Description:Professional DH tyres for the roughest courses on earth. Pinchflat protected DH casing with extra stiff sidewalls makes possible to use much lower pressures to get more grip. Precise cornering due to famous, aggressive Nokian DH tread with solid and raised shoulder knobs.
I've used the Gazza's mainly as a front tire, and bought them for riding in Korea's hiking trails and singletrack. The Gazza 2.3 Soft's offer incredible grip in a variety of conditions, including loose rock/shale, mud, loam, deep leaf litter, even snow (fresh powder, not hardpack or ice). The grip is confidence inspiring allowing you to brake later and corner at higher speeds that other tires I've tried. I tried to get along with the Minion front/HighRoller rear combo to save some weight, but never felt comfortable with them when descending. They seemed to wash out much more readily than my Gazza/Octopus setup. They (the Maxxis tires) were considerably lighter weight though...
Which leads me to the two weaknesses of the Gazzas. If you're looking for a light, fast rolling tire, these aren't it. Also, the widely spaced lugs make for poor grip on hard surfaces.
While the Gazzas were noticably heavier and slower than the Minions I tried to replace them with, I eventually went back to the Gazzas because grip and pinch flat resistance are more important to me than weight. That said, I'm about to try out a pair of Intense World Cup DH tires (2.5) which are considerably heavier...
Overall, the Gazza 2.3 Soft's were great tires, particularly for loose, sketchy conditions. If you're looking for a grippy tire with decently stiff sidewalls, look no further than these tires. If you're concerned about weight, rolling resistance, or are riding on hardpack I don't think these are for you.
$ 59.00
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