Vredestein Black Panthers

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Product: Vredestein Black Panther 2.35 foldable mountain bike tires. Test Platform: 2006 Kona Dawg Primo. Product Put in Service: July 2009. Reviewed by: Rich Ries. Cost: $20.00 each; list is $56. Weight/mass: 24.16 oz./685 g. actual; 23.28 oz./660 g claimed. Actual Size: 2.35” across the casing; 2.4” across the knobs at the widest point. Recommended? Yes, with a caveat.

Executive Summary: Excellent overall dry-conditions performance but check your clearances first.

Ratings

(1 is lowest, 5 is highest)

Comments

Traction, all conditions

They suck in muck but that's not the intended use

Ease of Installation

About average

Cost/Value

When on sale; maybe a 2 at list price

Wear

Not yet known, will update after more miles

Be warned - the Vredestein Black Panther 2.35s are big tires. Really big. The 2.35” is across the casing; add another 0.05” across the knobs for a total of 2.4” of width. And the profile is tall. These tires are nearly a half-inch taller than the Continental Flow Pros on our Riddick. We run two-point-threes on the Kona all the time with no issues, but these two-thirty-fives barely fit. Chainstay clearance was especially slim, but clearance at the seatstay bridge was tight, too.

So what do you get with all that meat? The chance to run some absurdly low pressures. We started out at the tire pressures we use with 2.3” tires; 22 psi front and 27 psi rear. Much too much. We bled off pressure until we finally settled on 18/22 (f/r) and the bike behaved well. According to the Vredestein Web site these are tubeless tires, although no designation is provided on the retail packaging. But we don't run tubeless for lots of reasons - which we'll discuss another day - and so we stuffed tubes into these tires

Traction is good in all conditions, at least all the conditions for which these tires are intended. They stick to rocks and roots. Cornering is predictable on hardpack. Cornering is chaotic in the marbles, so we take care to stay in the middle of the trail. The Black Panthers are dual-compound tires, with lugs that are harder in the center and softer on the sides. This is supposed to provide greater straight-line speed along with improved cornering adhesion. Good theory, but whether this actually improves traction is hard to say. And although these tires aren't intended for wet conditions, we were forced to use them across some muddy sections by virtue of a very wet summer. Braking and acceleration degraded about as expected in the sloppy spots. The only real surprise was sideslip. You'd think a continuous center tread would control sideslip. You'd be wrong. These cats' claws were retracted in the mud, rendering the Kona nearly uncontrollable as we pulled broadslides across each puddle on the trail. Stylish, but scary.

While not nearly as quick as the Continental Speed Kings they replaced (read that review here), the Black Panthers are by no means slow. A 680-gram mass helps a lot. That's really light for tire of this size.

The Black Panthers have 55 threads-per-inch (tpi) construction; their 2.0 foldable cousins have 120 tpi. A 2.0 wire bead model also has 55 tpi. Despite the low thread count, the Panthers seemed reasonably supple. In some ways thread count matters. A supple tire better conforms to irregularities, such as rocks and roots, to provide better traction. In some ways thread count doesn't matter at all. Its impact on ride quality is negligible when you're running a tire this big at pressures this low on a bike with 5 inches of travel at both ends. While thread count is provided, thread type is not, nor is the material that makes the folders foldable. Nylon threads? Kevlar beads? Who knows? Vredestein ain't telling.

This lack of info is mildly annoying to those of us who thrive on such minutiae. Entertaining to all is the way the dear Dutch Anglicize their literature. These “tyres” are to be mounted on “Crotchet Type rims only.” And Vredestein suggests that the rider “Check your tyre pressure regularly for more cycling pleasure,” which sounds faintly suggestive.

So are Black Panthers the right “tyre” for you? Maybe, if you can find them on a super sale, as we did, and if they'll fit your bike, as ours barely do. You might also look at the 2.0 version, if you find them on sale. They offer predictable performance in dry conditions and on hardpack, can be run tubeless (according the Vredestein Web site), and are exceptionally light for their size. If you ride light all-mountain or heavy XC and can accept their limitations, these cats are a good choice.

Photos

Although they're supposed to be only five-hundredths of an inch wider than our Conti Flows, the Black Panthers are noticeably larger overall.

A quick check with a tape shows that the Panthers are nearly a half-inch taller than the Flows.

Seatstay bridge clearance was tight (above), but chainstay clearance (below) was more worrisome. Although the tire clears the stay, any mud or dirt carried in the tread buffs the gusset. So far this has removed the paint but has not damaged the stay itself. We're keeping an eye on things. It doesn't help that the tire isn't centered; clearance on the right (drive) side is a little bigger. This disparity could be caused by a wheel with improper dish or worn dropouts. We'll look into the matter and fix the issue if it's fixable.

The tires have no Direction of Rotation arrows, but it's pretty easy to figure it out. Remember that a primary function of the front tire is to provide braking and the primary function of the rear tire is to provide drive. Since one side of the Panthers' lugs is sloped (red arrows) and one side is squared off (blue arrows), all you have to do is make sure the square edge is properly oriented to provide either braking (front wheel) or drive (rear wheel).

Imagine this front tire turning in the direction of the arrow. When the brakes are applied, dirt is forced against the square faces of the knobs to provide positive braking.

Imagine this rear tire turning in the direction of the arrow. When drive pressure is applied the square faces of the knobs push against the soil to provide acceleration.