Kenda K838 Slick Wire Bead Bicycle Tire, Blackwall, 26-Inch x 1.95-Inch

My mountain bike needed new tires, the old ones were dry and cracked, and one had blown out through the sidewall. I decided that since I seldom ride in mud or on very loose surfaces, a smoother tread would allow me to ride along with lower effort and/or greater speed. Smooth tires on urban bicycles are nothing new, the Tioga City Slicker has been around for years, and probably serves as an inspiration for many other similar tires. I ordered the Kenda K838 based on the favorable reviews, and am very pleased. I ordered four tires, to upgrade two bicycles. They came in a box which was probably twice as large as it needed to be. As everyone else has mentioned, they are blackwall, not gumwalls as illustrated. Mounting the tires was no problem at all. I used a plastic tire lever to remove the old tires from the rims, and just popped the Kenda's on with my fingers, no tools needed. I inflated them and went for a ride. Note that while the tires can hold 60 psi, because of the larger volume of air contained, they work well at lower pressures, 35 to 40 psi for me, and provide a superior ride. The tread design and profile are based on combined features from successful motorcycle tires. The tread pattern is very similar to that seen on the Bridgestone Spitfire, with directional grooves to channel water to the outside edge of the tread surface. This gives low rolling resistance and complete silence....no humming or howling knobs on pavement. Constant pedaling is not necessary, as the low rolling resistance means one can pedal a bit, then coast or glide a long distance. They don't accelerate quite as easily as some narrower, lighter tires, say 700 x 28, but they do very well for a tire nearly 2 inches wide, and offer vastly better load capability, rim protection, flat resistance and a superior ride over irregularities. Bumps feel considerably "dampened", and the tires "float" undeflected over gravel patches instead of knifing in or skating around as a narrow tire might. Their triangular profile is based on designs used on Dunlop TT100 motorcycle tires and others. This means that when viewed from the front, the tire doesn't look "circular" round, but has a "rounded triangle" shape. When riding straight, the narrow "point" of the triangle contacts the road, giving a lower resistance. As the bike banks over for turns, the broad "flank" of the triangle gradually spreads across the road, giving a broader contact area and better grip. Owners of mountain bikes which are used more often on pavement and hard-packed dirt or gravel will probably enjoy these. They seem to be very well made and a good choice for their intended purpose.

I was skeptical getting these wheels since I wanted to see if they made a difference. I love the linear, smooth feel of road bikes, but I hate the riding position and I have a soft spot for mountain bikes. But the knobby tires were wearing me out way to quick and all that effort led to little progress, even downhill. So I decided to take the dive and bought these tires since I was already replacing inner tubes. VERY surprised the difference it made. Friction is MUCH lower compared to knobby tires and it's like riding on a cloud. These tires have flared edges that I thought was interesting, but it lends itself to keep the tire in constant contact with the road through turns, keeping grip on the street at a max. I inflated both wheels to 40 ft.lbs. (I have no psi gauge yet...) and went about on my way. First thing I noticed, is that the extra air needed to firm up the tires leads to a heavier bike when carried, but this works to your advantage. Since the friction is considerably lower, pedal effort is reduced. And the extra air (weight) in a rotational mass (tires/inner tubes/air) keeps the wheel rolling longer. Sorry, just a little science to help explain the extra weight to other reviewers/potential buyers. It balances itself out so the weight doesn't weigh you down and the pedal effort is considerably easier compared to knobby tires. I would've expected to have paid at least $30-40 each tire for how good these are! NOTE: From what I saw, these tires, although not labelled directional or marked that way, might be more efficient when rain comes if one mounts it so the treads that go to the edge are pointing back and away. So it will look like |/ \|, with the slashes representing the grooves if you were to look down at the front tire from the bicyclist's point-of-view. Make sure the back is mounted the same way as the front! You'll be glad when the rain comes around that you did so! PROS: - SMOOTH ride. - Reduced pedal effort. - Fast rolling tire. - Perfectly capable for gravel, dirt, etc. Although don't push it too much. - EXCELLENT price, you will get your money's worth and then some. - Quiet. And I mean QUIET. CONS: - How quiet it is. I bike on a college campus, and the quiet ride might attribute to pedestrians not being aware of you coming behind then. But that's what a bell is for! - Uhhh... The wider contact patch and edge makes for a slightly more irritating install past the brake pads. (Actually, not really a con, I just can't think of any more with this tire! It's just THAT GOOD!) Do yourself a favor. If you ride more on pavement than gravel/dirt/etc. with your mountain bike, seriously invest in these tires! They will make everything so much easier and much more enjoyable... well except maybe the pedestrian(s) who wanders into your path. :)

