Well despite spring doing it’s best to run off and hide, I’m ahead of myself with my favourite rubber really. I stuck Kenda Small Block Eight’s on my IF towards the end of last summer, and really enjoyed them in the dusty conditions that I rode them in. I guess I must have broken them out a month ago for this offroad riding season, and can safely say they’re as good as I remembered them being. They’re just about perfect for me being about the right volume for the size 2.1″s front and rear, with a nice rounded profile that just seems to keep leaning and gripping and leaning and gripping really quite unbelievable. What’s even better is that with all that grip they’re not too draggy certainly I don’t resent dragging them across Town to stations to get trains out to ride. They’re not heavy either yet seem to deal well with relatively low pressures and big rocks quite admirably, two front wheel punctures in the Peak District whilst running a rigid fork is testament to that.
Overall just really nice tyres that adapt to way more conditions than they should do, I’m quite excited about the Slant Six tyres due to be released by Kenda soon.
Written by Raoul