Do you like to go fast on your bike? Of course you do – me too. The low rolling resistance Excavator tire from Kenda is a sure fire hit for those who race XC and are looking to maintain decent traction in the looser stuff.
At first glance the tread pattern reminded me of the Excavator’s meatier brother, the well-known Nevegal, with its paddle groove design. However, the Excavator is much quieter when riding on concrete than the Nevegal and rolls with lower resistance thanks to its a less aggressive tread design. The Excavator excels in corners with its large knobbies on the edges and self-cleans loose mud extremely well, though it will get your back good and dirty.
The Excavator utilizes Kenda’s Dual Tread Compound (DTC) technology which basically combines two separate tread materials into one tire: the L3R Pro compound for the center and the STICK-E compound for the sides. This gives you a long lasting center tread and sticky, corner grabbing side tread in a single package.
The Excavator is a great XC race tire when conditions are unknown as it can roll with pride through the screaming fast hard pack and also when conditions are less than desirable. The tire ranks high with 120 TPI (threads per inch) and comes in two models: foldable (26×1.95, 26×2.10, & 26×2.35) and wire bead (26×2.35 & 2.50) for those who ride DH . Unfortunately, 29ers are out of luck and will have to stick with the popular Nevegal. Weight for these tires range from about 600g to 1400g depending on size and model. As you might expect with Kenda tires, the Excavator is high quality and could not be easier to install.
Overall, the Excavator is a must for XC riders who want a fast and all-around great tire. The Excavator won’t take you out to dinner and buy you flowers but it just might earn you that podium spot at your next race or at least make you look like you know what you’re doing.
Thanks to the folks at Kenda for providing the Excavator for review.
