If you’re twisted enough to compete in trials, or you’re one of those people who commute all winter while normal folks retreat to the comfort of their heated Subaru™, then you need a pair of El Gatos. Featuring a wide 2.25 square profile, high grip rubber compound and near-indestructible SPR System sidewalls. Everything but a coupon for free psychiatric evaluation. Click on the image to the left for an enlarged photo showing tread detail and related product specifications.
Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Summerland B C Canada
Date Reviewed: September 25, 2006
Strengths: Lotsa rubber. Paddle middle for going up and down and double row side knobs for smooth and progressive sidehill action. Surprisingly low rolling resistance. Comfy ride at 40 psi. Wears as well as anything else.
Weaknesses: Supposedly weak sidewall, but it's already almost 900g and probably 700 of that in the tread! Haven't blown one yet, but...picks up lots of weeds in the closely spaced side knobs. Isn't trendy. Feels goofy, but works, on pavement.
Bottom Line:
This tire has lots of flexible rubber on the ground so the slide and hookup thing is really smooth. With skill you can crawl up amazing things, but brute force is not so rewarded, as the knobs keel over, especially if you are a heavy rider [I'm 165] . At higher speeds and agressive loads, it's just another, and a bit too heavy, tire. But it reliably gets me to the finesse bits where it shines. It's an almost historical design that is still in production, so there must be a reason. I went through a period of knob shedding and sidewall blowing - grrr$$$- which stopped when I got on these, so I guess by comparison to some its an economy tire, especially on a per pound basis! I gave it five chilis for still entertaining me after two seasons.
Bike Setup: SC Heckler, original type, marz MX pro eta 105 [yes!] , XTR V brakes, and whatever else was proven, light[ish] and reliable.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Summerland B C Canada
Date Reviewed: September 25, 2006
Strengths: Lotsa rubber. Paddle middle for going up and down and double row side knobs for smooth and progressive sidehill action. Surprisingly low rolling resistance. Comfy ride at 40 psi. Wears as well as anything else.
Weaknesses: Supposedly weak sidewall, but it's already almost 900g and probably 700 of that in the tread! Haven't blown one yet, but...picks up lots of weeds in the closely spaced side knobs. Isn't trendy. Feels goofy, but works, on pavement.
Bottom Line:
This tire has lots of flexible rubber on the ground so the slide and hookup thing is really smooth. With skill you can crawl up amazing things, but brute force is not so rewarded, as the knobs keel over, especially if you are a heavy rider [I'm 165] . At higher speeds and agressive loads, it's just another, and a bit too heavy, tire. But it reliably gets me to the finesse bits where it shines. It's an almost historical design that is still in production, so there must be a reason. I went through a period of knob shedding and sidewall blowing - grrr$$$- which stopped when I got on these, so I guess by comparison to some its an economy tire, especially on a per pound basis! I gave it five chilis for still entertaining me after two seasons.
Bike Setup: SC Heckler, original type, marz MX pro eta 105 [yes!] , XTR V brakes, and whatever else was proven, light[ish] and reliable.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Adam
a Weekend Warrior
from Edmonton, Alberta
Date Reviewed: August 25, 2005
Strengths: Grip, Grip, Grip. Rim dent resistance
Weaknesses: Weight I guess
Bottom Line:
I bought this tire because I was tired of flat spotting rims when the tire (velociraptor) was at proper pressure. Since it was a trials tire I didn't think it would fare too well on trails but I was very wrong. I have had zero pinch flats with it and no more rim denting. It grips fantastic on loose and muddy stuff. It is by far the best loose terrain climbing tire i have used. Great price too. After a few years of riding however, I am starting to develop some sidewall abrasions/soon to be cuts, but thats kind of expected. 4 chilis for overall due to the weight.
Strengths: Grippy and very secure in wide variety of ROCKY terrain (not much soil here). I abuse them almost daily on hard xc DH w/really sharp rocks (ALL trails here are rocky rocky rocky - sandstone, basalt, limestone) and a number of trailside cacti, w/ no punctures yet. I've been riding for about a year after 7 year lay-off, I'm kinda sloppy and way too fast, so I POUND!
Weaknesses: none that I can tell. WAY better than my last tires!
Bottom Line:
Most of my friends are much more experienced than I, and though I may not have the grace (or a full suspension ride like they), I keep up on climbs and downhill w/o slipping around. I just don't slide. Everyone wants my tires!
Bike Setup: Good 'ol Cannondale F700 (95) w/ Thudbuster, Shimano fixins...
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Brian
a Cross Country Rider
from Calgary, ALberta
Date Reviewed: December 14, 2002
Strengths: Decent size good tread pattern for rear wheel great traction in loose and slippy stuff including mud, ice and snow.
Weaknesses: Wear fast (duh, you don't get grip without wear...) A bit heavy at 800+g, but not bad on the back.
Bottom Line:
My friends and I find this tire works great on the back for winter trail/technical riding including snow, mud, wet roots, and not bad when a bit icy. I can get up very sketchy climbs on barely packed snow, sidehills seem ok, and braking is pretty good too. The 2.25" size is just the right fit on my bike (Rokko 2.4 was rubbing on the rear stays, but it has great rear grip too).
Get one and put it on the back wheel if you want a soft, grippy tire for anything loose or slippery. This tire Climbs!
Strengths: Cheap for a big Kevlar tire (thanks, MEC)
Weaknesses: Heavy for a non-reinforced casing tire
Bottom Line:
IRC makes good tires - other manufacturers may beat them with one model or another, but overall their product line is great. I use the Mythos XC as my XC race tires, and they rock. The El Gato is basically a beefed up Mythos XC rear - taller knobs, wider casing, flatter profile for a bigger contact patch. The tread profile is virtually identical - centre paddles alternating with directional knobs. The Gato simply adds a third directional knob where the Mythos has a gap.
