bike - a rear rack with bag, a big basket up front, rigid forks, platform pedals, a mirror, riser handlebars, etc - everything but a bell and I am thinking about getting one of those.
I ride it around town but there are a few places to go off road including a park that has a pretty decent but short trail in it where I sometimes take one of the other two mountain bikes.
I noticed an odd thing - this jalopy of a bike went much faster than either of the other two, flying down trails with little effort. It did not take me long to figure out it was the tires. True, I do have to get off and push it up a steep rocky rooty section for about 50 feet since the Connection just does not connect that well in difficult steep terrain and especially if it is the least bit damp, but more than makes up for it by going a couple mph faster on the rest of the trail.
I would not use this tire on a trail with any but minimal technical sections, but this is an excellent tire for my purposes of having a tire that is good on the road and is at least much better than a road tire on the trail.
The revelation of how much faster this type of tread was than the knobbies on my other bikes has led me to look into a close tread pattern for one my other bikes - well not this tire of course, but one like the Kenda small block. I am so impressed by how much faster I could go that I am willing to trade some loss of traction for greatly increased speed on the trail. Sounds like a dangerous combination but then I have not had any mtb injuries of note in over a year....
Bike Setup: First generation DBR setup as an errand bike
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
brian T
a Cross Country Rider
from Norwich,CT
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2008
Strengths: Multi Use Tire,Great roll resitance.Great Price
Weaknesses: Loose trails,or mud may cause some sliping
Bottom Line:
I moved from the Trail to Urban assault due to High Gas Prices,They Work on both, Better on the road and Good on the Trail.$20 is a bargain!I would Buy these again.I ride aprox.5 Days a week.Great tire.
Bike Setup: Kona,XT,Race Face,Thomson,WTB,All Fox Susp.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Parker Evans
a Weekend Warrior
from Hartford, CT, US
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2008
Strengths: They were free with the bike. They slide really easily, if that's what you're looking for. Alright on pavement.
Also like someone above, I was surprised by their performance in mud, considering their performance in everything else.
Weaknesses: cornering, leaves, anything wet, loose rocks (bigger than gravel), unsteady going downhill at speed, feels treacherous on uneven downhills.
Bottom Line:
Like a reviewer above, a fairly small thorn killed my Bontrangers. Which was alright by me.
If they come on your bike? If you don't notice a performance problem or you're cheap (like I am), keep them until they blow. If you ride trails they will.
Submitted by
Ryan Wiitala
a Weekend Warrior
from Morrisville
Date Reviewed: August 11, 2006
Strengths: Good road tire and moderate performance on the easier trails.
Weaknesses: NOT A GOOD TIRE FOR EXTREME TRAIL RIDING!!!
Tread tears off with a little abusive riding but considering what the tire is made for I'm not surprised.
Bottom Line:
A good tire if you don't plan on riding any advanced trail systems or plan on a lot of road riding. Probably a good tire for most weekend warriors but I wouldn't recommend you like to really shred the rough stuff. I have had these on my bike for less than 1 month and already need to replace.
Strengths: Low rolling restiance, decent trail tire on dirt, good road tire(not as good as slicks though), not to mention hold up long on the road
Weaknesses: low traction in mud, snow, ice, wet rocks, and almost anything to do with water
Bottom Line:
When I bought these tires, I knew I would be getting a trade-off of road and mtb tires, so I can't say it's bad that it didn't have good traction on wet stuff. These ride on the road really nice. I've got about 300 miles on them already with little sign of wear. But this tire if ride the road a lot and don't ride 60 miles down a muddy rocky mountain.
Similar Products Used: stock trek 6500 tires, too many others
Bike Setup: these tires, trek 6500, avid BB5 discs, Speed Dial Ti levers, shimano M545 pedals, all else stock.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Madison, WI
Date Reviewed: November 17, 2005
Strengths: Excellent traction in loose terrain climbs, cheap, durable
Weaknesses: For the price i paid, there is no weaknesses to complain about
Bottom Line:
This tire rocks. So cheap, yet good. This tire is rear tire on my commuter and it has way better traction then the tires on my Fuel 98, Bonty Super-X. I blasted these tires down stairs, drops from 2-3 feet to flat concrete. I've taken these out to pretty techincal trails and they have stood up. I can stand up and pedal in sketchy climbs and still have traction. What more can u ask for?
