I see this all the time. People saying that they have no grip on looser stuff and I look and their tyres are rock solid. Just let abit out and they will be brilliant.
The fact is that I test my tires at various pressures over the same dozen or so trails I ride, and I ride at least 3 or 4 times a week during the riding season. The tires get lots of chances to either prove themselves, or not. To be really specific, my typical riding pressure for a 26 x 2.1 size class of tire is about 28-30 psi for front use, and 30-32 on the rear, adjusted up or down 2 psi for conditions.
Glad to be of help, the C'Dale Trail is a good all-around bike for hitting any trail. You'll be well pleased. I got to test out some Cannondales last season and was well impressed with all I rode. The Jekyll is fantastic, as is the new Trigger. Cannondale has always been one of the best alloy hardtail makers around, and doesn't look to have slowed down in my opinion.
Out in the deserts of AZ we all run some form off the Small Block 8. We lower the pressure to about 26 and it grips onto every loose thing you can imagine. Most avid riders are running tubeless out here as well, so it hold just fine.
That depends mainly on what rim you have, but based on my past experience you should be okay, as a standard rim generally can handle a 2.0 to 2.3 without issue. The issue would be if you have a narrow rim. A narrow rim prevents a wider tire's tread from "opening up" meaning the wide tire doesnt contact the ground properly and kind of looks like a balloon tire like on a cruiser. That stops the tire from offering good traction and handling as not as much of it actually touches the ground.
i have the big block 8 on my recently bought e-bike, on street the grip doesn't seem too great, and with tiny nobs they won't be very useful in dirt, but they work well enough for street. gonna replace it with some oversize cruisers, probably schwalbe fat franks or big apples, just a street commuter bike.
For me, the Small Block 8 is a fine rear tire for hardpack, and works well enough for a hybrid role of part trail/part street. In that role, it's actually high on my favorites list.
Yeah, my Sony's autofocus had a mind of it's own for sure, lol. I've thankfully replaced it with a basic DSLR for some of my shooting now going forward.
A combo of the SB8 on the rear, and a Kenda Nevegal up front would be a great all-around setup. My personal setup after trying many tires is to use a WTB Nano in the rear, and a WTB Moto up front. That's what my bikes have, but tires are very terrain specific. What works in the east may not be the best out west, and vice versa. All-around, either setup I mentioned should do the job admirably.
thanks jake running this tire on rear and noticed some spinning on climbs but roll nice want better traction on rear using nevegal 26x2.10 up front seems great. thanks for video
ive taken these tires in the mud and they were not bad but not as good as my old very very knobbly tires on my old bike but i prefer these because its makes it more...fun because i had wheelspins and i was sliding everywhere lol so i enjoyed it alot
You've got the right two tires if you're going with Kenda, but you have them swapped. Always put the more aggressive tire up front for better braking and cornering traction. Use a more efficient tire on the rear to gain a little efficiency and drop some rolling resistance. For Kenda tires, best all around setup is a Nevegal up front, and either a Small Block 8 or Slant Six in rear!
When I posted the video, a couple sites had sales on the tire, ranging from $16.99 to $19.99. Right now, I'm seeing them for $25-$30 on pricepoint, ebay, and others. Blueskycycling has the UST tubeless version for $33, which is a decent buy. Watch for sales, as it always varies, but I've seen the SB8 for under $20 pretty often.
Totally agree with this review. I've used the SB8 for many years in desert (hard trail) with good results, the tires are fast. However these tires are really bad on the mud or wet surfaces.
Yes, that's my take on them as well. The Slant 6 is much more versatile without becoming a sluggish tire if you want to stay with Kenda products. For me, I'll keep searching out WTB Nano's until nowhere has them in stock anymore. They combine the SB8's rolling with slightly better grip on my local trails.
Depends on the tire you want to use. If I used one bike to ride a mix of alot of pavement, and some dirt, I might put a Kenda Small Block 8 on the front, and a Kenda Kross (also available as a rebranded/repackaged Sunlite for less $) in the rear to get a efficient setup that could still handle a little dirt.
The only reason you should buy these is for the available 700c line for hybrids, or for hard pack racing. I bought this as a rear for my dsb, because of the narrower profile.
Another setup, one that would probably beat the Small Block8/Kross combo, especially if you decide to ride a trail once in awhile would be to put a WTB Nano in front and a WTB All-Terrain in rear.
The Small Block 8's would do well for dirtjumping with its fast rolling design. WTB Nanos also would work, as would WTB's Mutanoraptor. I don't have personal experience on the MK2's, so I can't comment, but the Maxxis Holy Rollers are quite popular, as is the Larsen TT for DJ.
i think your psi might be too high if the grip is that bad. I just tried going over some loose gravel that my ground controls slipped over, and the sb8's gripped perfectly.
I actually ran these about 5 psi lower than any other tire, including the low profile WTB Nano's. The SB8's still were lacking in overall grip on loose terrain. I'd feel like a bad reviewer if I wasn't honest with my opinions and observations about a product, and even more so if I didn't give the product a fair test. I ran the SB8's for two months solid and tested at various pressures and over as many trails as I could within 100 miles. They roll great, grip well on hardpack, fair on intermediate but dry conditions and then become poor on really loose or wet terrain. Now, the Kenda Slant 6's are a bit more versatile if that's what you want and you're a Kenda fan.
I've basically said the same thing in my review that experts (including Mountain Bike Action magazine-who really likes this tire) have said. The SB8 is a fast rolling, efficient tire with limited grip in conditions other than pure hardpack. In my video, I stated that this tire works great as a rear only, or for riders on hardpack/ mixed pavement & hardpack. I'm also an aggressive rider, and my personal setup is a WTB Moto in front, paired with a WTB Nano in rear (the Nano is alot like the SB8).
Great vid! Just want to ask if the small block 8 can be considered a good front tire? I am thinking of giving a mix of SB8 front and kenda nevegal at the rear.. Can you share your thoughts about it? thanks
Lot of people have been recommending this for my dirt jump bike. Running maxxis holy rollers as of now. Should I switch? Any better tires for the stuff? Lately been looking at intense mk2's HELP!!!!!!
hey what tire would you suggest i ride a 26er hardtail mountain bike for cross country.. i ride mostly on hard pavement roads, hard pavement climbs, and rocky garden climbs.. which of the low rolling resistance tire.
Hi could someone tell me if these tires would work for me? I ride mostly concrete and an occasional trail ride with dirt, some sand, and sometimes mud. How do these tires handle dirt,sand, and mud? The dirt is somewhat packed but still kind of soft and the sand is mostly sugar sand.Btw I live in Florida if that helps.
Neither, its the 2.1, but my statements apply to all the sizes 26"/27.5"/29" diameters, and 1.9"/2.1"/2.3" widths. The tire is a fairly fast rolling, but limited traction design. Good for pure hardpack and works well for mixed dirt and pavement useage, such as situations requiring riding on the road to get to the trails.
Totally overrated tires. Pretty usuless with mud and sand, great only for dry and hard soil. Kenda SB8 likes to catch unexpected rear tire slip during uphill and uncontrolled slip of the front wheel during fast corners. Recently i've broke my 2 ribs becouse SB8. Now changed them on schwalbe rocket ron and is much better. Ribs still hurting me :-\ Kenda SB8 are good only for basic, dry XC without mud, deep sand, wet roots and leafs, sharp rocks, etc.
holy fuck its just a MOUNTAIN BIKE TIRE. either buy one with knobby tread if you ride downhill and through a damn marsh or buy a tire with smooth tread if you ride it on the fucking street. "these tires made a hugggge difference" bullshit buy a tire and put it on your bike and thats it LOL....
