Earlier this year I received a set of Michelin Wild Race’R tyres to fit up and review. And although I have used a wide variety of fast rolling treads over the past 15 years, the past 18 months have seen me settle on one tread pattern and tyre volume as my ‘go to’ tyre. So while I am always happy to try something else, any other tyre is always going to need to come up well against the tyres I usually run – the Maxxis IKON Exo, 29 x 2.2″.
My initial impressions of the Michelin tyres were heavily based on the setup. They were pretty tough to get on the Stans Crest rims – although it is worth remembering that the Crests are designed to hold non-tubeless tyres securely to be run tubeless. And after months of use, I experienced no burping. And although the first time I used them was during a mountain bike race around Mt Stromlo in the ACT, my fears of flatting and having to wrestle with the tyres was unfounded. In fact, I used the tyres in four different races. They were used in clay, on rock, in sand, loamy dirt, gravel, and of course on the road too.
What has stood out is how well the tyres hold air for a non-tubeless ready tyre. Unlike some super thin tyres, the sealant wasn’t bubbling out the sidewalls. But unlike tyres with super thin sidewalls, they weren’t light either, at about 720grams.
725grams in the wrapper.
For a 2.1″ tyre, the had a similar volume to the Maxxis 2.2″ tyres that I typically run. This didn’t cause any troubles with clearance – but it was greatly appreciated in sand, and on rocky terrain. I used these tyres at the Kona Odyssey, and run at suitably low pressures (24psi front, 26psi in the back) they floated quite well. This is about 2.5 psi higher than I run in the Maxxis IKON Exo tyres. The Michelin tyres don’t have the same feeling at lower pressures given they don’t have such a reinforced sidewall. In fact, running much lower they felt very ‘squirmy’. They still didn’t burp, but they did not feel consistent when cornering as the tyre seemed to ‘roll’ around on the rim. Clearly this was the bag, and not the bead coming away. but it was disconcerting if I ran them any lower.
While the volume of the tyre and a corresponding low pressure was great in sand, I did see wet conditions when testing as well. Most of the mud that I encountered was clay based. When it wasn’t too thick the fairly open centre tread did clear it well. But clay based mud often is thick unless there is still a lot of water around, and the Michelin’s quickly packed up, mostly on the shoulders. But in dry conditions they were a predictable tyre. Their round profile and prominent edge knobs grip well, although they didn’t roll exceptionally fast on hard surfaces. On rough surfaces though, they were strong. I didn’t mange to flat them in three months of use, even in rocky terrain. They weren’t amazing in gravel. I’m not amazing either on high speed gravel descents, but they did skate around more than I expected. This lessened with lower tyre pressures, but they weren’t as confidence inspiring as other tyres I have used. Wear on the tread was as expected. The rear was showing signs of use, and was close to needing replacing after three months of fairly frequent use. That’s not too bad really.
I was really happy riding these tyres, and it was only towards the end of the test period that I figured I should drop the pressure out and see how they were to remove and refit. There was no drama at all, and they fitted up just like any other tyre. Tight enough to reach for a tyre lever for the last part, but otherwise highly manageable. I can only assume they stretched in a little over time. With a good volume, an open tread pattern and a reliable sidewall, I can recommend them for anywhere but areas that experience a lot of heavy mud, or somewhere with lots of gravel, or similar trail surface. They aren’t light, but they are good value, costing almost half of what a lightweight race 29er tyre does. If you’re after a new tread pattern, and enjoy a reasonable tyre volume and tread depth for distance riding – this could be a great choice. I would be interested in using the higher model with the lighter casing – but unfortunately this one isn’t available in Australia currently.