This dual discipline tire is lightweight and light running to give you a perfect racing tires. The unique qualifier compound has extremely low rolling resistance and the yielding shape offers excellent grip.
Submitted by
lazyboots
a Cross Country Rider
from Riga, Latvia
Date Reviewed: October 29, 2009
Strengths: It's really fast and light tire.
Weaknesses: I'd like to have better traction in corners. And they wear out pretty fast.
Bottom Line:
They are so fast and acceleration is superb .... You'll love them. But since they lose traction almost completely in wet and sandy conditions, I'd call them great for xc racing on dry conditions
Strengths: Low rolling resistance, excellent hardpack performance.
Weaknesses: None for it's intended purpose.
Bottom Line:
Read a bunch of the other reviews and can't belive that people would rate these tires anything other than excellent. These are hardpack racing tires, should not perform well in mud or wet conditions, sidewalls are thin to reduce weight, they are race tires.
Similar Products Used: Schwable Racing Ralphs, Michelin Comp S, XCR2 Dry, Pythons, Kenda Klimax
Bike Setup: Giant Anthem 0,stock except tire for different conditions.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Scooch
a Cross Country Rider
from Ktown, TN, USA
Date Reviewed: January 13, 2008
Strengths: Weight Weight Weight @ 347 grams a piece! Very fast rolling.
Weaknesses: Strictly a dry, hardpack tire. No grip in the corners, not even on pavement when its moist or loose over hardpack.
Bottom Line:
Great if your riding in a straight line. Thought they would be good for road riding as well since they are as close to a slick tire... nope. I wiped out in a turn doing about 15 mph. Front end washed on a wet spot.
On the positive side, I definitely noticed a decrease in rolling resistance and is very comparible to MTB slicks.
Similar Products Used: Pythons, FireXC, Fast Traks
Bike Setup: '02 Stumpy w/ V's, Duke 80mm, XT and XTR
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Adrian
a Cross Country Rider
from Ploiesti,Romania
Date Reviewed: August 24, 2007
Strengths: little rolling resistance,very light weight (350gr),plenty of grip on dry surfaces.
Weaknesses: not too much puncture protection,cannot be used on mud!! on mud it has the same grip as a slick!
Bottom Line:
it's great for xc racing on dry conditions,but not too good for marathons,due to the dimished puncture protection. Overall,it's a perfect tire for the light concious xc racer.
Strengths: Fantastic all round performance, very light, exceptional road holdind - even in icy conditions, very fast rolling
Weaknesses: punctures relatively easily without an anti-puncture bandage.
Bottom Line:
The tire compound is by far the best quality I'v had the pleasure of cycling on. With such fantastic road holding I am amazed at the long length of the tires durability. On some icy road stretches it sounds like you are riding on glass splinters. The design pattern and shape of the noblies litterally bite into the ice. I am extremely impressed. All this and very low rolling resistance.
Similar Products Used: maxxis larsen mimo, nokian hakkapeliita a10, LRH and a few others
Bike Setup: koga-miyata terralineralloy-s
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
kartor med
a Weekend Warrior
from apeldoorn
Date Reviewed: November 13, 2005
Strengths: I have the biggest: 2.35" Its relative light 620gram. And its fast. High Volume: 56mm wide and 53mm high. Comfort. Speed!!!
Weaknesses: Nobbies are small and low. (So less grip one loose surface.) But the low knobs gives you less energy loos because the low knobs don't bend under hard paddeling.
Similar Products Used: IRC backcountry 2.25": light (620gram),wide 52mm, very grippy, low rolling resistance for a full-knobby tire!!!
Scwalbe king jim 2.35'": The ultimate front tire ever!! It's light 620grams, high volume, wide 54mm, good spaced knobby's, carve through sandy corners. Don't use as back tire because the small and high knobby will bend under heavy pedalling and therefore ask more pedalpower.
Hutchinson musquito 2.00": high volume, 50mm wide, extreme light 480gram, Hughe power loose because of the flexibel knobby's, dangerous when cornering at high speed.
Bike Setup: 7000 Alloy fullsuspension, single pivot (a bit oldschool).
2004 Magura albert plus rear airdamper with 100mm rear travel (Fully hydraulic tunable with separate high and lowspeed + rebound adjustment).
Front fork: Marzocchi mx comp 105mm ETA. (Reboud Internal adjustable)
Shimano LX drivetrain (4years old)
Avid mechanical disk brakes (can survive overheating, because there is now (boiling) hydraulic fluid!!!)
Weaknesses: Some people complain about puncture resistance, but I've never flatted on these tires. Not an allround tire.
Bottom Line:
I really like these tires for racing on hardpack terrain. I've never flatted on these tires and have done about a dozen races on them. They are really light and have low rolling resistance. They don't provide any grip, but there are other tires out there that do if the track is muddy.
I did almost regret using them once, the 100km Meirhaeghe Marathon in Vielsam! I was affraid of punctures on the rocky downhill sections but didn't flat despite using only 2 bar front and 2.1 rear. They didn't inspire a lot of confidence grip wise either, but I managed to get 23th place out of 290 people finishing the race, so I guess that they performed well after all.
If you know when to use them, they are an excellent choice. Compared to it's competitors (like the Jet S), it is lighter and still has enough puncture resistance.
Strengths: very light. very low rolling resistance.
Weaknesses: washes out too easily as a front tire. fell apart.
Bottom Line:
the fast fred light is just that.. light. i did not like using this as a front tire. i found myslef going slower because i had no confidence in its ability to bite in corners. as a rear tire, it works much better. it provides enough traction for me and did i mention that it is light? the problem is, it didn't last very long. after about 70 or so miles, one of the knobs broke of revealing the threads.
i might consider using one of these as a back tire in a race-only kind of role, but only if my everyday tire had a similar tread pattern
Submitted by
Paul Witkos
a Racer
from Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland
Date Reviewed: December 2, 2004
Strengths: Simply fastest tire on the market
Weaknesses: Loses traction almost completely in wet and sandy conditions
Bottom Line:
First time I rode'em I thought my computer went crazy. 35 km/h (about 22 mph) is simply easy. The feeling is awesome. Acceleration and speeding are the things they scream to do with'em. Good handling and cornering on hard surfaces and average braking. I thought I found the best babies. Not really. They totally suck in mud and sandy conditions. I would say there isn't even poor handling. For me it doesn't exist. During one race I found myself the only one person walking on quite flat muddy uphills as I was the one whose tires didn't keep the grip. Sad but true. On difficult xc races and demanding downhills disadvantages in handling are bigger than the profits from acceleration. I was told after 300-500 miles they will be worn out. Well, after that distance I can barely see the difference, so I think they will last much longer. Really resistant to punctures with MB Belt (now it's sth new) Who should take a closer look at them? Anyone switching tires due to race or marathon conditions. On hard, dry surfaces they are unbeatable and their puncture resistance makes them probably the toughest super lite tires on the market. Definitely not allround or one-year tire. Highlt specific stuff for specific conditions. Well made, rubber is still in good condition after several years (that's right) of hanging in the garage.
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