Here's someone that well... Doesn't get it at all. Tires are what connects you to whatever surface you're riding on. The wrong tires can turn a 15 mile ride into something you regret, or can make a trail feel like a roller coaster ride of fun. My personal thought would be why bother watching if you're not a fan of trying different tires or understand that tires are a huge part of riding? Thanks for watching anyways as it helps my channel, but you've genuinely stumped me on that part.
Actually, I get it more than you. If you've truly rode "tons" of bikes with different tires, then you'd realize how much difference there is when simply swapping sets of tires on the exact same bike. When racing, that was the exact reason I had 4 sets of tires for whatever the course/conditions were. Some work far better in certain situations then others. But, you couldn't piece together a properly structured sentence without cursing in either of your replies, so why should I expect more?
Yeah, there is a difference in tires. This one, the SB8s, in my opinion, are very light, fast rolling... but can't take corners very well. The sidewalls are very thin, and in turn, fold in turns.
FUCK, you just had to film a tire. but your camera decided, hey that grass over there looks sweet
haha
I see this all the time. People saying that they have no grip on looser stuff and I look and their tyres are rock solid. Just let abit out and they will be brilliant.
The fact is that I test my tires at various pressures over the same dozen or so trails I ride, and I ride at least 3 or 4 times a week during the riding season. The tires get lots of chances to either prove themselves, or not.
To be really specific, my typical riding pressure for a 26 x 2.1 size class of tire is about 28-30 psi for front use, and 30-32 on the rear, adjusted up or down 2 psi for conditions.
Glad to be of help, the C'Dale Trail is a good all-around bike for hitting any trail. You'll be well pleased. I got to test out some Cannondales last season and was well impressed with all I rode. The Jekyll is fantastic, as is the new Trigger. Cannondale has always been one of the best alloy hardtail makers around, and doesn't look to have slowed down in my opinion.
Out in the deserts of AZ we all run some form off the Small Block 8. We lower the pressure to about 26 and it grips onto every loose thing you can imagine. Most avid riders are running tubeless out here as well, so it hold just fine.
Also wanted to mention the Kenda K Rad. A good dirtjump tire and normally pretty reasonably priced.
That depends mainly on what rim you have, but based on my past experience you should be okay, as a standard rim generally can handle a 2.0 to 2.3 without issue. The issue would be if you have a narrow rim. A narrow rim prevents a wider tire's tread from "opening up" meaning the wide tire doesnt contact the ground properly and kind of looks like a balloon tire like on a cruiser. That stops the tire from offering good traction and handling as not as much of it actually touches the ground.
i have the big block 8 on my recently bought e-bike, on street the grip doesn't seem too great, and with tiny nobs they won't be very useful in dirt, but they work well enough for street. gonna replace it with some oversize cruisers, probably schwalbe fat franks or big apples, just a street commuter bike.
For me, the Small Block 8 is a fine rear tire for hardpack, and works well enough for a hybrid role of part trail/part street. In that role, it's actually high on my favorites list.
Him: I'll review this tyre here..
Camera: Cool, I'll be here focusing on the grass 😂
Yeah, my Sony's autofocus had a mind of it's own for sure, lol. I've thankfully replaced it with a basic DSLR for some of my shooting now going forward.
A combo of the SB8 on the rear, and a Kenda Nevegal up front would be a great all-around setup.
My personal setup after trying many tires is to use a WTB Nano in the rear, and a WTB Moto up front. That's what my bikes have, but tires are very terrain specific. What works in the east may not be the best out west, and vice versa.
All-around, either setup I mentioned should do the job admirably.
thanks jake running this tire on rear and noticed some spinning on climbs but roll nice want better traction on rear using nevegal 26x2.10 up front seems great. thanks for video
ive taken these tires in the mud and they were not bad but not as good as my old very very knobbly tires on my old bike but i prefer these because its makes it more...fun because i had wheelspins and i was sliding everywhere lol so i enjoyed it alot
The Small Block 8 is a tire from Kendas John Tomac signature series. These are some of Kendas best tire designs.
