Kenda Kaliente tires

[DaveH]

I bought a pair of these on the advice of a local LBS for my
Rivendell Rambouillet. 700C x 23. However, there are some reports on
Roadbikereview.com that this tire is sluggish, or slow. I'm seeking
reports before I mount them and render then un-returnable.

Previous tires:
* Riv's Ruffy Tuffy, 700 x 27
* Michelin Eriliums, Gator Skins, and Bontrager Race-Lite Hardcase:
all 700 x 23.

The RT is actually a pretty good tire; but there is something about
the girth of anything larger than a 23 that bothers me. Probably
silly, though I am 173 lbs and ride on good pavement.

The Gator Skins are fairly fast and supple, but were sliced and
punctured within 100 miles. The Bontragers are dreadful--hard, rough,
slow, sluggish...feeling they're made of hard clay and filled with
lead.

I want to avoid anything approaching the Bontrager Hardcase effect and
thus my request for Kaliente reports.
Dave

 

[Mark Hickey]

DaveH <[email protected]> wrote:

>I bought a pair of these on the advice of a local LBS for my
>Rivendell Rambouillet. 700C x 23. However, there are some reports on
>Roadbikereview.com that this tire is sluggish, or slow. I'm seeking
>reports before I mount them and render then un-returnable.
>
>Previous tires:
>* Riv's Ruffy Tuffy, 700 x 27
>* Michelin Eriliums, Gator Skins, and Bontrager Race-Lite Hardcase:
>all 700 x 23.
>
>The RT is actually a pretty good tire; but there is something about
>the girth of anything larger than a 23 that bothers me. Probably
>silly, though I am 173 lbs and ride on good pavement.
>
>The Gator Skins are fairly fast and supple, but were sliced and
>punctured within 100 miles. The Bontragers are dreadful--hard, rough,
>slow, sluggish...feeling they're made of hard clay and filled with
>lead.
>
>I want to avoid anything approaching the Bontrager Hardcase effect and
>thus my request for Kaliente reports.

I'll chime in here with my regular pitch for the Panaracer T-Serv
tires. They ride and feel like the Gatorskins (which, as you noticed,
is a good thing), but wear like iron and don't have the fragile
sidewalls.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Mark Hickey <[email protected]> wrote:

> DaveH <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I bought a pair of these on the advice of a local LBS for my
> >Rivendell Rambouillet. 700C x 23. However, there are some reports on
> >Roadbikereview.com that this tire is sluggish, or slow. I'm seeking
> >reports before I mount them and render then un-returnable.
>
> >
> >I want to avoid anything approaching the Bontrager Hardcase effect and
> >thus my request for Kaliente reports.
>
> I'll chime in here with my regular pitch for the Panaracer T-Serv
> tires. They ride and feel like the Gatorskins (which, as you noticed,
> is a good thing), but wear like iron and don't have the fragile
> sidewalls.

With my usual disclaimer that tires are yet another part of the bike
where I wouldn't expect much in objective, A-B-X-test-surviving "feel"
differences, at least within classes such as "700x23 slick road tires",
I have used Kenda Kalientes as my primary racing and commuting tire for
the past two years.

Last year, I had a really good race season on these tires. This year, I
got fat.

The Kaliente has been a silent partner in this affair: I pump them to
120 psi, they don't do anything untoward. Easy on and easy off the rims,
no obvious tire-related problems, and I get a very good deal on them
from a local supplier.

An older, cagier club-mate likes them so much he bought a ten-year stock
from said local supplier.

I have one complaint: when pumped to 120 psi, they offer minimal grip on
loose gravel paths. Like the one I tried to ride a few weeks ago. Hm.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos