SkunkWorks
Well-Known Member
Having ridden on the Dunlop Trailmax Mission tires for the past two seasons, I've gotten quite a good feel for them..............What their strengths and weaknesses are, what they can and can't do, and the longevity one should expect from them.
When I had an upcoming trip to the Desert-Southwest this fall, and noticing that the tread on the rear tire was kinda getting a bit thinner, and having a brand-new spare rear wheel assembly on hand, I took the opportunity to mount a set of the new Dunlop Trailmax Raid tires.
I had been wanting to try them out since they became available, and this was a great time to do so!
DUNLOP TRAILMAX-MISSION
First I'll go over my thoughts and experiences with the Trailmax Mission tires.
This is a picture of the ones that I removed from the bike.
DURABILITY
At the time of this picture, these Tires have 10,614 miles of use on them.
When these were new and first mounted to the bike, the Tread depth in the center of the tires measured:
Front = 8mm
Rear = 11mm
At the time they were removed from the bike the Tread depth measured:
Front = 5mm
Rear = 4mm
Overall Tread wear-rate over the life of the Tire is:
Front = 3538 miles per mm of depth
Rear = 1516.3 miles per mm of depth
This is pretty consistent with what I have seen with all the tires I have used on the Super-Tenere since I've owned it.
I typically go through 2 rear tires for every front tire.
Using this math, if I rode this rear tire down to a tread-depth of 1mm, (which is the legal DOT limit) I could go another 4550 miles on it! I'm certain that it would have lasted the whole Desert-Southwest trip and back.........
Since it is mounted on a spare rear wheel, I'm planning to put it back on the bike once the rear "Raid" wears out.
I have not been easy on these tires at all..............I am actually pretty hard on tires in general.
I ride aggressively often, both on pavement and on dirt/gravel. I accelerate and decelerate hard on pavement, and in the dirt. I ride rocks, sand, water, and everything else in between.
I'll spin the back tire frequently in the loose dirt as well.
I do tour long-distance, so any tires that I use will see a whole lot of highway pavement miles.
These Tires have held up phenomenally!
NOISE
As far as perceived sound goes, I would consider the Front tire to be a bit noisy.
Due to the design of the tread, it will "Sing" to you at certain speeds. I always found it to be loudest in the 40-50 mph range.
The tread design of the front tire seems to be a compromise between dirt and pavement, which probably contributes to it being noisier than a street-biased tire.
The rear tire does not seem to be noisy at all, and I've never really noticed any excessive sound coming from the back tire.
With the Trailmax Mission, it all seems to be coming from the front tire.
PERFORMANCE
Overall I would rate these Tires as a 70/30 Tire, where 70% of their performance is biased toward Pavement riding, and 30% towards Dirt performance.
With that being said, these Tires have always impressed me with the amount of grip that they have on dirt................and I have ridden a lot of dirt on them!
On both Pavement and hard Dirt/Gravel these tires are very stable. They track straight and true whether riding heavily-loaded or riding naked............They do not exhibit any kind of "Wandering" at all.
In the dry (on pavement) their grip level is amazing. In the twisties I can lean them over from one edge to the other, and have been known to scrape my boots on the pavement occasionally. They track very well, and are very stable and predictable when leaned over.
In the wet, they evacuate water very well at highway speeds..
The grip-level on wet pavement is what I would consider "Adequate"......... meaning they will get you safely to where you need to go as long as you ride responsibly.
I usually adjust the level of aggressiveness to match the conditions when I ride, so I don't typically try to lean a bike over very far in the wet.
With that being said, I've never had them break-loose on me either while riding in the rain.
With these tires, I take into consideration their durability/longevity and understand that the tread compound is not as "soft" as other tires that would be better suited to wet-pavement riding.
On hard-packed dirt/gravel, and over embedded rocks these tires have amazing grip! These tires have continued to impress me with their performance............They just work!
Where these tires really shine, is in their longevity! Long-distance Adventure-Touring, and long lasting consistency are their strong suits.
These tires will easily get you 15,000 miles of hard use, and it's not unheard of for less-aggressive riders getting up around 20,000+ miles out of them.
Where these tires do-not shine is in deep-sand, deep-loose gravel, and loose rocks..........................They simply do not have large enough voids between the tread-blocks for that kind of terrain.
The grip suffers, and you simply do not have the stability and confidence in the tire while riding the deep/loose stuff.
They also suffer during "Side-Hilling" The front tire is fine, but the rear will slide down into ruts or if you are trying to climb a slope sideways. The lack of aggressive tread blocks at the edge of the tread contribute to this.
I cannot speak to their performance in deep mud, other than to say I would imagine it to be pretty poor.
I do not ride very much mud, and tend to avoid it on purpose if I can.................."A Man's got to know his limitations"
OVERVIEW
Will I buy these tires again?............ Absolutely!
If you are the type of rider that rides mostly pavement, with the occasional blast down a dirt/gravel road, and you want a tire that will last for many-many miles of hard-consistent use, then these Tires are for you..
If you are looking for a tire that will "Last the entire trip" or get you to Alaska-and-Back, then these Tires are also for you!
For someone like me, who rides dirt-roads often, but also likes to Tour long-distance, these tires are among the best I've found!
