Downhill tires nowadays talk about the channel. The channel is designed to abort dirt, and packed up muck from your tires, creating a more open path to cruise on. The Intense MicroKnobby tire is the exact opposite. With 7,500 micro knobs per tire, these babies were designed for maximum traction in hard pack terrain. Where are these conditions found? At the dirt jumps and around town!
Read on for more information on the MicroKnobby Tire.
The
MicroKnobby tire is designed to be as fast rolling and as smooth as it can be. What's that mean? 7,500 tiny knobs all attempting to give you the most support when you lean on this tire. Constructed as a folding tire, the MicroKnobby tire weighs in at 688 grams and comes in one size at 26 x 2.25. The MicroKnobby has been marketed as the "most versatile tire on the market", but we will see about it. With a directional tread these tire were designed to grab a hold of anything 1/16 of an inch tall or less, and as they are advertised as a "trails, skate park, cross country trails, soft dirt, hard packed dirt, or street tire" we will test all these aspects, although I am unsure about some of them.
Created with Intense's homegrown C3 Rubber Compound the
MicroKnobby tires are designed with soft knobs, and a hard base. The soft knobs help grab loose dirt or conform to pavement, while the harder base rubber aids the tire in its puncture resistance due to the single ply sidewalls, and folding design. Intense's C3 compound is designed for long lasting durability and with a pressure rated for 90-100psi. This means you can run high tire pressure for fast rolling and good pinch flat resistance while the softer compound of the knows still lets them grip when needed.
As the MicroKnobby tires only protrude 1/16th of an inch they don't have much rubber to put down. I see these tires excelling on the street, and hard packed dirt. With such a low stance I don't see the MicroKnobby tires grabbing a hold of any loose, or wet dirt, and with such a limited channel I don't see them dispelling dirt or mud very quickly. My prediction is a wicked hard pack and street tire, an ok Cross Country tire, but not a Downhill or Freeride tire at all. So far all my riding has be to and from work along the streets and at the skate park and I can say that the MicroKnobby is holding strong. I've decided to keep them out of the dirt as they just don't look up to the task like a true dirt knobby would be.
Being incredibly fast and smooth rolling, matched with homegrown rubber compounds, and a very unique design the MicroKnobby tire was designed to be functional when mounted on your dirt jumping or park bike, while still providing enough traction for long cross country rips. To get a hold of a pair of these tires you can either track them down through your local shop (in Canada your local shop can get them in through
Cycles Lambert, or through
Intense's website. 
