Submitted by
mmm3m
a Weekend Warrior
from Miami Date Reviewed: July 7, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Oleta
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$26.00
Purchased At:
Bargain bin during a
Strengths:
Love these tires! They offer great traction and control, and I dig the green rubber. Living in Miami, I ride a lot of technical, rooty terrain and these guys grip in places where I used to slide. Since the tread is not very deep, they're not so good in deep mud, but they do quite well even on loose sand.
Weaknesses:
Sidewalls are not very strong, so they gave way before the rest of the tires (still, I got a year's worth of hard weekend riding, so I got my money's worth). New specs claim sidewalls have been reinforced, so problem may be fixed.
Bottom Line:
Love these tires! I bought them once and I will buy them again. In fact, I have resisted buying other tires until I could find another set of these babies. While I was lucky enough to find them on a bargain bin, they're well worth full price.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Brian Elmer
a Cross Country Rider
from Lexington, KY, USA Date Reviewed: October 30, 2003
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$20.00
Purchased At:
Cambria Bike online
Strengths:
This is a great tire in the handling department. It's SO much better than the Ground Control I had, and allows me to go much faster into the corners. It has good feedback, and lets you know nicely when it's losing traction...instead of laying you down immediately. It's also pretty light, and the Kevlar bead makes it easier to put on my Rhyno Lite rims.
I'm using this tire with an XL S in the back, and it's a great all around combo.
Weaknesses:
The tires are fragile! I was doing some riding around campus one day, and looked down to see the tube poking out a 1/2" long tear in the sidewall. Took it home, stitched it with some dental floss, put a 3"x1.5" piece of milk jug behind it, and it's good to go!
Similar Products Used:
Specialized Ground Control
Bike Setup:
Specialized HardRock Comp w/ Duke XC, front Avid disc, Rhyno Lite/Deore disc wheels.
Bottom Line:
As I said, the tire's a great handler. It's much nicer not having to worry about falling down as much in a corner - the tire is slow to wash out, and you should have plenty of time to slow down or correct your angle. It grips great.
Then there's the durability factor. It's pretty sad how easily it tore. I read the reviews and figured it wouldn't happen to me, but it sure did. Just keep the dental floss and milk jug plastic handy, though, and you should be good to go.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Christian
a Cross Country Rider
from Berkeley Date Reviewed: July 28, 2003
Favorite Trail:
Pauley reek, Downieville CA
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Price Paid:
$13.00
Purchased At:
perforamnce site
Strengths:
price
Weaknesses:
green pinch flats
Similar Products Used:
irc claw comp lite (excellent). hutchinson python gold (sucks)
Bike Setup:
Kona Lavadome steel hardtail
Bottom Line:
weak casing -- many pinch flats. so-so traction. good price
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
WY
a Cross Country Rider
from SG Date Reviewed: May 26, 2003
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$35.00
Strengths:
Strangely for such aggressive Knobblies, the rolling resistance is rather light. It worked well on hard pack and fire trails. Good on technical climbs. Works better then the COMP S.
Weaknesses:
none so far, but a little tentative on hard cornering
Similar Products Used:
COMP S, LITE S
Bike Setup:
Litespeed Tsali, Full XTR, Avid Arch Rivals, Mavic 517s, Thompson Elite seatpost, thompson elite stem, Chris Kings, Easton Monkeylite riser bars, rockshox SID SLs 100mm, Selle Italia Flite Gel black,Shimano 747s,DT swiss comp spokes.
Bottom Line:
This tire is actually better then the Lite S which I was previously using. Above ave all round
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Petrovich
a
from St. Petersburg Date Reviewed: May 15, 2003
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
Good rolling
Weaknesses:
Got torn in five places on the sidewall after 600 km of hikes
Bike Setup:
custom Kona, DeoreLx
Bottom Line:
Never, ever I will even take a look at Michelin tires any more. Though I must say WildGripper FrontS is 5.28 times better than WildGripper XL that got torn in 22 places after 500km.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Neo
a Weekend Warrior
from Sydney, Australia Date Reviewed: April 25, 2003
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$25.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Rolls nice Decent braking
Weaknesses:
poor cornering traction
Similar Products Used:
WTB motoraptor, Tioga
Bike Setup:
GT avalanche, x-vert air and so on...