You've got the right two tires if you're going with Kenda, but you have them swapped.
Always put the more aggressive tire up front for better braking and cornering traction. Use a more efficient tire on the rear to gain a little efficiency and drop some rolling resistance.
For Kenda tires, best all around setup is a Nevegal up front, and either a Small Block 8 or Slant Six in rear!
When I posted the video, a couple sites had sales on the tire, ranging from $16.99 to $19.99. Right now, I'm seeing them for $25-$30 on pricepoint, ebay, and others. Blueskycycling has the UST tubeless version for $33, which is a decent buy.
Watch for sales, as it always varies, but I've seen the SB8 for under $20 pretty often.
Totally agree with this review. I've used the SB8 for many years in desert (hard trail) with good results, the tires are fast. However these tires are really bad on the mud or wet surfaces.
Yes, that's my take on them as well. The Slant 6 is much more versatile without becoming a sluggish tire if you want to stay with Kenda products.
For me, I'll keep searching out WTB Nano's until nowhere has them in stock anymore. They combine the SB8's rolling with slightly better grip on my local trails.
Depends on the tire you want to use. If I used one bike to ride a mix of alot of pavement, and some dirt, I might put a Kenda Small Block 8 on the front, and a Kenda Kross (also available as a rebranded/repackaged Sunlite for less $) in the rear to get a efficient setup that could still handle a little dirt.
Nice review the grass are so green
lol
Thinking of buying the cannondale trail six and it comes with this tire stock so wanted to know what's coming. This video helped. Thanks :)
The only reason you should buy these is for the available 700c line for hybrids, or for hard pack racing. I bought this as a rear for my dsb, because of the narrower profile.
Another setup, one that would probably beat the Small Block8/Kross combo, especially if you decide to ride a trail once in awhile would be to put a WTB Nano in front and a WTB All-Terrain in rear.
The Small Block 8's would do well for dirtjumping with its fast rolling design. WTB Nanos also would work, as would WTB's Mutanoraptor.
I don't have personal experience on the MK2's, so I can't comment, but the Maxxis Holy Rollers are quite popular, as is the Larsen TT for DJ.
Do as feels best to you, as terrain varies so much from one area to another. That said, the Nevegal works fantastically as a front tire.
i think your psi might be too high if the grip is that bad. I just tried going over some loose gravel that my ground controls slipped over, and the sb8's gripped perfectly.
I actually ran these about 5 psi lower than any other tire, including the low profile WTB Nano's. The SB8's still were lacking in overall grip on loose terrain.
I'd feel like a bad reviewer if I wasn't honest with my opinions and observations about a product, and even more so if I didn't give the product a fair test.
I ran the SB8's for two months solid and tested at various pressures and over as many trails as I could within 100 miles. They roll great, grip well on hardpack, fair on intermediate but dry conditions and then become poor on really loose or wet terrain.
Now, the Kenda Slant 6's are a bit more versatile if that's what you want and you're a Kenda fan.
I've basically said the same thing in my review that experts (including Mountain Bike Action magazine-who really likes this tire) have said. The SB8 is a fast rolling, efficient tire with limited grip in conditions other than pure hardpack. In my video, I stated that this tire works great as a rear only, or for riders on hardpack/ mixed pavement & hardpack. I'm also an aggressive rider, and my personal setup is a WTB Moto in front, paired with a WTB Nano in rear (the Nano is alot like the SB8).
oh thanks for replying, im thinking about getting 2.3s. do you think they will fit on my rim i have 1.9s atm
Yea works great in loose dirt..desert terrain awesome...
If you run tubeless you should he able to run it at a low pressure, and get better grip that way
Great vid! Just want to ask if the small block 8 can be considered a good front tire? I am thinking of giving a mix of SB8 front and kenda nevegal at the rear.. Can you share your thoughts about it? thanks
Blacktop or hardpack dirt is where this tire works best. I look at it as a good hybrid tire.
Glad to be of help!
