Kenda Equilibrium/GT 216AA

[farmerj]

I now have 3-4 good rides on the Kenda Equilibrium rear and Goldentyre GT216AA ("fatty") up front - what a great combination!

Rear:
I'm running the Equilibrium at 7psi with a Tubliss. I've ridden in rain, and it felt like I was riding in the dry! Climbing, the tire will conform to irregularities in rocks or roots and get grip. Get stopped halfway up a section of gnarly singletrack? No problem - just release the clutch slowly and motor up! I'm impressed with how flexible the knobs are - more so than the Michelin on my trials bike. I find the grip to be as good as that on most any surface.

With a large sidewall this may not be the tire for fast guys who like to brake and throttle steer. I'm a middle of the pack trail rider, and it's a great tire for me. I like to run a gear low and ride where traction is king.

Tried to get up a hill on a drizzly day with a Dunlop 756 (on another bike) and struggled mightily. Kenda Equilibrium - no problem. Two thumbs up in my book.

Front:
The Goldentyre works well. I'm riding with a lot of confidence, attacking downhills and up, I have found it to be predictable and not to break loose on Pacific NW woods terrain. I'm running the front at 7-8 psi also, which I assume is low by all standards (I've read of guys using 14psi and still having good traction.) The knobs are holding up and not chunking in the rocks, and it seems to be wearing fine. It needs to - at $150 or so, this isn't the tire for you if you go through them quickly. But for performance, it's worth a try if you have the $$.

Anybody else have experience with these tires?

I'm not usually one to recommend stuff, because I wouldn't want you disappointed. But I'm really impressed with these products.

Jeff

 

[TheLetterJ]

That will be the next set of tires to go on my GG. I've been through a small stack of GT216AA and GT216DST fronts and will continue running them on all my bikes. Don't worry, I've been singing from the mountain tops about it too. I have been curious how the newest Kenda Washougal II in a 90/100 compares since even though there are tons of other tires that share a very similar pattern, the width has to be the reason the GT works the way it does and I've heard that it is wider than advertised like the 101mm wide GT216. The Kenda is cheaper for an individual tire too. FWIW you can buy GoldenTyre's from overseas and pay MUCH less (each) for shipping if you buy more than 1, I paid ~$200 for 2 vs ~$140 for 1, buy 6 at a time and they're something like $86 each to your door... sell them to your friends!

I had been very happy with MT43's on the back of my 300, but wanted a slightly more aggressive tire in a few situations so I tried an AT81RC last go 'round. It certainly worked better in full throttle straight line stuff, but gave up too much in other places and didn't corner as well as most other knobbies that I've run (and I've run lots of them!) so the cons outweighed the pros for me. The GG is my tight trail bike so sticking with a trials type tire has proven to be the way to go.

I've run a few of the Motoz Mountain Hybrids on my (and several of my riding buddies') dualsports and they were everything that I hoped for in a "hybrid" for those bikes and I'll probably keep buying more for my 690... but I doubt it would do what I want it to do on the GG, that tire needs a HEAVY bike to work well. The Equilibrium looks like it should fit the bill perfectly for the 300, now being DOT approved I might even try one on the 525.

 

[Phaeton]

I just bought the GT216AA front from our local shop for under $90 bucks.

 

[memphis2857]

The the Fatty front is by far the best bang for your buck! I got an entire race season (26 races/100 hours) out of one last year. The tire seems to work it's best at 12 psi. or with a mousse. I tried running it with Tubliss last year but with the tires really thin carcass I kept getting flats, at the end of the year the tire had 10 plugs in it! Lol. Currently I am running it with GoldenTyres new 90/100 "M" mousse but I cut 4" out of the mousse and it's awesome. They also have a really great rear tire in the GT230/GT232.

I haven't personally run the Equilibrium since I have a 19" wheel but several of my riding buddies run it when we trail ride and it is pretty darn impressive.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tzsuzuki]

Equilibrium not so good

I just started running the Golden front, fantastic! I was hoping the equilibrium would be a good rear as I have used it before and was pleased. I also use the Tubliss.
I was riding some Rocky trail this past Sunday and got a flat. We couldn't get it properly plugged in the trail, so I limped back to the truck about 8 miles of trail but mostly dirt road. The Tubliss did its job and held the tire on, but the carcass of the equilibrium is so soft that it was a squirely ride.
I am going back to the Dunlop AT81 Rc which I could ride flat all day long. If that were a race my day would have been ruined.
Maybe there is a mousse that would work with that tire? But for now I will play it safe.

 

[Jacob 'Berg]

There aren't any rocky trails in Arizona

 

[tzsuzuki]

There aren't any rocky trails in Arizona

At least not in Scottsdale