Bottom Line:
I have tired heaps of tires before and have not had 2 many tyres that i have hated, but unfortunately I hate this one. This tire is bad on hard surfaces, worse in sand and mud absolutley shocking when its rocky. However they are good in soft soil and slightly muddy conditions, but not good enough to make up for its bad qualities. On top of this, they lose traction without any warning giving me no confidence in them. You may think I am being unfair seeing this is a tire for soft - med conditions, but I have had plenty of tires that have preformed better all round over this 1.
Dont waste our money on these. Get Tioga's or WTB's as every tire i have bought of theirs has worked a treat.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
mtn.russ
a Cross Country Rider
from mt. hood or. Date Reviewed: April 20, 2003
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Strengths:
o.k. tire, worked well in mt. hood conditions
Weaknesses:
two back tires failed on me, blown side wall and streched bead
Bike Setup:
tracer
Bottom Line:
because of two failed back tires I will never use agian
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
God White Horse
a Cross Country Rider
from HK Date Reviewed: February 10, 2003
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$30.00
Purchased At:
locate bike store
Strengths:
It loves to roll, eat up bumps, won't let u down in cornering, durable, eye catching green colour-It is a Michelin! WHAT ELSE DO U WANT FOR A FRONT TIRE??
Weaknesses:
Too good! give me confidence to ride faster as usual in the trail, and I finally fell(coz i was decending too fast!)
Giant XTC Team-nrs, Black elite 120, CrossLink, XTR/XT components. Michelin XLS on the back.
Bottom Line:
GOOD GOOD GOOD!
It never been such a fast fast fast feeling on the street on the other 2.1 XC tires whilst it do what it should do on the trail.
Just spend $60 to give a try on the FrontS & XLS. You'll be happy with that.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
david
a Cross Country Rider
from corvallis, oregon, usa Date Reviewed: April 27, 2002
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$20.00
Purchased At:
performancebike.com
Strengths:
great braking, great cornvering, good mud shedding, outstanding rolling resistance
Weaknesses:
best not used it real sloppy mud, roots, or rocks.
Bike Setup:
cannondale caad 3 hardtail, magura rim brakes
Bottom Line:
outstanding tire. works great in almost all conditions. I am hooked on the michelins. I'm looking for something similar for my caad 5 hardtail
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Daniel
a Cross Country Rider
from St. Gallen, Switzerland Date Reviewed: November 7, 2001
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$30.00
Purchased At:
Mail order ( Bike Palast )
Strengths:
rolling resistance, lightweight, good grip, good allround tire
Weaknesses:
cornering on loose gravel and rocks, self-clearing ability (sporadically mud keeps sticking to the tire) and don't mess with the air pressure...meaning don't overdo it (or=flat)!
Similar Products Used:
Ritchey Z-Max, Specialized Dirt Master,
Bike Setup:
Wheeler 9999 ZX
Bottom Line:
Its overall performance makes it a reliable companion on practically every surface. If you're going for a light-weight tire with minimum rolling resistance, than this is your choice.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Bob
a Cross Country Rider
from Haverford, Pa. Date Reviewed: July 21, 2001
Favorite Trail:
Wissahickon
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$12.00
Purchased At:
Performance
Strengths:
Big lugs, good sidewalls, carves well in most conditions, easily predictable in tight places
Weaknesses:
none so far
Similar Products Used:
you name em'
Bike Setup:
Schwinn Moab2 Michy's front and rear XT/LX setup, Judy SL shock, Race Face post ICBM headset
Bottom Line:
This is a great tire, works well in hardpack and mud, I did'nt find difficulty in running it at different pressures. My setup is in black, I dont know how the greenie works.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
MJ
a Cross Country Rider
from Brno, Czech Republic Date Reviewed: June 28, 2001
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$15.00
Purchased At:
Brno, CZ, my LBS
Strengths:
2.1 inch black non-kevlar version, good in mostly all conditions, very good steering, no snake-bite yet
Weaknesses:
probably nuffin, sometimes dense mud remains there bit longer, but it doesn't deteriorate the function
Similar Products Used:
irc mythos, some wtb
Bike Setup:
XC bike with Marz Z4 fork
Bottom Line:
it's little bit taller than other tires and must be well pressured, but done so serves very well
practically not worn after 2500 km
for that price is a real must-have
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
What's New
»
BEST OF MTBR - Check out the highest rated bikes, parts, & gear!
»
LED BIKE LIGHT SHOOTOUT 3 - We test all the newest products and latest light and battery technology in this comprehensive guide»
$ 39.99
Overall Rating:
