After finding a set of these on Ebay for half the RRP, I patiently waited for them to arrive, and I was eager to see just how good these tyres were. On my previous experiences with Michelin tyres, I have always liked the stability and grip that was offered with their Downhill range of tyres, and was unsure what to expect with these lighter weight, more Cross Country orientated models.
Once they arrived the first thing I noticed was how light the tyres were, probably due to the Kevlar folding beading and tough, but not overbuilt construction of the casing. One of my worries were that they would have skinny sidewalls like other lightweight tyres, but these have thicker than normal sidewalls giving added stability whilst still retaining a light weight.
The tyres have a deep tread pattern that is flexible and helps the tyre clear mud, and the tread pattern is very similar to the Comp 24. They have Michelin's Silica Compound which helps decrease rolling resistance, and also have a 127 Tpi (threads per inch) cord casing that is found on all other Michelin top of the range tyres.
Even though these are sized at 26 x 2.2 (52 x 559), they are a smaller in width than the 2.2 size you would find on the Michelin DH tyres (54 x 559). The size of these is more comparable to a set of Maxxis 2.1 XC tyres.
Installation was pretty straight forward, with the only serious effort needed when mounting the tyre to my rims, as like other Michelin tyres, the beading can be a tight fit when put on for the first time.
My first impressions on using them were that they felt incredibly grippy. They are stable when cornering hard, and braking heavily. If you choose to use the directional tread pattern markings on the tyre, they dig into the ground when accelerating as the tread pattern can be reversed for the rear tyre. With a reasonable pressure in the tyres they can withstand lots of abuse, especially if used on a hardtail bike. I would imagine these tyres would perform well on a light full suspension bike as well.
Weights - Well this is what surprised me the most. According to the kitchen scales, two of these tyres are nearly the same weight as one of my old Comp 24 DH tyres -
Hot S's were 670g each, Comp 24's were 1300 each!
Time will tell how these tyres will perform and how they wear, but so far I am very impressed with them. If you can find a set on Ebay, chances are you could save a fair amount off the RRP price of £34.99 per tyre too!
More details
Price
£34.99 rrp
Evaluate this review
How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
