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FB17: Michelin teases new mountain bike tire range

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Last year around this time, Michelin impressed us with the new Power road tire family. Diving deep into new rubber compount technology, casing improvements and more, the tires seem to live up to Michelin’s claims. On top of that, the company announced that they were tapping Cam Zink for mountain bike tire development shortly after the road launch, while we were at Sea Otter.

Now it seems that the time has come for a new crop of mountain bike tires from Michelin. We’ll have to wait until next month for the full reveal, but Michelin did have four of the new treads up at Frostbike. They wouldn’t tell us any specifics, but there’s certainly a lot that can be learned just by looking…

One of the biggest developments (no pun intended) seems to be the Wild AM tire which will be offered in a 27.5 x 2.6″ size. Our first ride on a 2.6″ tire was on the Specialized Enduro at Whislter, which left us happy with the extra traction, but also happy with a tire that wasn’t as squirmy as full on plus size on the jumps and berms. If Frostbike is any indication, 27.5 x 2.6″ tires are coming in a big way and Michelin is joining Schwalbe who introduced their 2.6s at Eurobike. Micheline also had a 2.35 casing Wild AM on display which confirms that there will be multiple tires sizes available.

 

Both Wilds have chunky squared tread blocks with siping for increased grip.

The Force AM looks to be another all mountain tire but has a more angular tread pattern without as many sipes cut into the tread. This was also shown on a 2.35″ casing and had similar hot patches which call out Gum-X3D rubber technology and tubeless ready casings.

Finally, for a decidedly more XC approach, the Jet gets an XCR makeover – XCR meaning Cross Country Race.

We’ll be out in California next month getting the rundown on the newest rubber from Michelin, so look for more around then!

michelin.com

 

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bearcol
bearcol
7 years ago

26×2.6 in the wild rocker’2 please.

GN
GN
7 years ago
Reply to  bearcol

+1 My favorite enduro tire made

J D
J D
7 years ago

What I would do for a set of their green colored mud series CX tires!!! ♡♡♡

boo
boo
7 years ago

note that so far their tires are true to size. so a 2.6in tire is like a 2.8in maxxis 😉

bearcol
bearcol
7 years ago
Reply to  boo

My rocker 2.3’s measure smaller than schwalbe 2.3 and lower volume too. I’ve measured one at a perfect 2.3 and another at 2.28. Don’t get me wrong, the rocker’s are a fine size, and honestly I would rather have a schwalbe 2.3 size than 2.6. I just threw that out there because I know the industry is investing in 2.6 molds right now.

Didn’t Michelin make a 2.8 back in the day? I know an old friend had 2.8’s around 03 which were the same size pretty much as my nokian gazza 2.6’s. Tire sizing in the bike industry is all over the place.

boo
boo
7 years ago
Reply to  bearcol

well thats 5mm diff so id check pressure. so far all the ones i measured for mtb were precise within 2mm. same for some other brands, but some popular ones like maxxis are usually 1 size off or 50mm or so.

that is to say a true to size 2.6 tire is pretty big and borderline what id call a plus tire. a maxxis 2.5 for ex is about 2.3 (so 50mm diff. metrics are so nice)

Fred
Fred
7 years ago
Reply to  boo

Maxxis tires haven’t been true to size in years. Schwalbe is pretty accurate. 2.6″ is 66mm.

bearcol
bearcol
7 years ago
Reply to  boo

The only constant in the bike industry is tire size varies from company to company, and certain sizes trend from year to year. What’s old is new these days so we are seeing a resurgence of 2.6 and up tires. It’s looking like 2.6 will be the new 2.5 which is fine with me especially if some of those 2.6 actually measure closer to traditional 2.5.

alloycowboy
alloycowboy
7 years ago

I just hope they come up with a better naming scheme for their tire line up than they did previously. Their previous efforts have was a marketing disaster.

Morten Knudsen
Morten Knudsen
7 years ago

The previous wild racer ultimate was a fabolous tyre, light wight, easy tubless and tons of traction despite of the minurative knobs

boo
boo
7 years ago
Reply to  Morten Knudsen

idk i liked the wild grip r advanced personally. which is now the force am i think. (its not exactly the same but seems similar)

RobertW
RobertW
7 years ago

Their casings are the best and they are true to size. I wish they would do more work on their mid to lower range options. Even conti and schwalbe have $20 “performance” tires that are pretty awesome. Currently on Wild Rock’r 2 AR and Wild grip’r 2 AR. Very tough tires.

bearcol
bearcol
7 years ago
Reply to  RobertW

I do like their advanced casing for trail riding. I wish they would offer a DH wild rock’r though.

RobertW
RobertW
7 years ago
Reply to  bearcol

Wild Rock’r 2 adv reinforced magi-x 2.35

Matthias
Matthias
7 years ago

Their press release shows that a performance line will come in 2018 that is more of a Budget saver.

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