Golden Tyre GT216AA review

Major success. Loved the tire. Will do a more extensive report later. Tinken, order another container, your going to need it.

I took my front wheel to a small local bike shop named FactoryMX since they only charge $15 for a tire swap and don't beat the rim like I'm prone to do. The guy looked at it, and said "Whoa, I've heard of these but I've never seen one, where'd you get it?" I told him I picked it up at ZipTy the day before. I told him it's also DOT and he relpied Hmmmm.

I have to say Tinken has provided some real solid info and products and I for one really appreciate it. Has been instrumental in making my 511 better and this tire is just another good suggestion from those that know (ZipTy). Thanks Tinken.

It is huge. And it works amazing.

Ok so the actual quicky review, will add more later.

I immediately noticed it was different in the first 20 feet. Just feels somewhat different. This area is near Mt St Helens and is a lot of decomposed rock and ash from the eruption. Silty loose in some areas, loose rock, nice loam, off camber fresh trail with slick brush, embedded rock, a bit of everything but mud. At 11 psi the tire has ridiculous traction, more than any other tire I have tried. I rode these same trails last Sunday and fought to get traction in the silty stuff. Not yesterday, crazy good hook up. Does very well on everything I tossed at it. Seems to span terrain types like nothing else. The huge carcase makes it playable and makes your front suspension feel a good bit better. Goes where you point it all the time. On many trails here you will go from rock to silt to off camber to loam to brush in 2 corners. This tire spans different terrains better than anything I have tried. I felt super confident on it and had to readjust my trail reading to ignore stuff I used to brace for. It was getting crazy good and made rocks disappear when I noticed it seemed low on pressure. Went to check it and found my stem was leaking. At 5-7 PSI it was still working crazy good and the traction and rock absorption was second to none. I tightened my valve core and the leak stopped. Side note: I run the steel caps with valve tool built in and it has an o-ring. I highly recommend these as even if your valve stem leaks these hold the air in. So when refilling I thought i would try 13 PSI. Noticeably stiffer ride from 7 psi as you would expect but still amazing traction. Dropped it back to 10-11 psi and it is perfect.

Pros:

- Ridiculous traction
- Instills crazy confidence in the front end
- makes your front suspension feel noticeably better
- Nothing works better in silt
- Adds stability at speed from the rotating mass
- Unrivaled braking power, crazy good
- better feel when landing from jumps
- Best tire in loose rocks ever

Cons:

(these are nitpicks as I absolutely LOVED the tire)

- Can feel the size in the bars
- Makes steering feel slightly slower / heavier
- every once in a while would grab some trail trash and pull the bars to one side. (odd feeling about 3-4 times on a 40 plus mile ride)

- When it does loose traction it does it semi abruptly.

Regarding that last one. It is the biggest Con I had with this tire. It has "next level" type traction over other tires. As such you tend to push it further and further trying to find its limit to seemingly unlimited traction. When it does break away it does so semi suddenly. Not like "oh crap, I might not save it" just does not give a lot of feedback when it is going to let loose. I think this is a combination of the crazy traction and advanced speeds it lets you carry in addition to a brand new tire with a huge footprint. When it finally lets go to does so quickly. Again not an issue just an observation. Never put me on my ass or felt like it would and I was way past where I would even remotely consider pushing other tires.

This was my first ride and the honeymoon is still in affect but I am VERY impressed with this tire. My other favorite fronts are the Motoz Terrapactor and the Bridgestone M59. I also like a few Pirellis and various other tires. Like Chilly found out this tire craps on all those. It is noticeably better everywhere. Soaks up terrain like crazy, hooks up like mad, super ridiculous stopping power, provides crazy confidence, allows silly lean angles, etc. I am not going out on any limb proclaiming this the best front tire I have ever used. It is my new gold standard. It works as ridiculous as it looks.

I believe they are the only importer. Thats where I got mine. Happy to support them as they have made several of my bikes much better than if I hadn't got their info and benefits from all there testing and hard work. I can't imagine this is not going to be at the top of most anyones best tire list once they try it.

I think if you factor in long wear (from what some riders including Ty and Tinken have reported), DOT legal status, and seemingly nothing but rave reviews, well it's a bargain. For us mere mortals who are lucky to get in just a couple of good riding days a month, it's a worthwhile investment.

If it lasts twice as long it is a $55 tire. I already know it works great.

Seems to work great in those conditions as per Ty and Chilly. Worked great in the Gifford silt / ash but I am riding the 250. The big size should lend itself to those conditions. Worth a try.

Will be riding coast range with CH buddy Russ and his FE350 tomorrow. This area is lots of rock and loam and slit. A different mix of ground cover and terrain so more good testing.