SEA OTTER CLASSIC 2010 – Geax had some new rubber, including a prototype of their completely revised DHEA downhill tire, shown above, and their all purpose, already available AKA cross country tire shown after the break.
According to Ryan Delong, Geax’s marketing man, all of their gravity tires will eventually move to a 2.4 width only (rather than the 2.3 and 2.5 widths currently offered), which includes the DHA prototype.
“It’s a 60 (durometer) center with 50 shoulder, dual compound tread with 60tpi, 2-play casing. The transition gap is a little bigger than our current DHEA, but because of the profile when it’s inflated, it provides consistent traction despite the increasing spacing. We’re waiting more feedback from our pro testers before we can say much more on this, but the shaping and direction of the new tread pattern is really fast. That’s all I can really say on it for now.”
This is slated to be a new revision for 2012, so they’ve got plenty of time to test and refine the new design. Another photo, plus specs on the AKA, after the break…
Compared to the current tread pattern (below), the new one (above) is more directional with a much wider gap between the center and shoulder knobs.
The AKA is a low-tread profile tire designed for fast rollers. It’s available only in 26×2.0 and 26×2.2 sizes, but comes in four casing options: TNT (610g and 670g), UST (680g and 760g), FOLD folding bead (520g and 590g) and FOLD rigid bead (620g and 690g). All have dual tread compound.
The fast, direction small block tread pattern is molded to a 120tpi casing. The knobs are spaced close enough to roll fast, but low and sparse enough that they should shed mud well, too…not that you’d run a low-pro racing tire in the mud, but Geax has done a lot of testing with this tire in British Columbia on their regularly moist, loamy trails, and they say it hooks up perfectly in those conditions.
As demonstrated in the video below, it’s also dirt jump and slopestyle approved.
