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Michelin Comp 24 downhill tire review

In the world of F1 auto racing, the names ‘Michelin’ is synonymous with success. In fact, when Michelin-equipped F1 teams sat out a recent race in the United States, the remaining field numbered fewer than ten vehicles. I’d love to see a similar percentage of mountain bikes equipped with Michelin mountain bike tires. Simply put, Michelin offers some of the best tires available and it shows in the product’s performance, durability, and (unfortunately), its price.

For this review, I used the 2.2″ version of the Michelin Comp 24, with a dual ply casing. It was run tubeless on a UST wheel (a Mavic 823). I ran the Comp 24 as the rear tire on my all-mountain, do everything Giant AC. The front tire on the bike was a Comp 16 (2.2″, DH casing). On average, the bike was ridden between three and four days per week.

First impressions

Tires are tricky things when you first get them. Sometimes a crappy tire can look good or a decent tire can look less than stellar. When I picked up the first of my Comp24s I was impressed by how well the tire held its shape and its nice, rounded profile. The tread looked aggressive and well-suited to descending so I was curious to see how well it climbed.

This tire was my first real go around with the UST system. I’d heard horror stories about people trying to mount the tire on their wheel and then getting it to hold air with any degree of regularity. I’m happy to report that I didn’t experience any such difficulty – I was even able to get the first Comp 24 on without tire levers (as is suggested by Mavic). After I’d installed the tire, I overinflated it (using a compressor) to 60psi, let the beads ‘hook in’ to the rim, and let the wheel sit overnight to see how well the bead had set. When I came out in the morning the wheel continued to hold air so I lowered the pressure to 28-30psi (my usual for trail riding) and headed out.

Performance

On the trail the tire is great. It’s better on descents than it is on climbs, but not by much. Going downhill, the Comp24 hooks up amazingly well and I had no real issues with cornering or excessive slippage on climbs. The tires performed marvelously on wet, off-camber roots, slimy logs, groomed berms, high speed downhill runs, and loamy terrain. The tire did pack up with mud on exceptionally sloppy runs but the tread cleared extremely quickly and ceased to be an issue shortly after leaving the muck. I’m considering running a Comp16 on the rear for a while to see how that tire’s squared profile matches up against the Comp 24, particularly in muddy conditions, but that’s a comparison for another day.

I could tell from the added weight that the Comp24s weren’t nearly as efficient as regular cross country tires, or even the all mountain Hutchinson’s that they replaced but I was looking for a tire that allowed me to climb without much penalty while bestowing the superior descending characteristics of a good downhill tire. While the Comp24s performed just as I hoped it would, not all trail riders will need the added sidewall stiffness (and weight) of the downhill version of this tire.

Since I was running the Michelin on a UST wheel, I didn’t have any issues with pinch flats. However, a number of the people I ride with run Michelins (Comp 24s and Comp 16s) with tubes and have had very few (if any) flats that came about because of wimpy sidewalls.

Durability

I ran the Comp24 for about 6 months before the tire was replaced. Keep in mind that it was run on a trail bike so I didn’t get in as much mileage as a downhill racer who shuttles up the mountain but it did see a lot of use. All in all, the lifespan was about what I expected. About 5 months in to the test period I changed wheelsets and, when trying to mount the worn Comp24 on the UST-rated rim (another 823), the tire wouldn’t hold air. I chalked this up to tire wear and threw a tube in the tire until my new one showed up. The original’s replacement held air without issue and mounted just as easily as its predecessor.

Pricing

Ahhh, the price of quality. Michelin does a whole lot of research and development with their tires and, while it shows in the end product, the all of the testing adds up to a higher retail price. While the Comp24 better than any tire that I’ve used, many riders will be turned off by an MSRP of $73 (usd) / $111 (cad) – and larger sizes are even more expensive.

For heavy-set riders or downhill riders on a budget (or those who refuse to shell out that much cash on a tire) I’d recommend the Kenda Nevegal, a tire that comes close to the Michelin performance-wise but costs significantly less than the Comp 24.

Wild card

Should you have any issues with your Comp24, you plan on running it on a downhill rim, and need to get it off in a hurry, you’ll likely need metal levers. Although the metal levers are not good for your rims, sometimes they’re the only things that work – trying to remove the Comp24 from my Mavic 823 with plastic levers was an exercise in futility (and scraped knuckles). This isn’t really a criticism (other downhill oriented tires are just as difficult to remove) but it’s something that warrants mention since it sucks to be 10 miles into the bush and being forced to walk out because your tire levers do you no good when trying to remove your tire.

Summary

The Michelin Comp 24 with dual ply casing is one of the best tires on the market. It holds air well (when used on a UST system), grips well on wet wood and roots, and bites into corners like you wouldn’t believe. The UST tire held air well – although it’s always a good idea to watch your tire’s pressure – and I had no pinch flat issues when I ran the tire with a regular cross country tube.

The Comp24 definitely isn’t a cross country tire (it weighs over 1100 grams) but it serves well enough on a heavier duty trail or all-mountain bike where the rider isn’t too concerned about weight.

While the price is at the upper end of the spectrum, you do get what you pay for. And you’re paying for a performance tire that works well in almost all conditions and outworks almost every other tire in its category.

Manufacturer website: www.michelin-us.com

MSRP: $73 (usd) | $111 (cad)

This entry was posted on Monday, July 25th, 2005 at 6:57 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.