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Kenda Nevegal (DH casing) tire review
The Kenda Nevegal is an excellent tire choice for budget conscious riders who demand excellent performance out of their purchase. The Nevegal handles wood, roots, and slick rock faces with aplomb, allowing you to concentrate on staying with your bike (or going faster). The tires corner really well and, with the downhill casing, the Nevegal rarely subjects you to the dreaded pinch flat.
For this review, I mounted Kenda Nevegals on the front and rear of my ‘big’ bike, a well-used 2002 Norco Shore. I used the downhill casing version of the Nevegal, which features a tough dual-ply sidewall and a ridiculously tight wire bead. I ran the 2.5″ version up front with a 2.35″ version in the rear. The tires were run through the winter at places like Cypress Mountain and the Woodlot, with a few days at Whistler thrown in for good measure.
I really wanted to test some of the 1.95″ cross country Nevegals that were ranked by Mountain Bike Action as the best in class, but my local distributor didn’t have any in stock when I was placing my order. I’ll try and get some these tires to review in the near future.
First impressions
Is a tire just a tire? The short answer is yes, as long as you’re willing to recognize than not all mountain bike tires are the same.
At first glance, you can tell that the Nevegal is meant for some serious riding and that it will hold up to whatever you can throw at it. The Stick-E rubber looks as though it will grab onto wet roots and ladders without any problems whatsoever and the relatively tall tread pattern (compared with tires like the Kenda Blue Groove) look perfect for the wet conditions I see out here more often than not. The tires’ sidewalls are thick and are intended to keep pinch flats to a minimum.
When you get ready to mount the Nevegal with DH casing, give yourself some time because these tires take a good deal of effort to slide on to your rims (in this case Mavic 729s). Now, I’m not saying that I’m an expert at putting tires on wheels, but it doesn’t usually cost me the 30 or 40 minutes (per wheel) and broken tire levers that it did for the Nevegal.
The tires used for this review weighed in at a svelte 1240 grams and 1140 grams for the 2.5″ and 2.35″ respectively. Not that I’m counting grams on my 48 pound monster. If you’re looking for a tire that can be run on your UST-compatible wheel, the Nevegals that I tested will not work for you.
Performance
After wrestling the tires onto my rims, I set out for a late September day at Whistler Bike Park. Conditions were dry and loose, which aren’t the ideal conditions for this tire (according to KendaUSA). Even so, the tires performed wonderfully that day. They hooked up on logs and steep rock faces on trails like Original Sin and No Joke and dug in around the berms on A-Line and Dirt Merchant. I had no pinch flats that day, which was a first for me up at Whistler; prior to the Nevegals I usually spent a good 45-60 minutes repairing flats on the trail.
After a couple more late season days at Whistler, I lowered the pressure in the tires and moved on to my local trails. The trails that I ride regularly are fast and filled with flow but they do include some technical spots that feature roots, rocks, and wood. The tires did really well, only slipping on off-camber roots that few tires have been able to manage to date.
Durability
The Kenda Nevegals have held up well for quite some time. As is usual on tires that use softer rubber compounds the Nevegals do wear faster than tires using harder compounds and the back tire wears faster than the front. Also, I found that the front tire was the recipient of more cuts and minor tears (in the knobs), particularly after a couple of days at the Whistler Bike Park.
Pricing
With an MSRP of about $55usd or $80cad, the Nevegal is significantly less expensive than tires like the Michelin Comp16 and the Maxxis Minion. It’s probably this reason that keeps the Nevegals in high demand; make sure your local shop can get them if they don’t have them in stock.
Wild card
As I mentioned above, mounting and removing the tires is a headache. While it’s not something that makes the tires undesirable (and, to be fair, other serious DH tires have similar ‘characteristics’) it is something that makes them difficult to get running on your bike.
Summary
Often referred to as the ‘Poor man’s Michelin’, the Kenda Nevegal with DH casing is an excellent ‘all conditions’ tire for freeride and downhill use. It hooks up really well in wet conditions and doesn’t do too poorly when it’s dry (at least with what I consider dry). While the Nevegal doesn’t quite offer the same level of performance (even though it comes close) that top-end tires like the Michelin Comp 16 and Comp 24, it doesn’t come with the same price tag either.
I don’t hesitate to recommend this tire to anyone who’s looking for new rubber for their bike. The quality is very good, the performance is excellent, and, given that the tires are made from a relatively soft rubber compound, wear life is respectable.
Manufacturer website: www.kendausa.com
MSRP: $55 (usd) | $80 (cad)
| Category | Rating (?) |
|---|---|
| First impressions | 8 / 10 |
| Performance | 35 / 40 |
| Durability | 15 / 20 |
| Pricing | 18 / 20 |
| Wild card | 8 / 10 |
| Overall | 84 / 100 |
1. Posted by Michelin Comp 16 downhill tire review » The Biking Hub | 3:00 pm, 6 December 2005
[…] I continue to recommend the Kenda Nevegal for those of you who can’t afford the Michelins but are looking for a quality tire that performs well in most conditions. […]