Dunlop vs. Mitas vs. Tusk - Tire Fight - E.4 

Thanks for watching and the comments!

Thank you! Great feedback. I think my next tire fight will be on front tires.

@@2smoking.and.4stroking please review lots of front tires. No one talks about front tires.

Thank you! Honestly, all the tires you mention are very good. The Mitas is a great performer, with more longevity than the 33s - but the 33s rips. The Tusk - 68 shipped - hard to deny that tire!

Thanks for the feed back. Thought about doing that, but ultimately I thought a 10 hour thrashing with 38min of comments would be more useful. They are all in the 60 shore A range. High res photos of wear at 10 + hours for each tire at 34:00 time code. Thanks again.

Good question - I have tested both back to back to 20+ hours each. 1) I would say both are exceptional tires - you would not be disappointed with either 2) I would say the AT81EX is a slightly better performer in its predictability in MX style turns (leg out full lean). It give you better feedback when it is about to release traction. 3) the AT81EX is has a softer carcass and slightly softer rubber which will wear significantly faster. Both tires develop more upright traction that 98% of riders can use. 4) If I wanted maximum performance with no regard to wear I would pick the AT81EX. 5) If you wanted an incredible tire with noticeably better durability I would pick the JX8. 6) The JX8 is more playful and dynamic (stiffer carcass) - while the AT81EX is more planted with a bit more roll in turns. Hope that helps.

@@2smoking.and.4stroking I replaced my jx8 with an at81ex right after this post, I have one very technical ride under my belt with the at81ex and I would say you are spot on with your assessment. I have not had the opportunity to take high speed corners with the at81ex yet but judging by its side hill performance I think it is going to be good. Thank you for your response.

Thanks for the comment. Here is my opinion on rear tires only. You need a tire that will flex to grip and develop high traction over wet roots and rocks. Think Trials Tire or opposite of MX tire. Large, flexing carcass with short knobs (less deflection of line over rocks) is what would be ideal. An M5B is a stiff tire that digs well - Not what you want for low line deflection and grip from friction over wet rocks. Yes you can make it work with raw mechanical traction - but there are better tires for that. If you were to ONLY ride wet, rocks and root that were very slick a Michelin Xtrem in a 140 would be IDEAL - however there are trade offs at highers speeds. It is a bit of a unicorn to find a tire that does "hard enduro" type riding (ie 1st and second gear) and high speeds. The VE33S is a digging tire with soft rubber - not a bad compromise if you can keep the knobs from ripping. The JX8 is a more reasonable / versatile solution to the Michelin Xtrem - what I mean is that the JX8 does super slow a bit "worse" than the Michelin Xtrem - but the higher speeds MUCH MUCH better. All tires are compromises - there is no tire that does BOTH slow technical and fast aggressive exceptionally well - those are diametrically opposed requirements.. Ideally, you would have three rear wheel assemblies (as I do) - on 19 inch wheel with an MX dedicated tire for smooth tracks or smooth flow riding, one 18 inch wheel with an "extreame enduro" tire - ie mostly sub 3rd gear speeds with a Michelin Xtrem, and one more 18 inch wheel assembly with a "practice" enduro tire - IRC JX8, AT81EX, VE33s, MB5 etc. The Mitas 454 is more lively and slightly less performing from a traction perspective than an AT81 EX, but with probably 50% more life.

@@2smoking.and.4stroking Thanks for spending the time on a well thought out response ! I used to do mid-atlantic area eastern hare scrambles and an occasional GNCC. I intend to go back to that. I would prefer a tire that i could race confidently, last enough to practice with, and still do rides with my friends who do pro class hard enduro. If only I could find a genie in a bottle, right? The best compromises that I've found so far are the VE33S and the Ibex. I would stick with the VE33S except that I can't get it to absorb sharp edged impacts well enough. I haven't tried it with low profile rimlocks yet, only with Tubliss. I would stick with the Ibex but it's pretty bad with wet rock and could stand some side bite. I was/am hoping the 454 might split the differences enough to be what I'm looking for, but... HOW DOES THE MITAS DO ON WET ROCK ? And what does "lively" mean anyhow? Does that mean it has a stiffer springier sidewall like the M5B ? (The M5B is the near perfect eastern hare scrambles tire but it REALLY does NOT like wet rock and root. No hard enduro or goat trailing for it.)

@@oldfatandslow2242 , my pleasure. The mitas is a very good tire. It is more lively than say a soft carcass tire like the AT81EX, but softer than an M5B. I genuinely can't till you how it does on wet rocks, I had very limited time in wet embedded rocks. My guess is that it is better than most. The VE33S is one of my top enduro tires, it has two downsides 1) it will rip at high speeds in hard pack, 2) it rolls rough due to super tall lugs, and deflects of somewhat erratically on embedded rocks or terrain where very precise wheel placement is required. Other than that it is exceptional.

Do your self a favor and get the 454. It has been excellent for me in utah and Colorado. I am finally retiring it after 40-50hrs. For how/what I ride the 454 is better then the ve33s and jx8.

@@KoltFin since this thread began, I've worn out an Ibex. so...the Ibex does better on wet root and rock than I had remembered but DOES NOT last on my 300 like it did on my 450.I'm gonna end up with less than 25 hours and 7 rides on it . Additionally, the side bite is worst than I remembered. Of course I ran the 120/100 on the 450 and the 110/100 on the 300. The super tall and heavy 120 just wouldn t work on the 300. I tried it first. I already have ordered a VE33 regular to try but after that, I think I'll take your advice and try the 454. My primary riding area is Brown Mountain NC. The Forest Service lists it as "A unique micro environment, much more similar to the dry rocky environments of the Rocky Mountains than the surrounding area and idea diamondback rattlesnake living conditions." Lots of rock of all types, especially decomposing/crumbling ones and pretty infertile soil. But we still get fairly much rain. Think of my conditions like Colorado with lots of rain.(thats from watching Colorado videos, I haven't been there yet)