Submitted by
Marc
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto, Ontario Canada
Date Reviewed: September 3, 2005
Strengths: Fat tire, good traction, decent speed
Weaknesses: slow on pavement, hold sup guck and mud in muddy trails and loses traction
Bottom Line:
If you want a decent, all round tire that will perform well in rain, snow, ice, and dry conditions, this is pretty good. It is weak on harder trails and mud will build up in the tires, causing you to lose a significant amount of traction. Bad in sand, but I have yet to find a tire that performs well in sand. Great for the begginer in mountainbiking
Submitted by
Mike Gomez
a Weekend Warrior
from Norwalk,CA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 22, 2005
Strengths: great traction, not too heavy, inexpensive
Weaknesses: none yet
Bottom Line:
Great tires for the price. They get the job done. Have had no problems with them. However, if average doesn't satisfy you and if you have the cash, you might want to spend more money on better tires. Otherwise, these tires are great
Submitted by
L.K. Simons
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 18, 2005
Strengths: Well, compared to the three year old balding Specialized Rockster tires which came on my Hardrock, in a word, everything. They grip pretty well in all but the loosest gravel trails.
They're also quite inexpensive which is good for 34 year grad students without a lot of cash!
Weaknesses: My specialized tires were bigger and fatter and looked a lot better on my bike. These look like little girl tires! But I'm quite effeminate and kinda ride my Hardrock like a girl so no worries.
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is that these tires are way better than my balding rocksters and that they make me feel girly when tearing down the Don Valley. My priority for a set of tires was to ensure that they had a really low rolling resistence, since most of my biking takes place on the hardtop of downtown toronto. They've accomplished this; it's a pretty quick tire with the added bonus of providing decent if not great trail traction.
Similar Products Used: stock rockster's. I had no idea how bad they really were.
Bike Setup: 2002 Specialized Hardrock stock, except for some crappy cheap peddles the bike shop put on it after mine broke during the first week. This was my first foray into biking since a got my first car 16 years ago! Will upgrade to something better in a year or so. The sr suntour xcc ain't so plush, if you know what I mean.
Strengths: Great road ride, rolls fast. Good ride off road, for a tire with such small knobs.
Weaknesses: Not a good choice for really loose or muddy trails.
Bottom Line:
I bought these tires for my newly converted singlespeed Ritchey in a 1.6 width. I thought it would make a great road tire for the beer runs and light trail riding with my kids. I've hit some muddy trails with them and find the traction better then I expected for such a skinny, small knobbed tire. I would use these if you only plan to run light, dry, smooth trails.
Submitted by
Dan Caruso
a Weekend Warrior
from Reno, NV
Date Reviewed: January 13, 2004
Strengths: good on pavement at high pressure, decent on hardpack (lower the pressure for the dirt, then reinflate for the long pavement ride home).
Weaknesses: gets loose in loose stuff and steeper inclines.
Bottom Line:
Good all-around tire. I've since put on some serious dig-in tires but I keep these for the family rides through the neighborhood and fire roads. If I ever wear these out I'd buy another set for easy ridin', but I don't wanna easy ride.
Submitted by
Jason
a Cross Country Rider
from Kansas
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2003
Strengths: Great for X-Country. Nice on pavement. Cool looking sidewalls.
Weaknesses: None really for what I do. I just ride gravel trails and a little pavement.
Bottom Line:
The thing i like about this tire is that it takes to gravel as well as it takes to pavement. I probably will upgrade to something else (based on what i have read only) when the time comes but their is nothing wrong with this tire if you want a good XC tire.
Submitted by
Rick Onanian
a Cross Country Rider
from East Greenwich, RI, USA
Date Reviewed: August 7, 2003
Strengths: Long life. Good ride on dirt and pavement. 40-65psi reccommended pressure is good range.
Weaknesses: Not a hardcore muddy hill climber.
Bottom Line:
These tires are possibly the best knobbies you'll ever ride on pavement (though you should use slicks or inverts).
These tires are very good cross-country tires, except when you need to get up a steep, loose or muddy hill. Then, you'll want something ballsier on the rear. I always ran them at 65psi, so with less pressure, they might get up the hill better.
Nothing flatted through them, no wear was visible after maybe 500 miles on them.
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