If you are the type of Rider that likes to ride deep-sand, loose-rocks, mud or snow, than these are definitely NOT the tires for you!
When I had an upcoming trip to the Desert-Southwest this fall, and noticing that the tread on the rear tire was kinda getting a bit thinner, and having a brand-new spare rear wheel assembly on hand, I took the opportunity to mount a set of the new Dunlop Trailmax Raid tires.
I had been wanting to try them out since they became available, and this was a great time to do so!
DUNLOP TRAILMAX-MISSION
First I'll go over my thoughts and experiences with the Trailmax Mission tires.
This is a picture of the ones that I removed from the bike.
DURABILITY
At the time of this picture, these Tires have 10,614 miles of use on them.
When these were new and first mounted to the bike, the Tread depth in the center of the tires measured:
Front = 8mm
Rear = 11mm
At the time they were removed from the bike the Tread depth measured:
Front = 5mm
Rear = 4mm
Overall Tread wear-rate over the life of the Tire is:
Front = 3538 miles per mm of depth
Rear = 1516.3 miles per mm of depth
This is pretty consistent with what I have seen with all the tires I have used on the Super-Tenere since I've owned it.
I typically go through 2 rear tires for every front tire.
Using this math, if I rode this rear tire down to a tread-depth of 1mm, (which is the legal DOT limit) I could go another 4550 miles on it! I'm certain that it would have lasted the whole Desert-Southwest trip and back.........
Since it is mounted on a spare rear wheel, I'm planning to put it back on the bike once the rear "Raid" wears out.
I have not been easy on these tires at all..............I am actually pretty hard on tires in general.
I ride aggressively often, both on pavement and on dirt/gravel. I accelerate and decelerate hard on pavement, and in the dirt. I ride rocks, sand, water, and everything else in between.
I'll spin the back tire frequently in the loose dirt as well.
I do tour long-distance, so any tires that I use will see a whole lot of highway pavement miles.
These Tires have held up phenomenally!
NOISE
As far as perceived sound goes, I would consider the Front tire to be a bit noisy.
Due to the design of the tread, it will "Sing" to you at certain speeds. I always found it to be loudest in the 40-50 mph range.
The tread design of the front tire seems to be a compromise between dirt and pavement, which probably contributes to it being noisier than a street-biased tire.
The rear tire does not seem to be noisy at all, and I've never really noticed any excessive sound coming from the back tire.
With the Trailmax Mission, it all seems to be coming from the front tire.
PERFORMANCE
Overall I would rate these Tires as a 70/30 Tire, where 70% of their performance is biased toward Pavement riding, and 30% towards Dirt performance.
With that being said, these Tires have always impressed me with the amount of grip that they have on dirt................and I have ridden a lot of dirt on them!
On both Pavement and hard Dirt/Gravel these tires are very stable. They track straight and true whether riding heavily-loaded or riding naked............They do not exhibit any kind of "Wandering" at all.
In the dry (on pavement) their grip level is amazing. In the twisties I can lean them over from one edge to the other, and have been known to scrape my boots on the pavement occasionally. They track very well, and are very stable and predictable when leaned over.
In the wet, they evacuate water very well at highway speeds..
The grip-level on wet pavement is what I would consider "Adequate"......... meaning they will get you safely to where you need to go as long as you ride responsibly.
I usually adjust the level of aggressiveness to match the conditions when I ride, so I don't typically try to lean a bike over very far in the wet.
With that being said, I've never had them break-loose on me either while riding in the rain.
With these tires, I take into consideration their durability/longevity and understand that the tread compound is not as "soft" as other tires that would be better suited to wet-pavement riding.
On hard-packed dirt/gravel, and over embedded rocks these tires have amazing grip! These tires have continued to impress me with their performance............They just work!
Where these tires really shine, is in their longevity! Long-distance Adventure-Touring, and long lasting consistency are their strong suits.
These tires will easily get you 15,000 miles of hard use, and it's not unheard of for less-aggressive riders getting up around 20,000+ miles out of them.
Where these tires do-not shine is in deep-sand, deep-loose gravel, and loose rocks..........................They simply do not have large enough voids between the tread-blocks for that kind of terrain.
The grip suffers, and you simply do not have the stability and confidence in the tire while riding the deep/loose stuff.
They also suffer during "Side-Hilling" The front tire is fine, but the rear will slide down into ruts or if you are trying to climb a slope sideways. The lack of aggressive tread blocks at the edge of the tread contribute to this.
I cannot speak to their performance in deep mud, other than to say I would imagine it to be pretty poor.
I do not ride very much mud, and tend to avoid it on purpose if I can.................."A Man's got to know his limitations"
OVERVIEW
Will I buy these tires again?............ Absolutely!
If you are the type of rider that rides mostly pavement, with the occasional blast down a dirt/gravel road, and you want a tire that will last for many-many miles of hard-consistent use, then these Tires are for you..
If you are looking for a tire that will "Last the entire trip" or get you to Alaska-and-Back, then these Tires are also for you!
For someone like me, who rides dirt-roads often, but also likes to Tour long-distance, these tires are among the best I've found!
If you are the type of Rider that likes to ride deep-sand, loose-rocks, mud or snow, than these are definitely NOT the tires for you!
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or else I would have checked and compared them.
