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.
Life is 2 short 2 ride butyl
Needing special tirez, so ebikes aren’t bicycles just as we all knew
Really interested in that tubie. Price?
On another note, I hope bike parts won’t start being dictated by eBike requirements.
A “race” tire with a butyl inner tube? Kenda has the worst rolling resistance in the business when it comes to their rubber as well. This has got to be one of the slowest tubulars available……when/if it ever comes out.