Thursday, December 14, 2006

Michelin AT 29"er Tire




Michelin showed this 29"er tire at Interbike and it slipped under the radar, probably due to the fact that there was just soooo much new 29"er product. Well, that and the fact that unless your entry into 29 inch tires was heee-yooooge, you were not noticed.

Too bad, because this tire deserves alot of attention







Here you can see the widely spaced, squarish tread blocks. This makes the tire clear out mud probably better than any tire I have yet used. The next closest tire was ironically a Michelin in the old green Silicium compound.

The tread measures just a hair under two inches wide with the casing measuring just a hair over two inches wide. The "crown " of the casing is rounded, not flattish. The tire features side knobs, but not really aggresive ones and they certainly do not look to be at an angle for severe lean over traction. I suspect these will break away suddenly at a certain lean angle, but we shall see. The climbing traction is awesome, and they seem to grip onto trail and trail obstacles quite well.

The weight of mine was right at 660 grams, which for a true 2" wide tire isn't bad at all. They rolled exceptionally well on hard pack and pavement, which came as a surprise to me. I will be testing these in a variety of conditions over the next few months and I will report back with some findings soon.

Note: Today and tomorrow are the final days of registration for Trans Iowa. Have you gotten that card in yet? Stay tuned for a special announcement Friday evening concerning the lottery.

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