These days it seems like everyone has a little bit of a “weight-weenie” in them. It’s a far cry from the mid 90s when it seemed that all that mattered was strength (at least in the freestyle world), weight be damned.
For me, as long as things aren’t taken too far–like obsessively drilling out parts or sacrificing durability for a few grams–I’m all for saving weight wherever you can. When looking to save weight, conventional wisdom says that reducing rotating weight is most important as it makes the most impact on performance…think wheels, tires, cranks, etc.
This stuff has been on my mind lately because I’ve seen a few cruiser builds recently with foldable KHE Mac 2s on them.
From what I’ve read about them they do make a big difference weight-wise: shaving a minimum of 200 grams per tire (in some cases a lot more) making a noticeable impact on how a bike rides. The tread is supposed to be nice too for park and other freestyle applications.
The downsides?
Cost for one. These babies are pricey. Depending on where you buy, they can be double the price of a regular tire.
Another is durability. Some reviews suggest that these tires are more prone to punctures and the sidewalls don’t hold up. Other reviews say these concerns are overblown (pardon the pun) and that they hold up just fine as long as they are inflated to the recommend PSI.
Are they worth it?
I’m undecided.
But I would love to hear from anyone that has used these tires before. Are they worth the price?
cruiser revolution 
hi
my friend is using the KHE’s (20″ version) he likes em a lot, but he only rides park.. The street riders i know who have used the catch a lot of flats though..
I use Kenda NPJ 24*2.1 – they are light and fast, but i could use a some more volume..
FitBikeCo should make their tires i 24″ ;o)
really enjoy your site!!
/toar
I used MAC 2’s on my 20″ and initially had a fair few pinch flats with them, the key is definately running them at the advised pressures. Once I got them sorted they do make quite a difference to how the bike feels, especially in the air. Cost is pretty high but if you do want to shave weight where you’ll feel it make a difference wheels and tyres are definately the first port of call!!!
Well,
I bought mine a while back and inflate them to around 70-80 psi which is hard and makes them fast.
The price I payed was the same as the new Odyssey Path 24″ you could pay more if you don’t shop around tho!
I ride park a little and don’t ride over broken glass or do skids, they seem to hold up fine for me but, I’m sure if I was riding them on a 20″ or like half the street riding dudes ride (Smith grinding on sharp concrete walls and ledges) they will get destroyed quick time!
The main reason I switched to a 24″ ride from a 20″ is because I lost the desire to ride hard and take chances with my body as I did when I was younger, hence the name “Cruiser” so now days I tend to chill out a lot more and doing so preserves my body and bike parts.
i do run them on my sunday model c. a lightweight tire with NO rolling resistance but still grip well due to a great rubber compound. they are pretty durable too, if you DON´T grind or shred the sidewalls. they are not the most puncture resistant tyre in the world but i haven´t had a single puncture since i got them – even if there´s broken glass EVERYWHERE in cologne/germany. i must say that i always keep an eye on what is on the path in front of me because they are so scary THIN! you also have to run them at high pressure, at least 5 or 6 bar. i can´t run them at recommended 8 bar/120psi because they are so f*cking hard and at 43 years of age you feel every bone in your body when jumping. there´s also not enough room to run them at high pressure because they blow up like balloons. the tire fits between the chainstays even slammed, the problem is the rear brake. conclusion: if you´re not a shredder, go for them!
Bought some for my son. He rides a lot of dirt and street. Constant flats!!! At $4 a tube the cost far exceeded the $40 plus per tire. Now he’s running Odysseys. Zero flats and great tires. Having the light tires was great but it just wasn’t worth the cost or hassel of constantly changing tubes. Or having to walk his bike for miles because he was off street riding somewhere a got a flat.
Used to run the NPJ on my C ,But switched to the ODY Ak P-lyte 2.25 front and rear.I have never had a flat with these tires
will not run anything else
I have mixed feelings about them. To me, one of the main advantages of running 24″ wheels is the increased rotating mass. It makes the bike more stable in the air… it’s also great for moto whips where you can really get the bike sideways and it wants to come back. Having said that, I’ve never tried folding tires on 24s. I ran KHEs on my 20 for awhile and hated them. I might give them a try to see how it effects the ride.
I have been running them on my model-C for 10-11 months now. I mainly ride indoor parks (Flow, Ray’s) but I’ve taken them to a few outdoor ones as well. so far only 2 flats. first was a pinch flat from smashing the rear wheel into a sharp curb. second was nasty, the rear tire blew off while driving to a skatepark in the summer. I was keeping them at ~100 psi, and when I threw my bike in my car after the car was sitting in the sun, the tire heated up, air expanded, and forced the bead off my rims (ody hazard lites), blowing the tube (sounded like a gunshot). Tire was actually ok, but the explosion broke 4 spokes. After relacing my wheel (tire + rim + hub all fine), I now run them at 80 psi and have been fine since. I usually deflate them a bit when I throw my bike in my car, just to be safe.
i experienced the same thing. when i built up my model c, i left the wheels in the sun for many hours. the tire heated up and when i got back home, the blowing tube was all over the place. tire was ok.
I got my first puncture with these today after riding across gravel “not good” it seemed to have come from nowhere and indeed it did if I was running any other tyre but this one!
I pulled out a tiny piece of gravel that didn’t seem that sharp at all.
I ran these on my USB molly… wow super fast, extremely light and they grip extremely well. They will eventually exlode off of the rims… the runaway was worse than the hazard. It doesn’t just happen from the heat/sun either. When considering a front tire blowout they are too dangerous for me to trust. The 24 version are more prone to exploding than the 20″ version. Every 24″ rider I know with this tire ithas happened to. I have run those too those explode too except for the mac dirt… never had a problem with those.
FYI the best 24″ tire for street, park or dirt is the Schwalbe Table Top. It is very light too. If your fork and frame can fit the tire get them!!!
Ran 24s at max rated psi – averaged one flat per week; two exploded (tires and tubes) while parked; sadly, 24s are too dangerous for urban riding. Otherwise, great tires.
I’ve ridden the KHE 24″ mac tires for over 2,200 miles back n forth to work every day and hit the local park 3-4 days week for the past year.
check video and buildup here:
http://carrot-bag.blogspot.com/
no problem with durability, for park and mild street they hold up great…
I have 24″ halo combat rims and five KHE MAC2 120psi tires have violently!!! blown off my rims while the bike sat in the corner untouched. If they fit your rim I’m sure they would do as advertised but as for me it felt as if I was riding around on a hand grenade with the pin pulled. When I E-mailed KHE I got a non response I will now never ride another KHE product. Big disappointment!!! Even bigger waist of time and money!!!