After being at the front of the pack for a long time, Michelin, in our view, recently haven’t been as central to the world of racing as they once were. Maxxis and Schwalbe rule the roost at the moment but that could all be about to change with a new range from the French brand. Developed with Fabien Barel, these new tyres are set to become their flagship rubber. We’ve been out putting them to the test.

[The Wild Rock’r 2] offers a good compromise between weight and strength which is ideal for Enduro riding

– Michelin

Steve Jones, Chief Bike Tester at Dirt, has been riding the tyres on a GT Sanction build we put together last month and has made the below points when asked about their performance. Riding both the Magic-X, which is the softer of the two compounds, and the Gum-X, the harder, here’s what we made of the tyres.

Notes: Michelin Wild Rock’r 2 tyres

Words: Steve Jones

Grip

They grip, and grip a lot. More so than the classic Maxxis High Roller and with more bite when you lean the bike over. They are suited to 26 and 27.5″ wheels. In 29″ it’s too much tyre, you get more grip on a 29″ tyre and this is a bit overkill for the big wheels. These aren’t the fastest rolling of tyres but once up to pace they hold their speed well.

Weight

It’s not the lightest tyre out there, which could make a notable difference if you are running them all day long. The 29″ versions as mentioned might be a bit much and will add 200g to your bike overall, not a huge amount but the added rolling mass will be noticeable.

Wear

These have been run on a bike ridden a lot in recent weeks, overall the wear is low on both compounds and the mould knobs are still in place on most of the wheel. Impressive wear across mixed terrain and in mixed conditions.

Overall

We felt that an Enduro tyre designed to be ridden all day should really come in under 1000g mark which the set we tested didn’t. That said if you are looking for a full-on tyre you can commit with and don’t mind a bit of a weight penalty then these could be for you. The grip is there and the tyre is more than capable of holding it’s own on a rough downhill-style track, so if you want something that covers a lot of bases and don’t mind a bit of a penalty in the weight this is a tyre for you.

Price: Gum-X £46.00, Magi-X £56.99

Sizes: 26″x2.35″, 27.5″x2.35″, 29″x2.35″

Hotlines 01313 191 444
www.bike.michelin.co.uk