Cheap and reliable, Fast and very good puncture resistance.

The tyre wall is not curved with the main centre tread - as it starts to wear you will hear the rub sound when going round corners which in the wet is lethal if you ride pretty fast and lean.

I have use these tyres for 7-8 yrs and I can't remember when I had a puncture.

I have them pumped to the max so it feels like a 1.5" road tyre and rides fast.

Clears glass, thorns due to thick heavy casing.

The tyre is like a square block so while great round corners, it can slide badly when part worn in the wet when pumped at high pressure so let it down a bit in the wet.

I've kept up with roadies with these and they have been an excellent tyre. City slickers are softer and grip better round corners.

Don't go too narrow or it won't seat on your mtb rims which could be too wide and allow any thin tyre to pop.

Run them max and you'll never puncture and after 20 mile rides I am not feeling jarred.

If you can't fit them-use soapy water to slide any tyre on.

After 7yrs I'll be looking for a lighter rounded tyre but if nothing is available and I can still get these in a schwalbe copy.

Similar Products Used:

City Slickers etc

Brand? Material?

Very heavy. About 2 pounds each. Wire bead extremely difficult to install on rim.

At 750 grams or about 2 pounds for each tire, it is quite heavy. Had a very difficult time installing the tire onto the rim. Nearly broke the plastic tire levers. (BTW: I borrowed a set of Park Tire Levers from a friend and they're the best levers around.) I installed one tire to the front wheel, inflated it and it seemed okay. I installed the other tire to the rear wheel, inflated it and it wobbles. I took the front tire and put it in the rear wheel, works fine. Tried putting the rear tire on the front wheel, same wobble. Inconsistent construction? I give up. Threw it in a box and sent it back!!! If you buy these tires you're in for a headache and wasted $$ on return shipping if you mailorder. So if you want a semi-slick tire for street use, get the Tom Slicks or KWest. Those are the ones I'm using now and they work great.

Similar Products Used:

Ritchey Tom Slicks City Tire
Kenda KWest

Grip, absorbent ride, grip, thick tread to discourage punctures, grip, forgiving handling, grip, and did I mention grip?

None that stand out.

Okay, so some of you will think I am going too far, but nothing comes close to these tyres! Grip is awesome, wet or dry. Rolling resistance isn't the lowest, but who cares, that just means more exercise!
Honestly, I push my bike to and past the limit on sealed roads, and nothing has ever performed like these tyres. Nowhere else have I found such progressive breakaway, and such absolutely delightful "feel". Everything that goes on between tyre and road is immediately telegraphed up to your finger tips - useful when you like to push your luck!

Vredestein are the only tyres that come close, because they too have found the secret to a good tyre carcass. Unfortunately, their tread compound cannot compete with the grip on offer from Michelin.

Funny though, 'cause most Michelin car tyres are quite average - my four-wheeled beast swears by Bridgestone!

Similar Products Used:

City/slicks from Vredestein, Bridgestone, Ritchey, Vittoria, Tioga

Great price, Durable rubber, Light weight, Low rolling resistance, Low profile, Quiet footprint & Vents water well.

Hard to fit on disk rims the very first time, after that you get used to it. Tread to vent water makes up 20% of the contact surface.

UPDATE: I swapped the front tire with 7,400kms (4yrs) on it to the rear wheel (July 2005) and I've put on another 2,800kms by the middle of December 2006. The lesser distance put on the tire since swapping is due to moving to a house in Pickering and spending a lot of time on renovations and little time left for cycling when tired. But, since swapping the tire I've had no flat tires. Possibly "luck" or the fact that the 2006 cycling season had far fewer broken glass bottles along my waterfront route. I only bike in the dry and on city streets, sidewalks and bike paths. Being a clydesdale rider of (190-210lbs), I've only ever been caught out in the rain 1x. The tire/tread did an excellent job in venting away the water to keep me upright. I'm now using IRC Metro Duo's (front + rear) with a tread to vent water that makes up only 5% of the contact surface. The tire is a little higher in profile but narrower in width when compared to the Michelins. I read that the Michelins squarer profile is best suited for straightaways, while the IRCs rounder profile are best suited for turns.
Bottom Line: 4 flats in 5.5yrs with 10,200kms on them = 5/5!

Similar Products Used:

Tioga City Slicker 26"x1.950" at 65psi, IRC Metro Duro 26"x1.5" at 70psi.

Very fast tyre. Grips well in the wet

None,zip,zero.

