[The Mongol Lord]

I bought a set of Kenda Nevegal UST's a few weeks back and posted a thread asking about a wobble that I was experiencing in the tires. Feedback was generally about how to mount them properly. I've mounted them over and over using tips from that I had recieved and even had a bike mechanic do it. They still wobble, one much more noticably than the other. I think it affects performance because, at higher speeds, it feels like the rear is unstable. My friends who have seen the tires when mounted have asked(unsolicited) if my wheels are true. Upon inspection though, they can see that the problem is not the wheel. They also see that the bead appears to be even all the way around. Some have said it is a manufacturing defect in the tires.
This is the 3rd set of UST's I've had but the 1rst set of Nevegal's. The other 2 sets that I mounted had zero wobble. I now have Specialized Fasttracks mounted on my Crossmax SL's and they are perfect.
I've contacted the online store where I bought the Nevegals and spoke with a rep. He disuaded me from returning them. He said the wobble was really a "hover" and its not unusual for tires to do this.
Is this true? I haven't seen this in my other 2 UST sets or in any of the non-UST tires I've used in my 10+ yrs of mtnbiking. Is this a general trait in Kenda Nevegals??? What do you think?

 

[ANdRewLIu6294]

thats bull. if all your other sets of tires dont wobble, then this is clearly a manufacturing defect

 

[dulyebr]

like everything, tires are not always perfect. I've had two tires that caused the wheel to wobble. I just returned them. Easy as that.

 

[LyNx]

I think I have your Nevegal's twin over here Seriously my rear 1.95 DTC feels very unstable on the rear and always has a slight wobble when you spin the wheel. I don't worry too much about ti since although it feel "rolly" it's never broken away with me and damn they bjust grip like madd.

 

[Ratt]

like everything, tires are not always perfect. I've had two tires that caused the wheel to wobble. I just returned them. Easy as that.

I vote return 'em

 

[shiggy]

Not normal. Return them.

"Hover?" The guy is BSing you.

 

[k1dude]

I know of some that are "hovering" also. I recently put 6 Hutchinson Barracuda's on 6 I9 wheels. The tires were from 2 different manufacturing batches. The 2 tires that were from the first batch BARELY fit onto the DT Swiss 5.1 rims. I broke 2 tire levers getting them on. The fit was unbelievably tight. When I spun the wheels they were both wobbling badly. I quickly checked if the I9 wheels were out of true from the factory. They were perfectly true. The wobble or "hover" was simply because of the ridiculously tight fit of the tires. I suspect the worst of the wobble was right at the final spot where we had to lever the bead over the rim. Even after riding them around the block and trying to ride them into not wobbling, they still wobbled.

The 4 tires that came from the later manufacturing batch were fine. They mounted onto the I9 wheels with no problems. There was no wobble/hover of any kind.

However, I recently had to do a UST conversion on one of the I9 wheelsets that had no problems with the latter batch of Barracuda's. The DT Swiss rim strip increases the diameter of the rim by about a quarter inch. With the reduced clearance, the same Barracuda's BARELY fit on the rims. I broke 6 tire levers (3 cheapo's and 3 Park's) mounting those two tires. It took two of us about an hour to mount them. We were cussing and sweating. It wasn't pretty. I spun them and both "hovered" badly. I double checked the true and that wasn't the problem. I rode them around to try and seat the tires to eliminate the wobble with no luck. They are just too tight on the rims just like the first batch of Barracuda's.

In my recent experience, if the tire/rim fit is normal, the tires won't wobble/hover. When the tire/rim fit is WAY too tight, they will wobble. Perhaps after riding some real technical terrain, they might get hammered into proper position to eliminate the wobble.

I am dreading this coming week. The first batch of Barracuda's that barely fit on the I9 wheels are coming back for a UST conversion. If I barely got them on originally with tubes, I can't imagine how ugly it's going to get with a quarter inch less clearance.

 

[The Mongol Lord]

Man, K1Dude, tht sounds like a rough job. Can't blame you for dreading what's about to come back to you. May the force be with you.

My Nevegals went on without much fanfare I'm happy to say.

 

[The Mongol Lord]

Kenda stands behind there tire

After the on-line store rep didn't give me the impression he was backing the tires, I emailed Kenda and explained the problem. I got a call today from Kenda. The guy spoke to me about the problem, asked some trouble-shooting questions(is my rim true?, is it a UST rim?, etc.). Said what I was experiencing was not representative of their tires. Said he would send me 2 replacement tires. I'll post when I get 'em and try them out. This is what I'm looking for in a company that I do business with.

 

[theProfessor]

I have come to the conclusion...

Been using Kendas for about a year.. have 2.35UST, 2.5 Negeval and BlueGroove.. all my Kenda tires "tread" wanders around on the casing..
A few weeks back, I got 4-tires, 2-BG and 2-Negevals from Kenda.. ALL 4.. were junk.. I mounted them up and the tread moved about 5mm back an forth on the casing..
Tried leaving the tires sit with 70psi in a warm room for 2-days, tried riding them with 10psi.. nothing fixed it..
KENDA took ALL the tires back (nice people in Customer Service)
Kendas are trash and they know it.. (no argument, just took them back)

On advice from fellow riders and racers I use Michelins exclusively now..
2.5 Mountain Xtreem's (red not too bad after they get dirty) when its dry
2.8 DH tires for the ski-runs..
ALL UST on M823 rims
all four tires run PERFECTLY true..