I know that there are tire comparisons are all over this board, and I have read many of them, but I am not able to get at exactly the answer I need, so I will come at it from a different angle. I am going to put my wishlist and then tires that I think that might come close to meeting it. Anyone with any experience with any of these tires, please correct any of the statements that I make. Keep in mind that I don't have experience with any of these tires, except the stock Dunlop 603 of course. My comments are based on what I think I have gleaned from the posts on this board and information from online stores. Anyway, here goes.

WISHLIST
1. Wide as possible
2. Mostly street usage (90/10 in reality, but 90/10 tires usually look more like 100/0 tires, so no thanks)
3. Long lasting
4. Good traction on pavement even in rain (this is more important than long lasting)

TIRE OPTIONS

Kenda 270
* Relatively hard
* Fairly long lasting but at cost of road traction, especially in rain
* Designed for 50/50 usage, but really better offroad than on
* Largest = 5.10-18 (5.10" wide, height unknown - would heigh be figured as 5.10*2+18=28.2" - I don't think so?!)

Kenda 760 (Track Master II)
* Definitely biased to offroad (80/20 or 90/10)
* Harder rubber should last a while
* Largest = 120/100-18 (4.7" wide, 27.4" tall)

Dunlop D603 (stock)
* Too expensive - not an option

Dunlop D606
* 50/50 tire with bias to offroad (I think, hard to tell from data available)
* Largest = 130/90-18 (5.10" wide, 27.2" tall)

Cheng Shin C858
* Softer version of Kenda 270
* Less durable than K270 with better road traction
* Designed for 50/50 usage, but one of the better road tire options
* Largest = 130/80-18 (5.10" wide, 26.2" tall)

IRC GP-1
* Sounds like a good balance between on & off-road
* Largest = 5.10-18 (5.10" wide, height unknown)

This list brings up another point. I know from another post how to translate the xx/yy-zz format into the tire dimensions. But when the size is given in something like 5.10-18, how do you know how to figure the tire height? Are you supposed to assume that the sidewall is 100% of the width, so that a 5.10-18 would have similar dimension to a 130/100-18?

Right now I guess I am leaning to the Cheng Shin. It sounds like folks have good things to say about this tire. Most folks commenting on it talk about it's sand performance. Unfortunately, I will probably never ride on much sand, so I really want to know about street, dirt and mud performance.

Thanks to all for any input.

Chris

 

The C858 will flip you over in dirt if you are not careful. I love it on the street. In mud, it's as good as I am I guess (mud and I just don't get along very well.)

Tire new...


Tire with over 1200 hard miles in 2 months (It is only 5 1/2 miles from home to work)...


I run the tire pressure at 12-15 psi most of the time. I air the tire up to 20+ psi if I am going to be on the highway for a while. If the tire was run at the higher pressure all the time, it would probably last much longer. Let me stress this, I am very hard on tires. I treat them like I plan on replacing them every month. That way, when they last longer than that, I am pleasantly surprised.

 

i think thats the next tire im gonna try... i have the kenda 270 on now.. with like 2500 miles on it...

 

One thing about the C858 - the lugs don't look that tall... Dazjr's picture above looks like a half-worn tire to me, but he said it's new.

 

but he did say it works good in the mud..... sounds good to me... id like something with a little more traction than my kenda 270

 

dazjr,

Thanks for this input. You may have just swing the pendulum (sp?) the rest of the way for the Cheng Shin.

BTW, what size are you running. I am hoping to find somebody that is running the C858 in the 130/80-18 size. I thing that Brian (Nobrakes) has proven that TMII in the 5.10" doesn't rub, but I would hate for a goofy tread pattern to make this tire not work.

I am really interested in getting as much traction as possible, even if I sacrifice some power. I ride a lot on the street, so I want my contact patch to be as large as possible so that I don't have to worry about washing out in a turn. It was nervousness about that that made me sell my cruiser about 15 years ago. I am way more confident now (read - I drive a lot slower), but I still want the security of a lot of rubber on the road.

The other big consideration is spreading the weight over a larger area in the mud. I took my D603s in some deeeeeep peanut butter this weekend and I couldn't do anything with it. I ended up having to get off the bike and drive/walk it out to firmer ground. I was not happy at all about that. I want as wide a tire as possible to support my fat booty in a little bit of mud.

Thanks for the input,
Chris

 

I am running the 4.60 x 18 size. Next time I am going to get the 5.10 x 18 size. The lugs, when new, are 1/2" deep. I have found this tire to be quite a bit different than the Trakmaster II besides the obvious. When I needed more traction with the Trakmaster, I let the air pressure down - the lower the better. With the C858, I don't air down the tire as much and sometimes I end up airing it up a few psi to get the traction I need. I put a rim lock on for the Trakmaster, but I don't really need it for the C858. The lowest psi I run now is 13, most of the time I run 15 psi. I would run as low as 8 psi with the Trakmaster.

I don't claim the C858 is a mud tire, but it is way ahead of the D603 as far as off-road traction goes. A good knobby front tire will help in the mud, too. The stock tires just don't have a lot of traction off-road. They work good for what they are and I really liked them on-road. I guess everything is a compromise with this bike.

 

Pressure wise I'm running my C858 at 19 as I commute 30 miles roundtrip daily and generally every day I'll grab about 3-4 miles of trail (see my DS ride report for trail info). Dazjr, you said that this tire will flip you over offroad if not careful, did you mean that it would kick out or in a sense that you would wheelie over? If you look at Daz's two pics that is exactly what I was hoping to see, 1200 miles and barely any wear. In the mud I've been riding this past week I've found this tire to be far superior to the 603 even being at 19 psi. I'm thinking about getting this as a front tire when the 603 wears out.

 

I am currently running a Kenda 270 5.10x18 I wore out my Kenda 760 trakmaster II,s For my riding the 270 is better on the road the 760 was to squirrly in the turns. I have not had either out in the rain yet, but the 760 did not hold up and was noisy, I have about 500 miles on the 270,s no mud yet , I like them so far.

 

It looks like the C858 is available in a 2.75-21 and a 3.0-21 for the front. Anyone have any comments about the merits or lack thereof for a wider front tire?

My plan right now unless I hear differently from you folks is to go for the C858 in a 130/80-18 and a 3.0-21.

Thanks for any input.

Chris