|
|
|
| |
Submitted by
Tim Blabbing
a Weekend Warrior
from Ottawa, ON Canada
Date Reviewed: October 11, 2009 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Jenson USA | | Strengths: | Light, fast rolling. | | Weaknesses: | Not very uniform construction, tire tread "wiggles" and "bumps" when I spin my wheel. | | Similar Products Used: | Continental Vertical Pro (kevlar bead) 2.5: 788 grams, excellent tire for volume, rolls good.
IRC Trailbear (kevlar bead) 2.5: 970 grams, 190 grams heavier than IRC claims, does not roll good.
Ritchey Z-Max 2.35: Best cornering front tire I've ever owned. 788 grams for wire bead.
Kenda Kinetics (steel bead) 2.35: around 1,200 grams. Very cheap, confused tire (downhill weight and sidewall stiffness with XC width) that rolls horribly.
IRC Backcountry 2.25: Worst front tire I've ever owned. Rolls poorly. Width is not impressive.
Maxxis Harddrive (kevlar bead) 2.1: Very impressive tire. Fastest tire I've ever owned. 522 grams. O.K. volume. Not a wet conditions tire.
WTB Motoraptor (kevlar bead) 2.4: Around 850 grams. Much faster and lighter than the IRC Trailbear, but not a fast tire. More burly than the Continental Diesel Pro 2.5, but slower.
| | Bike Setup: | Giant STP with Sun MTX (34mm wide) rims. | | Bottom Line: | I got these from Jenson. A pair + shipping and $5 tax was $60 to my door. Incredible service, by the way. I ordered these Thursday at 12:30 in the morning and got them Friday by noon. Unbelievable. And, there are NO additional fees. The FedEx shipping price on Jenson's website is the total cost to the door. This experience has opened a new dimension in terms of getting parts from the States.
Here are the specs:
Weight: Claimed (by Vredstein) 660, actual 680 grams and 688 grams. That's a 4% deviance. Not bad.
Width: (at 40 psi; take into account my rim width) 2.390" I am not disagreeing with the guy, below, but my measurements make me think Vredstein is pretty accurate with their specs. I can see how if someone had a narrower rim the tire could actually come up wider than what I got, because the side knobs would stick out more. Another consideration: my rims are incredibly true, and the way these tires wobble (I guesstimate 1/8 to 3/16" deviance both in wobble and hop) on my rims does not make me doubt there could be serious manufacturing discrepancies.
These tires are comfortably fat and light. I definitely prefer them to the Continental Vertical and Diesel Pros (both 2.5", kevlar bead) I've run, before. They are faster and lighter. However, they are slower than Kenda's K-Rad (demoed only) and Kiniption 2.3's I had. These tires corner well. They break traction predictably in corners. For the type of urban/hardpack-trail riding I do, these tires work well.
Unfortunately, I cannot comment outside my experience:
- Don't know how durable they are.
- Don't know how they do in wet conditions.
- Don't know how they do in loam or roots and rocks.
A bottom line note about how I think tires should be reviewed:
- One area of judging should be given to how accurately the tires conform to manufacturer specs.
- Another area is manufacturing uniformity.
- Then, performance easily categorized in 3 areas:
1. Do they have any negative quirks?
2. In what respects do they excel?
3. Are they a durable product?
- Price is not much of a factor, because unless a tire (excluding downhill tires) is super, super fabulous I would never consider spending above $40, and below that cost shipping becomes such a significant percentage that the gap between actual tire prices is diminished.
So, bottom, bottom line:
If these tires didn't wobble on my rims I'd give them a 5, meaning that I'm very happy with them, NOT that they are better than any tire rated lower. I'm happy with the weight and volume. The speed might be a tad better with more uniformity in the tread, though.
| Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ecogeek
a Cross Country Rider
from Calgary
Date Reviewed: September 9, 2009 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$18.00 | | Purchased At: | Jenson | | Strengths: | Fast rolling. High volume (too high imo - read on). Light. Good traction *in corners*. Nice straight bead.
| | Weaknesses: | Bigger than the 2.5" Blue Groove it replaced. Not enough clearance. Linked centre tread makes it realtively easy to lock up. | | Similar Products Used: | IRC Mythos XCII. Kenda Blue Goove 2.5" stick-e. Kenda NBT 2.1. Vredestein S-Licks 1.5. | | Bike Setup: | Customised Kona hardtail. | | Bottom Line: | FYI, at ~40psi the 2.35 Black Panther is 64.58mm (2.54") wide (widest point inc nobs) and 61.67mm (2.43") deep from edge of rim to point level w centre tread of tire. Measured w digital caliper. CLEARLY too darned big to be called 2.35"! It's a 2.5!
This tire seems good for someone that wants a v fast, light high vol tire for dry conditions. V fast and smooth rolling thanks to linked centre tread. It's like a slick for speed (if you discount the pressure difference). Good traction in corners too thanks to sticky, sharp outer nobs.
Trouble is, it is HUGE. Was running a 2.5" Kenda Blue Groove. That was getting worn. I wanted more clearance, less weight and more efficiency this time, so got the 2.35 Black Panther. There's even less clearance! Doh! So, I have to take it off.
IMO, the Black Panther is better on the front. If you do much steep climbing and/or ride on trails with occasional mud-holes, you may find it lacking on the rear. For moderate climbing in the dry, I was impressed with the performance even on the rear. Did surprisingly well on a heavily rooted and damp section too. The Blue Groove made a noise like a diesel engine and caused the entire bike to vibrate showing the huge amount of my energy it was wasting. The Panther is silent and smooth. Sadly, because its enormous volume has wasted my money and time, I have to knock off a couple of flaming turds, even though the product would deserve better if the size wasn't bigger than stated. If you buy this for the front and have the clearance for it. Or if you get the 1.9 version (which is probably a 2.1), you'll probably give it 5/5. Manufacturers should have to measure their product's max width and depth including nobs at 40psi and publish the info so you know the ACTUAL size of any tire relative to all others...
From now on, I'll post actual dimensions of tires at 40psi on reviews. Please do the same and we'll all be better off.
| Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
kleiner1951
a Cross Country Rider
from Milano, Italy
Date Reviewed: June 29, 2009 | | Favorite Trail: | Parco Ticino | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Very fast on the road and grip well offroad on the trails. | | Weaknesses: | Availability generally | | Similar Products Used: | Continental Mountain King | | Bike Setup: | Klein Attitude with Ringle hubs and mavic rims | | Bottom Line: | Tyres become important as the miles increase. My local LBS recommended trying these having had huge puncture problems with the Mountain Kings.
Very fast, faster than you think, lightweight and especially good on the gravel corners. They were a surprise. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
| |
|
Photo Caption Contest
(sponsored by Maxxis)
|
Enter here
|
|
|
$