The bottom line is that it's a great tyre. I was first going to buy a cheap Asian version, but I forked the extra cash and I don't regret it at all.

Similar Products Used:

First road tyre that I have used

For a MTB tyre, good rolling resistance. I did a tour on a Trek 4700 with loaded panniers over some pretty lumpy dirt roads with these tyres and they survived well, even handled
some downhill on blue metal without major dramas. Haven't had a puncture yet.

btw, those reviwers talking about tread, tread on road tyres is useless. Road tyres don't aquaplane, you don't need tread, it just increases rolling resistance for the questionable gain of making the ignorant feel safer in the wet. The tread on cycle tyres is only useful on loose surfaces where you
need lots of edges to bite into dirt/mud/gravel. So
why do the tyre manufacturers sell treaded road tyres? Marketing wins over engineering.

In Oz, they're expensive. No weaknesses yet that I've found.
I'm 95-100kg (~210-220 lb) and loaded with another 20kg on a packrack these were good. The reviewers whinging about
feeling bumps probably need to ride a roadbike for a while to get their heads sorted out!

I like 'em for rail trails and potting around, which is what 95% of riding on MTB's is ;)

I'd rate them higher if I only rode MTB's. They don't
roll like a roady tyre :)

Similar Products Used:

I've got a set of Bontrager Jones AC's for when I go
offroad.
Michelin Ironman (roady)
Michelin Axial Kevlar (roady)
Vitoria Rubino Kevlar (roady)

Fast, durable

Tight bead

These tires are pretty good in rain and light snow, even - probably better than the Metros and City Slickers I've used before. My one complaint is the wire beads are *very* tight, so tight in fact that I broke one of my new Park plastic tire irons. I think the tread on these tires is a better all-around pattern than the slick patterns usually seen on commuter tires.

Similar Products Used:

IRC Metro, Tioga City Slicker

Very good grip even in the wet. Tough sidewall to prevent tears. Good tread thickness. Very fast. Makes my mountain bike comparable to most racers.

Very tight to get on and off rims. Snapped various tyre levers on first fit.

Top tyre.... Watch out for spurious pricing!!

Similar Products Used:

None

Good grip on pavement wet or dry. Good tread wear. High (80)psi tire. Name Brand. Low profile (some may like the road feedback.)

Low profile sidewall makes for a jolting ride (a lot of road feedback.) Don't forget to change your computers tire dia. setup. Always picking small pebbles out of the tread. Did I mention the harsh ride (you don't have to run them at max. psi. I did for speed and that I got.)

When I put these on I really liked them. I didn't like installing them at first but it turned out that was me. I had very little problems with them for over a year, until last month. While riding home I noticed the back tire seemed flat and, had a noticeable thump caused by a bulge. When I got home and broke it down, I found broken/worn cords on the inside where the bulge was. (Still @ 70psi.) Still, I recommend them if your like me and like trying/testing things. I used them with tube liners to help keep flats to one time only.

Similar Products Used:

GEAX Roadsters

- do what they're designed to do well
- reasonably priced
- Michelin quality product
- above average handling in the wet

- small objects/stones lodge easily in sipes

Michelin's Wildgripper City is an amenably priced excellent urban runabout tyre for MTB rims.

If you're after an tyre predominently for urban bitumen & bike path work with the ability to comfortably transit grass, loose bluemetal & firetrails when you must, Michelin's Wildgripper City is it.

Without the limitations of an out and out slick, the City offers relatively low rolling resistance and is quiet compared to your average noisy MTB knobby tyre. eg: Maxxis Wormdrives or Wildgripper Comps.

Handles well, especially on wet bitumen, debri strewn or loose sand covered paths. Braking stability and grip is first rate. Although not offering quite the lowered frictional coefficient of a set of Top Slicks or Axial BI-Sport 700x23Cs, those with realistic expectations will appreciate their comparitive speed & suitability for urban riding. Perfectly suited to their design intent, I'd buy them without hesitation for that purpose again.
Done 1500km on them so far without a puncture. From wear indications, much of which has been imposed at cruise speeds of 25-30kph average, longevity should be good.

Only criticism I'd level at them is their susceptibility to pick up small stones which lodge in the sipes subsequently generating noise with each rotation until you stop and physically dislodge the offending object with a stick or screwdriver. An audible annoyance rather than a performance or reliability one.

Comments above relate to the wire bead 1.5" version.

Similar Products Used:

Maxxis Wormdrives, Michelin Wildgripper Comps, Hutchinson Top Slicks, IRC Metros.