I finally had a chance to install the Kenda Small Block Eight on the Sette Reken Single Speed.
The first thing you need to know is that this tire is WAY faster than my old set of tires, Bontrager Jones XR. Plus they are WAY faster than the Kenda Karmas that Priscilla has on her XC rig. What do I mean by faster? Well think of it this way, I immediately felt the benefit of these tires as we rode the Fullerton Loop.
Everyone that I’ve talked to about these tires said that they are supposed to be the lightest and fastest XC tires out there. So with that in mind, the Kenda tires already had set a high standard in my head. Well surprisingly, those people were right! The difference I felt was how well it rolled. Just think of it this way, the smoothness of these tires felt like I was riding on a road bike…for reals!
I’ve yet to test the handling abilities of the tires in situations such as rocky and technical sections. But from what I’ve experience, they are really nice XC tires. I’ll be reporting on the full review once I get more kick ass time on these tires.
Could you post a weight for the tires?
You’ll like these tires as a rear. I did the Bonelli race with Jer and was running the SBK8 as a rear tire and a Crossmark as a front; killer setup. As a front they aren’t quite aggressive enough for me.
I agree with T on the small blocks. At one point I was running something similar, the Maxxiss Larsen TTs. They’re another version of small blocks… great on the rear tire, but i didnt like them on the front.
weigth- 805g