Nokian XXX Tires
Nokian XXX
Nokian has come out with a new line of tires in the past year that breaks the mold from the typical Nokian tires of the past. Nokian's ownership has changed hands and it's now owned by Suomi of Finland.
We were recently sent a couple sets of tires to ride, abuse, and write our opinions of. The first set of tires on the test bed is the Nokian XXX which is an urban/street/park tire that comes in both 26" and 24" versions. The site lists the tire at a 2.4 size and weight of 1,200 grams for the 26" version. Upon receipt of the tires, I immediately noticed these are the smallest "2.4" tires I have ever seen - they are smaller than my 2.3 Kenda K-rads. The weight spec; however, was accurate the tires weight 1210 grams on my scale. (insert photo of tire comparison)
If you look at the specifications, you'll notice that the compound is listed as 50a (very soft). This worried me as the tire is designed for street and park use. "How well will this tire roll with that soft compound?" I thought. I also had concerns about the weight of the tire and was worried it would ride as if I had cannonballs strapped to my rims.
I mounted on my Evil and the tires looked great. The wrap-around tread has a great look and the size is perfect for this type of tire. Mounting was just like a DH tire, which was to be expected since the tire basically uses the same casing as their DH tires. There is a noticeable mount of mold release agent on the outside of the tire that can be seen and felt - you must wash this off before you attempt to ride on these tires. The heavy use of release agent is apparently necessary for the use of real rubber instead of synthetic, which is what Nokian uses according to the manufacturer. 
My first ride on the tires was a street excursion in downtown. My worries about a slow rolling tire were immediately washed away within the first 10 minutes of riding (ed. note: Brady's worries weren't the only thing that got washed away - he slid out on wet cobblestone and busted his ass within the first minute of the ride). Despite the soft compound, this is an extremely fast rolling tire, even faster than my K-rads. The soft compound is applied in a thin layer to the casing of the tire so there is not much compression of the tread. The ribbed design of the multiple X's on the tire provide great traction along with the soft compound. The tire stuck like glue to walls made of concrete and brick and gripped really well, even on wood surfaces.
Dirt testing was a surprise - I fully expected these tires to have little-to-no grip in the dirt. Straight line performance on dirt jumps was good as expected, seeing how well they roll on the street. It took some effort to make the tires slide on hard pack dirt while cornering. Not only did their dirt performance surprise me, but their ability to ride in the grass was better than expected - better than my K-rads. (insert riding photo?) The only fault that this tire suffers from in performance is it's weight. The only positive thing about the weight is the puncture resistance. Thorns, glass, and other debris shouldn't give you a flat. You can run all the pressure you want in a tire to compensate for sidewall stiffness but that does nothing for puncture resistance. The heavier weight of the XXX is something I can live with since I use the bike for more than just DJ and park. With the added puncture resistance, I can ride through construction zones and your normal street trash like broken bottles without worrying that a flat will end my day. Outside of performance there is one other fact that will keep a lot of people from buying this tire - the price. At an MSRP of $59.99, that is a high price pay on tires for this intended use. It's true that these tires seem to have a long life from the amount of riding I have had on them, but so have my K-rad's.
Performance and size-wise, the XXXs are my new favorites - my K-rad's will sit and collect dust for a while. These tires don't get an overall high score cause of the price and the added weight, with the weight not being as much of a factor as the price.
Posted by Brady on September 24, 2006 05:59 PM
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