I wanted a freeride tire that was tough, but performed like an XC tire in climbing, cornering and braking. The Gato is it. I'll run it with a DH tube to prevent pinch flats on the drops. Paired with a Kujo 2.35 DH on the front, I should have a great trail setup.
Similar Products Used: Superheats, Maxis Highrollers, IRC
Bike Setup: Cove Stiffee with 5" Bombers
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Beeco
a Weekend Warrior
from Bradford, England
Date Reviewed: February 11, 2002
Strengths: It grips like hot glue!!!! It is light for a 2.25. I can't see how anyone can puncture one. They're f***ing awsome. I will never use anything else
Weaknesses: ????????
Bottom Line:
These tires won't slip.I'm runnig about 25-30 psi.When i do a gap and land right on the edge it never slips unlike tiogas.They cushion everything so it feels like you've landed it mint even if you haven't.I payed £30. This tire is great for trials.
Strengths: Good soft rubber compound really grips up on concrete Fairly wide, reasonably strong sidewalls
Weaknesses: Could be wider.. but then it would be heavier Sidewalls could be stiffer, but again, then it would be heavier
Bottom Line:
I ride urban trials quite a bit. I have 6 years of XC experience and not quite 1 year of trials. I'm not fantastic at it, as I haven't learned to lurch yet, but I do a lot of stuff that tests this tire- hopping up steps, 3-4' dropoffs, and occasionally leaping down staircases and such to break the slow-speed monotony. This tire holds up well for me. I run about 30 PSI and I weigh 180#, and I've only pinch flatted once despite missed j-hops up ledges and staircases. I decided to try this one to shed the weight of the Kujo I used to use. The Kujo's sidewalls are much thicker and stronger, so you have to run higher PSI with this one, but the softer sidewalls mean you get good wraparound and good traction even with higher PSI. The soft rubber really grips noticeably better on concrete and steel too. I've gone for 3-foot j-hops that I didn't get the back tire up high enough for, so the tire contacted the edge just behind the bashguard, and the tire help its grip well enough to allow me to hop the rest of the way up. I'm really fond of this tire.
I bought this tire hoping it would be as good as all the hype said it was, and all I can say is I sure wasted my money! I used to run 15-20 PSI on my Tioga DH's without every pinching, and now with these crappy El Gato's I even pinch at 35 PSI...what kinda of sh*tty tires are these anyway? I took a look at them more carefully...they have the same weak, thin, and floppy casing as IRC's XC tires, they're not even close to 2.25" in width, and they still weight 850g! Sorry IRC, but you really blew it this time.
Similar Products Used: Panaracer Fire DH 2.3" Tioga DH 2.3"
Bike Setup: stock trials
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Krado
a Weekend Warrior
from Singapore
Date Reviewed: January 31, 2001
Strengths: Being a trials tyre, it rocks when I'm trying to scramble up a steep rocky slope. Dosen't eat sand or mud, important when going really, really... fffffaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssstttttttttt!!!
I used to have semi-slicks on my bike, but then I decided to go down instead of up and bought this tyre with a Kujo DH in front.
Performance is great, I found myself cornering harder than ever before and the tyre hooks up great!!
I tried bombing Tasek with this tyre, and it rocked! I descended faster and more confident that I wouldn't slip sideways out of the track. That happened once when I was still on semi-slicks.
Weaknesses: Hard to mount it on rim. Pinch-flat resistance. I blew one when I landed sharply on a ledge when doing some basic trial stuff. Other than that, nothing else.
Bottom Line:
A really cool tyre for trials!
Aggressive free-riders take note! This tyre can do more than just Trials! The tyre grabs soil like diamond-studded wheels and your can go faster and lean harder!
Similar Products Used: Tioga Dh tyres Maxxis Calibos/Kraken combo
Bike Setup: Stock DB Vectra Comp se save 4 a few parts
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Craig
a Weekend Warrior
from kelowna, b.c., canada
Date Reviewed: December 27, 2000
Strengths: man these tires are da shaznat!!! man in the summer spring and fall i love them!!!
Weaknesses: suck azz in the snow
Bottom Line:
These tires are wicked in everything but snow... i took my bike out the other day, my friend and i went out to slide around in the snow... he runs irc also(backwoods) man in the snow he was just wastin me!!! my tires plugged with snow like a whOrre workin all night... they blew n#ts soo bad i was gonna take em off and burn them!!! But then you have to remember, yes they are a trials tire, yes they do work AWESOME on dry, anything summer...so i decided to keep em.. and i also read, another review on these tires saying you get better traction if you reverse the direction... i am gonna do that tonite cuz were goin snowin tommorrow!!! happy trails!!!
This tire has been a great confidence builder. I got it for NUTT'N, which is sweet. I use this tyre in the back, and I run it fairly low to take up some of the shock of a hardtail. I do mostly urban riding so the landings ain't exactly soft. But this tire has made it much more bearable. The only problem is there isn't quite enough flat protection, but I got it for free so it still gets 5 peruvian hot peppers for value.
Submitted by
Kevin
a Cross Country Rider
from Bay Area, CA
Date Reviewed: October 18, 2000
Strengths: Good grip Looks cool
Weaknesses: Hardly any pinch-flat protection Not wide and tall enough Heavy for it's lack of PF resistance & relatively small size
Bottom Line:
Rather disappointing. Only flat protection is a very thin small strip of stuff by the bead, that's it. I'd recommend Tioga DH 2.3's...much better flat resistance and more air volume.
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