Lot of people have been recommending this for my dirt jump bike. Running maxxis holy rollers as of now. Should I switch? Any better tires for the stuff? Lately been looking at intense mk2's HELP!!!!!!
Tire's width is measured from the farthest outside point on one side to the other. This would be across the tire...
The walls are so thin! My brother owned one. The sides got slashed
hey what tire would you suggest i ride a 26er hardtail mountain bike for cross country.. i ride mostly on hard pavement roads, hard pavement climbs, and rocky garden climbs.. which of the low rolling resistance tire.
Hi could someone tell me if these tires would work for me? I ride mostly concrete and an occasional trail ride with dirt, some sand, and sometimes mud. How do these tires handle dirt,sand, and mud? The dirt is somewhat packed but still kind of soft and the sand is mostly sugar sand.Btw I live in Florida if that helps.
Yes, Mongoose has a soft spot for Kenda. Not a bad thing, as Kenda makes good products.
Neither, its the 2.1, but my statements apply to all the sizes 26"/27.5"/29" diameters, and 1.9"/2.1"/2.3" widths. The tire is a fairly fast rolling, but limited traction design. Good for pure hardpack and works well for mixed dirt and pavement useage, such as situations requiring riding on the road to get to the trails.
Can anyone recommend other 26” options for pavement and hard dry dirt. Looking for low rolling resistance and good puncture protection. Thanks!
You can find the Kenda Small block 8 for only $15-20 bucks??? What website??
Also what's the rim you got on the nano raptor??
can someone tell me how tires are measured is the 1.9, 2.35 etc across the tire? or from the rim out?
Good for rear
Thank you!
is this tire in the video 1.9 or 2.35?
I've got these on my tyax comp
Yeah if i ever get another hard tail or tyax ill get the kenda tires
thank you
You have it on backwards.
good tires
I cant find SB8 under 40$.Can someone help me,give me a link or something
Size?
why does the title say Kenda Tomac
Grass is in focus, not the tire.
should have ended the review at "its a Kenda"
Totally overrated tires. Pretty usuless with mud and sand, great only for dry and hard soil. Kenda SB8 likes to catch unexpected rear tire slip during uphill and uncontrolled slip of the front wheel during fast corners. Recently i've broke my 2 ribs becouse SB8. Now changed them on schwalbe rocket ron and is much better. Ribs still hurting me :-\ Kenda SB8 are good only for basic, dry XC without mud, deep sand, wet roots and leafs, sharp rocks, etc.
Łukasz Er like all minimal tread tires, they were never intended for anything but hard packed dry conditions.
no focus...
holy fuck its just a MOUNTAIN BIKE TIRE. either buy one with knobby tread if you ride downhill and through a damn marsh or buy a tire with smooth tread if you ride it on the fucking street. "these tires made a hugggge difference" bullshit buy a tire and put it on your bike and thats it LOL....
Here's someone that well... Doesn't get it at all.
Tires are what connects you to whatever surface you're riding on. The wrong tires can turn a 15 mile ride into something you regret, or can make a trail feel like a roller coaster ride of fun.
My personal thought would be why bother watching if you're not a fan of trying different tires or understand that tires are a huge part of riding? Thanks for watching anyways as it helps my channel, but you've genuinely stumped me on that part.
my personal thought is ive rode TONS of bikes with different tires and its a basic concept bud... clearly you dont understand the concept
Actually, I get it more than you.
If you've truly rode "tons" of bikes with different tires, then you'd realize how much difference there is when simply swapping sets of tires on the exact same bike.
When racing, that was the exact reason I had 4 sets of tires for whatever the course/conditions were. Some work far better in certain situations then others.
But, you couldn't piece together a properly structured sentence without cursing in either of your replies, so why should I expect more?
Yeah, there is a difference in tires. This one, the SB8s, in my opinion, are very light, fast rolling... but can't take corners very well. The sidewalls are very thin, and in turn, fold in turns.