Tested under Team Cofidis, the Kenda Valkyrie is the first tubular they’ve ever made in house. It’s a lightweight race tire with low rolling resistance that still builds in puncture protection. Inside is a butyl tube, which has slower leak down than latex, and they make butyl tubes in house, so it made more sense.
A 300tpi cotton casing is covered by their R3C rubber with a roughened sidewall for abrasion resistance. A cotton strip is bonded onto the bottom to enhance the grip between rim and tire when gluing it on. Availability is TBA, and there’s also a clincher version…
The Valkyrie also claims to have excellent grip in both wet and dry conditions.
The clincher looks the same…
…but adds a reflective logo hot patch.
Several of their more popular mountain bike treads get the e-bike treatment. For Europe, e-bikes that go faster than 25km/h need products certified to handle those speeds combined with the weights of motors and batteries.
With several bike brands now making kids’ plus bikes, there’s a need for tires. The Slant Six 24×2.6 gives the youths a little extra traction and buoyancy without the weight of suspension. It’s a wire bead tire with 60tpi casing, recommended for 30-50 psi, but we’re guessing you’ll want to experiment with much, much lower pressures.
