Tyre Testing

I did some tyre testing this week - not very scientific, but still useful. (First I should say that my views written here are my views alone and not the view of Baum Cycles). I have been running a Maxxis Crossmark 26x2.1 eXception on the front and a Kenda Karma DTC 26x2.0 on the rear. I use the Stan's notubes system with a rim strip on Spinergy Xyclone wheels (and love it!). I run 24psi in the front and 28psi in the rear.

For my testing I ride a circuit at the You Yangs split into six sections:
Section 1: Slightly down and up hill, some straight and some corners
Section 2: Up hill through corners
Sectoin 3: Down hill with corners
Section 4: Long steep, up hill
Section 5: Steep down hill and technical
Section 6: Back to the start

The Crossmark (525g measured) has been a solid performer. In corners it likes to be tipped over a long way to catch the side knobs and it is predictable when is starts to slide.

The Karma is light (450g claimed) and it tends to let go pretty suddenly. It is fine on the back but I don't like it on the front.

Keep in mind that both these tyres are a bit worn out.

Today I put on a pair of Stan's The Crow 26x2.0. These weigh in at 430g each (claimed). They have very little tread. They have very tight beads and I needed tyre levers to get them on. This should help them stay on the rim well and not burp. I found The Crow tyres were more likely to slide in corners than the Crossmarks, but they are very predictable at the limit, so you can rip into it with some confidence. They feel a like a big balloon type tyre to ride on. Squishy, soft and with grippy rubber. I found the lighter Crows felt more responsive, faster up hill and better in some technical sections where I had to pick up the front wheel.


When I compared the times for each section of the track, I was a little faster on the up hill sections with The Crow (12 seconds faster over 10 minutes) and about the same time on the flat and down hill sections. I kept my exertion level as constant as possible by monitoring my heart rate and on reviewing my heart rate after the ride found that the average for each section was within 1 beat per minute for both tyre sets.

The next tyre to test is the Schwalbe Racing Ralph, so stay tuned