Kenda Klimax 26 x 1.96 are listed by manufacturer as 345 g

anyone use them? being so light, are they prope to damage and punctures? also gripwsie - how would they compared to rocket rons 2.1?

... and whilst on the subject of rear tyres, what other lightweight tyres around 2.0 width that have some noibbles should be considered?

got those a few years ago - too narrow tire! It's more like a 1.7 or 1.8 than 1.95 as they say! Grip it's ok (on dry conditions) for the weight but nothing compared to Rocket Ron (which by the way i don't consider a dry weather tire). better go on some other options and save the weight somewhere else!

if you are light rider and run your tyres with sealant
you might be able to use these in dry weather.

no, no and I live in UK so no again, looks like I'll give them a miss and stick to Rocket Rons.

wise decision!

Anyway Ron's are far from being a heavy tire!

I like them. My set weight in at 325g each. They are narrow but work really well on dry conditions and although I haven't ridden them in the mud much the few times out when its been raining they have been ok. I run them with Stans tube less setup. They are pretty cheap too if you shop around. I do agree they are more like a 1.7-1.8 but at 50lbs they work well for me and I weight 180lbs currently.

Ken

very fast rolling. no so grippy. better to use with sealant. use only if u wan speed and able to control the bike and dont let the bike control you.

I have raced these with tubes on my 8.7 Kg KHS Alite 4000 race bike with only EC90 habdlebar, steer tube spacers, and an Alien seatpost as parts made of carbon a few years back... more like almost 10. It was really very light at that time and I could go fast in hardpack and paved roads, but It struggles on rough courses and had a lot of instances having pinch flats. If I had Notubes rims and sealant that time, they would have performed better. I had a bad skid on them on a corner in a road criterium team race when I pumped them hard then in suddenly rained near the end of the race. We were so far away from the team on second place that we still won that race.

Kenda Klimax is a good tire, mostly for smooth and groomed XC Race courses. It has decent traction...but nowhere near the 2.1 Schwalbe Rocket Ron, which excels in real-world trail conditions much better. I too, fell for the "weight trap."

The Klimax is scary fast, but downright dangerous in anything like deep sand. Verdict? A tire best suited for photo opportunities only....seriously. Mine weighed 346g/F and 339g/R.

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