Intense Tire Systems 909 DH

Big Rubber

Following some recent advice I decided to purchase a set of DH rubber for the big bike. I'm hardly pushing the boundaries of crazy riding but rumour has it that a decent set of big treads is an idea on a bike being used on DH tracks.

There's a lot of options in the tyre game. Seemingly, Maxxis are the overwhelming dominant choice. Schwalbe seem to be a close second behind. Continental are there or thereabouts. ITS aren't usually on the radar.

Say who?

However, I kind of like how they lay out their range. Split down the middle between XC, and AM/FR/DH.

The XC side of the range gets harder rubber, single ply casing, and a selection of lighter treads (System 1, 2 & 3, fast rolling semi-slick & hardpack treads) and several chunkier options (System 4 & 5), all around 500g.

The AM/FR/DH side gets an entirely different selection of treads, most fairly chunky numbers that lean toward outright grip rather than speed (if you ignore the Zero semi-slick), for a range of ground conditions right up to liquid mud. All these treads come in three toughness & compound options, AM (single ply, hard centre & soft edge mixed compound), FR (double ply, same mixed compound) and DH (double ply, soft compound, reinforced sidewalls).

No low budget options, no high budget options, just pick your desired use & conditions.

So, today's guest in the review house is the DH 909 - a tread pattern made for loose/soft conditions, in sticky soft rubber on the double ply carcass. This is right on the big end of the tyre spectrum, a huge carcass, almost big enough to look at home on a MX bike.

First impressions

Some big old boots, these

Wowsers, these are some big brutes. ITS labels them as 2.5" width and they mean it. And they weigh 1300g each - anyone interested in weight saving can look elsewhere. "Sticky" is a good description of the rubber, you can feel how soft they are.

Basically, these are some serious tyres for serious DH. Complete overkill for me, then.

Mounting the beasts, or "holy hell these things do not like puny human's attempt to use them tubeless."

I'm using Sun rims. With tubes, these went on very easy, no levers required.

Without tubes, well, yes... These things have some sidewalls. First attempt (just the tyres + strips + the coke bottle inflator) they would not go up. The inflator shot its charge of air straight out past the tyre bead. Reason being, the sidewalls appear to be made of sheets of bulletproof kevlar, which makes them completely unwilling to be blown outwards by the pressure of any attempted inflation. They're stiff, and I mean plank-of-wood stiff.

However. I wasn't going to admit defeat.

Next attempt - wrap a couple of lashing straps around the circumference of the tyre and tighten them, so as to squash the tyre down and the sidewall outwards. With that done, the sidewall bowed outward just enough to touch the rim.

After doing that it went up without any problems.

They didn't need much sealant to hold air. There were absolutely no leaks through the sidewalls (bloody hell I should hope not, with the sidewalls being made of reinforced concrete).

Basically, these things are extremely solid, and that's both good and bad. A bit unwilling to go up, but once they're up they should stay up nicely. Mother nature should have a hard time deflating these.

Treads

Chunky monkey

Some big chunky tread blocks going on there.

So those blocks, erm, they dig into stuff. Look nice, don't they?

Take home points:

• Medium sort of density of blocks, not as open as a mud-specific pattern, but far more space than a hardpack tread.
• Blocks are quite deep. Not a fast rolling pattern, but will give good grip when it hooks up in its intended conditions.
• Siping only on the edge blocks - these are not going to be the holy grail on polished wet marble, but the sipes will give the edge blocks a helping hand when the tyre is leaned over on rock or something smooth.
• Basically, like the ITS site says, medium/soft conditions, which the UK gets a lot of.

I'd hoped to get a ride report into this review but unfortunately I've not been able to yet. Pt 2 of the review will cover what the beasties are like, out on the trail.