Intense Tire Systems 909 DH part 2

Ride Report

Part 1 is here...

Well, I'd hoped to have ridden on the ITS 909s a bit more recently, but a combination of illness and broken bike has kept me off the trails.

Finally I have got out and given these things a run. I'd love to say I've had a proper decent amount of time on them, but there we are, I haven't yet, only a few rides.

So, how do they go?

So far I've only tried 25 psi, in front, and a bit more in rear. Honestly, even this little this felt like too much and I think they could handle being a bit lower. I guess that's down to the dual ply carcass and tough-as-nails sidewalls. BTW, I'm about 100kg and riding a heavy bike - draw your own conclusions, those are some low pressures - just think about how compliant the tread area must be at that pressure.

Grip, hell yes, a lot, an absolute sackfull of grip. No problems leaning the bike right over and finding grip to zing round corners. These things hook up really well on the intended terrain.

Rolling resistance? Not sure - I only went downward, I'm not buying these puppies to do any XC rides on.

What didn't I ride on?

• Wet stuff
• Liquid mud
• Tarmac

I have no idea about

• Durability; they're made from sticky soft rubber, I doubt they'll be the longest lasting of tyres but that's the price you pay for sticky soft rubber...
• Loam or mulch - would love to try it on its natural habitat. I only got the chance to ride on semi-dry mud, armoured / fire-road and tree roots.
• What they're like with tubes in.

Summary 

Yeah, I like these, I like them a lot.

No messing about, no pretense, these are nice soft tyres with a tread pattern that looks straight out of MX land. Bags of grip. Tough. Really good price.

Buy again? Yes, definitely. Does everything it says it does, and seems to do it pretty well. If I was racing DH I'd be thinking about a pair of these, a pair of the mud tyres and a pair of the hardpack treads, and still have change for a KFC on the way home. As it is, I'm thinking I will try some of their XC tyres on my hardtail this summer.


Right, that's all for now.