Kenda road tires?

[jasonification]

Anyone have experience with these? They're now sponsoring Phil Gaimon and they're significantly cheaper than Contis..wondering if they're significantly worse or potentially as good as their more expensive counterparts. In particular looking at the kountach and kountach endurance

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[mdeth1313]

The endurance are more durable. I've used both for a few years now and they work. Were also really easy to mount, but I found the endurance last longer and are less flat prone.

[Velocipede]

I rode the Kountach in 23's for quite a while. They ride great and wear well. Other than 1 individual tire which had a weird wave in the tire, I never had any other issues. I sold maybe 100 of the Kountach models without issue.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

I rode the Kountach in 23's for quite a while. They ride great and wear well. Other than 1 individual tire which had a weird wave in the tire, I never had any other issues. I sold maybe 100 of the Kountach models without issue.

Same but not 23's

I rode a sample pair of them (forget exactly which version) 25mm and they were nice. Not GP5000 nice but nice.

We sold piles of them and....actually made a little money on them too!

[FlashUNC]

Big fan of their Domestique tubulars. I think they're a lot of tire for not a lot of scratch.

[AngryScientist]

i dont think conti tires ride particularly nicely, so the bar is low

seriously though, i dont think i've ever even considered kenda, i had been thinking of them as a very low end city tire kind of mfg, but now that the OP mentioned them, i strolled over to their webpage and they have some very nice, capable looking tires. there are a few models i wouldnt mind trying. i bet they roll as good or better than the contis.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i dont think conti tires ride particularly nicely, so the bar is low

seriously though, i dont think i've ever even considered kenda, i had been thinking of them as a very low end city tire kind of mfg, but now that the OP mentioned them, i strolled over to their webpage and they have some very nice, capable looking tires. there are a few models i wouldnt mind trying. i bet they roll as good or better than the contis.

Really? You don't think Conti tires ride well but you can tell the Kenda's do by looking at the website?

Come on...

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Really? You don't think Conti tires ride well but you can tell the Kenda's do by looking at the website?

Come on...

I personally can't stand Conti tires. I have issues with every tire for some reason. None are perfect but Conti tires, I don't like their ride. I think they ride a bit rough.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

I personally can't stand Conti tires. I have issues with every tire for some reason. None are perfect but Conti tires, I don't like their ride. I think they ride a bit rough.

I personally can't stand flat tires and 4000/5000 series tires have always been a great balance for an everyday tire. Sure other tires "ride better" but buying the best riding tire does not always jive with my everyday style.

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by charliedid

I personally can't stand flat tires and 4000/5000 series tires have always been a great balance for an everyday tire. Sure other tires "ride better" but buying the best riding tire does not always jive with my everyday style.

I agree. But I've never had good luck with the either. Back as a junior in the 80's, I was told how great they were and tried them due to that recommendation. I had the dark spots on the sidewalls within 100-200 miles. Hated the sidewall bursting.
~Michelin, always dry rotted and the treads cracked so easily. the new ones aren't as bad.
~Hutchinson, the stupid feathers... UGH!!!
~Veloflex, such a thin fast wearing tread. I rotate them constantly cause of that.
~FMB, haven't put enough miles on them yet but so far so good.
~Pirelli, feathers and they need rotated frequently.
~Kenda, other than 1 tire that the casing broke free on, so far so good.
~Panaracer, really like them. great riding, wear well. I do worry about the tan sidewalls though cause of lack of carbon black. but so far so good.
~Vittoria, sidewalls dry out too quick and treads wear faster. Need rotated frequently and of course they can't measure worth anything.
~WTB, great tire, heavy and the road tires are oversized.
~S, I have a customer who loves them but he burns thru them really fast. They get feathers and the sidewalls dry out quick.
~Vredestein, dry rot really quickly.

[smontanaro]

For me, it's "Kenda, just say no." It has nothing to do with comparisons of ride quality with other manufacturers. Let me expand on that a bit.

Some of the other old-timers here might have experience with Schwinn's old 26-inch wheel size (ISO 597). That is old enough that for all practical purposes, Kenda is effectively the only company making tires in that size which are available in the US. I don't think I ever successfully got one of those tires to seat properly on the rim. Strike one.

Then there are their tubes. They have left me stranded far from home on at least one occasion. I got a flat, swapped out the Kenda tube in favor of a new spare tube which was also a Kenda. It failed almost immediately (tube separated from the valve stem). I didn't have a patch kit with me to attempt a repair of the first tube (mea culpa), so I had to wait for some other bikes to roll by so I could bum a tube. Strike two.

I'm not waiting for strike three. I don't care how good some of their tires might be. I will never buy any of their products again.

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by smontanaro

For me, it's "Kenda, just say no." It has nothing to do with comparisons of ride quality with other manufacturers. Let me expand on that a bit.

Some of the other old-timers here might have experience with Schwinn's old 26-inch wheel size (ISO 597). That is old enough that for all practical purposes, Kenda is effectively the only company making tires in that size which are available in the US. I don't think I ever successfully got one of those tires to seat properly on the rim. Strike one.

Then there are their tubes. They have left me stranded far from home on at least one occasion. I got a flat, swapped out the Kenda tube in favor of a new spare tube which was also a Kenda. It failed almost immediately (tube separated from the valve stem). I didn't have a patch kit with me to attempt a repair of the first tube (mea culpa), so I had to wait for some other bikes to roll by so I could bum a tube. Strike two.

I'm not waiting for strike three. I don't care how good some of their tires might be. I will never buy any of their products again.

huh, I've never had that issue with their tubes. I've sold them for years without people bringing them back. And they make a ton of other peoples stuff including Q and Bontrager tubes.

Regarding the old 26 1 3/8" Schwinn S6 tires, there are others. Cheng Shin, KST and others make them. I know S6 sucks in general cause many of those rims were hookless. I hated S6 tires cause of that. And the 27" rims Peugoet bikes came with. Never fun with those.

[BobbyJones]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Really? You don't think Conti tires ride well but you can tell the Kenda's do by looking at the website?
Come on...

It's the SOS with the "experts"

I think it's important to note that out of the list of manufacturers that Velocipede noted above, most of them have "commodity grade" and higher end stuff. I've had this experience with Conti, Kenda, Vittoria and Panaracer on this list.

The Conti's i've bought for 14 bucks don't compare with ones I've bought for 60. In the same vein, I wouldn't judge Kendas en masse based on the "vinyl" tires that came on a $250 bike from BD.

Overall though, based on experience, even expensive tires have been hit or miss- same models, different experiences.

I haven't been shy about warranty replacements.