Well it's been fun skating around on "the death wings". However that being said, 2000 miles on, I'm a little tired of having to dig myself out of muddy holes and predicaments.
Despite this being summer, i managed to get myself stuck for a good 30 minutes at the weekend . Another broken indicator and plate off yet again in the wrestle, it's time for tyres with some bite.
It seems to be a unanimous vote for the Mitas C02 on the rear. Quite clearly a great tyre off road, but i'd love to hear from any of you with experience in how it handles the road in the wet and also the dry. I do use the twisty back country lanes to tie together byways and hit the highway on longer journeys, or when needing to get somewhere in a hurry
As far as the front end goes, I've been considering the Mitas C19 and the XT-914. Is there much between these two tyres? Similarly as with the rear, they look superb for all off road needs. Any thoughts or feelings though on how they perform on the road, wet and dry, would be extremely appreciated.
Much thanks to one and all in advance,
I hope you're out enjoying the tracks and trails as much as i have been lately.
Hey grassroots - I'm interested to see the feedback. Mine Had twinduro's fitted - great for the road but like your trailwings ended up with me planted in the woods cussing! My mate fitted a set of AC10's for my enduro day - great improvement off-road but the road handling and general feel in the dry has been awful! I don't want to try it in the wet!
-- Edited by Jonb2902 on Monday 3rd of August 2015 08:52:26 PM
After rushing into things earlier in the week, managing to pinch and burst two tubes, i took a deep breath Friday night and within half an hour achieved this...
Rim locks installed and wheels balanced with spoke weights i was ready to roll come Saturday morning .
Both tyres are extremely aggressive, which is just what i wanted. My initial feelings though were that the rubber itself was very soft and that this could lead to a few issues for me..... I maybe had a point .
As soon as i shot out, the front and rear were incredibly squirly. This could be maybe a little much on the road. Oh well i thought, push on for the day and at worst try something else next week, it's only a tyre after all. I'm really pleased to say that after about a 7 hour day, i kinda grew to love them . The feeling on the road was to begin with reminiscent of the deathwings during winter off road, so to the trails and the mud it was.
Truely awesome off road. I went back to areas where previous weeks i had been stuck and had to drag the damn bike out sideways. Now i absolutely flew through. The rear hooks up like a machine and the front end has a much more happy confidence, feeling all round much more well planted...this then led to it's own issues .
As i linked back together trails with lanes i found myself aggressively pushing harder and harder on the road again too. Growing to love that squirly feeling on the tarmac, i found she would actually corner not to bad at all and was actually okay under fairly heavy braking as well. There's just a little less room for error was all and the flex in the knobblies had to be remembered.
After the day was done, some what 100 miles maybe, i was shocked at how much rubber i had laid down...a good few mm off the rear.....
As i have said, i really am riding hard lately but damn....really! Looking at the photo of the new C02 spooned on the night prior, i'm really not sure as to how long this tyre is going to last me, however much i loved it. Can't but help think my initial thoughts of it being a bit too soft were maybe true. Time will tell...watch this space.
As for the XT-914. Great off road, i really can't fault it. On the road, give me a bit more time. It seemed to be settling down somewhat and doesn't suffer the wear issues i'm finding with the rear. So there's hope yet. I can't see me pushing the top end of 80mph + any more though . No cross winds yesterday and holding 70mph was no problem.
I'll add any further thoughts and findings in a month or so.
Did 60 miles on it at the weekend it rubbed a little bit off the tread but could still see the moulding pips and lines. Great mud tyre and found it grippy and that was at 26psi.
. Another broken indicator and plate off yet again in the wrestle, it's time for tyres with some bite.
