Been very happy with my TKC80, but since my Ten sees less and less tarmac I plan to pick some more dirt oriented tires next. Choosing tires is hell though. I made this simple list of 5 different tires ordered from road bias to dirt bias based on all the tests I have managed to find and my own (limited) experiences. Not scientific in any way, just for myself to help me pick the right one:
Code:
Tire:______________________0n/off (%)
BRIDGESTONE TW 301/302 ----70/30
CONTINENTAL TKC 80 --------60/40
METZELER KAROO ------------50/50
MICHELIN T 63 -------------40/60
PIRELLI MT 21 -------------30/70
At first I thought I might go for the MT21, it's wonderful in the mud with its self cleaning pattern and it handles the sandy stuff well too. These tires make you look like you know what you are doing offroad. Cheap too. I don't want to sacrifice the road behavior totally though, inspired tarmac driving is pretty dangerous on these.
Then I looked at the Karoo, I have tried one and it's a slightly better tire in the soft and muddy then the TKC80. They are not as comfortable though, also noisy, and in the wet they can be dangerous.
So finally I decided to maybe go for the middle ground between the 2, T63. It seem to be pretty decent on the road and much more competent offroad then the TKC I have now. Heard of people even go enduro with these. Never tried them myself so it would be interesting.
Only worry is the problems reported in this thread:
http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=9276
I will do as little tarmac as possible though so I hope they will work.. And if not I've learned something new. =)