Nevegal

I found a good deal at Pricepoint on the Nevegal 2.35 Stick-E Folding Bead Tire. I've been wanting to try one for a long time, but they've always been a bit expensive. I have the tire mounted, and it will be the front tire on my Kona Kula.

Before mounting the tire though, I put it on the scales. Kenda's website lists the tire as 760 grams (+or- 40 grams). Mine weighed 730 grams! Not bad for such an aggressive looking high volume tire.

I'm curious to see how the Stick-E rubber compound works. Will the softer rubber wear down quickly? Will the sand stick to it and be flung all over my down tube, making little pinging noises?

I'm very excited about the tread pattern. It reminds me of the Dunlop 756's I used run on my old Dirt Bike (Honda CR250R). The center knobs in this configuration always worked better in the sand then the staggered checkerboard style configuration. I'm hoping to see the same performance on the bicycle. The leading edge of the center knobs is ramped for less rolling resistance, and squared on the trailing edge for braking.

I also love low pressure tires. I'm going to run this tire at 30 psi, the lowest recommended tire pressure on the sidewall.

I did some Google searching on the name Nevegal. From what I can find, these tires may be named after a specialty cheese from the Belluna region in Italy. Another possibility is a high speed downhill run in the same area. Anyone got the real story on this?

Unfortunately I won't get to try the tire out for a while, as most of the dirt is now under snow. Stay tuned for the full review...