I purchased a pair of these tires to use on my MTB for a smoother ride on the city streets than the Kenda K53's I was using. The K53's were nice tires and offer very little rolling resistance compared with full-on knobbies (and are smoother going straight) but still have good knobs on the sides. But when you are turning they have that knobby growl, so I figured that I'd try the 838's as they had seemed to be highly regarded by some. The tires are pretty smooth-riding and feel very sticky in the corners unlike the knobby K53's which tended to squirm at higher speed corners with large lean angles. The 838's seem to stick like glue to the tarmac (but not so much on dirt trails -naturally). I put the whole wheel off the bike on the slippery ceramic tile of my condo and could put all my weight against it at angles much greater than 45-degrees and the tire refused to slip or squirm which is a lot more than I can say for the K53's. I was pushing against it like a football tackle sled with all my might and they wouldn't budge. The K53's will slip out when I try this. I haven't tried using the 838's in the wet yet so I don't know how the traction will stand up in the rain. They look like they will do OK with that motorcycle-style tread pattern. Another good thing about this tire is that I can fill them up to 60-65psi which is about 50% more pressure than you can safely fill the K53. This allows lesser rolling resistance, better road feel, and much more front brakes can be used as front tire impending lockup has much more of a controlled feel than with lower-pressure tires. I can do controllable stoppies with these tires lifting the back wheel right up with my cantelever brakes out front. One thing about these tires is that while they say they are a 1.9 wide they are a bit wider than that in reality. I've got 26x1.75 rims and if I measure the sidewalls they are exactly 1.9" but the actual tread area is well over 2" and pushing 2.25" I suppose if you had really narrow rims the tire would squish out and be taller but as it is the 838's have a larger circumference than the K53's had and are HUGE. I'm glad I have a lot of clearance on my old Ross MTB with planet bike MTB fenders because these tires are so large that right now the rubber mold nubs are actually rubbing on the fender. It's a good thing they are small and will wear away soon. These things are WIDE. I've seen little asian-market 50cc motorcycles that didn't have such wide tires as my bike has now. I think I like it because there is tons of traction available and they ooze confidence when the bike is pitched over in a corner to near crank-scraping lean angles -this bike rides MUCH more aggressively on the tarmac now than it did with the K53's which always seemed to me like the bike was trying to squirm out from under me to the outside of the corner. Going from the K53 to the K838 is like going from Bias to Radial tires on a motorcycle. They are THAT much more grippy and because of the higher rated pressures you don't lose anything with rolling resistance (especially in the corners). And they are smooth as glass going straight or turning. It's like magic. I wouldn't put them on a rim narrower than 1.5 though or wider than 2 (max). I'd imagine they would be pinched and pointy on a narrow rim and pulled flat like a low-rider on a 2" -it's just the kind of tire they are with the built-out tread onto the sidewall like a motorcycle tire. Cons: You might not have the clearance for these tires even though you can run 2.25's on the K53 or other knobbies. The picture shown is a gumwall tire but what I got were blackwall tires. Not a big deal to me but others might be disappointed. Be aware of that.

My first experience with the Kenda K838 was about 6 months ago when it replaced a Michelin City Tire which all of a sudden went into flat mode two or three times. It had a lot of miles on it so i think the tread was getting thinner. Anyway I was looking at other tire brands as possible replacements for the Michelin when I ran across a lot of positive reviews on the kenda K838. A lot of nice things being said about a tire that was going for under $15. ( The Michelin, on the other hand, was in the mid twenty price range) The reason I wasn't fond of going with Michelin again had to do with it's 87 psi which required a lot of pumping every week. I liked the fact that the Kenda tire required but 65 psi. . In comparing tire pressure of the two tires I notice the Kenda retains tire pressure much better than the Michelin. So less pumping is necessary once a week. I rely a lot on user reviews in helping me decide when I go to buy a product or service. So I ordered the Kenda from Amazon. It actually arrived before it's estimated delivery date which was nice. Mounting the tire on my mountain bike rear wheel was a fairly simple procedure requiring not a lot of effort in popping it onto the rim smartly with nary an expletive being uttered during the entire installation. The tire provides a pretty smooth ride and I do like the motorcycle design of this 26 x 1.95 tread. I do all my riding on city streets. In the last month or so the Michelin on my front wheel separated so I didn't hesitate to order another Kenda K838 as its replacement. I haven't experienced any flats in the few months I've had the Kendas on my bike. However I should mention I use Stop Flat 2 liners. I felt that the combination of an under $15 dollar tire fitted with an inexpensive but good liner is a bargain in relatively flat free cycling. To be sure the Kenda K838 is not what you'd call a light tire especially with a liner added. This is not a problem for me as the Michelins were on the heavy side as well and I consider my mountain bike my "gym on wheels" providing a nice workout particularly on hills. I do put a lot of wear on my mountain bike and its tires as I ride every day year round for about an hour and a half. The Kenda K838 seems well constructed and I like the look the tires give to my bike. IMHO a darn good tire at a very reasonalble price. Definately recommended.

Updating this review in January 2025. Finally replacing a pair of these after 14 years of steady use. Tread is still OK but the rubber is cracking down to the casing in the grooves. Can't complain after so many years, so much use and so much weather. These tires have a directional tread; better to channel water away from the center of the tire. See the attached photo for the sidewall marking. BTW-this is opposite from the advice of the Amazon AI Checked the Kenda website and looks like these are no longer made by the company...but are still available online from other sources. Just bought a replacement pair from "Bike Liquidators" for less than $40 for the pair. Figured I'd do it now while still available....probably no hope they will still be around when this pair wears out :-( Bike still going strong, Bafang kit still going strong, me a little slower, but new tires are great :-) Original Review - June 2024: Put a pair of these on a 1999 Cannondale F1000 with a Bafang mid-drive 750W electric motor kit. I use this bike for commuting and errands. Replaced a pair of Maxxis Holy Rollers and the Kendas are much better for pavement, gravel and smooth dirt; improving both speed and distance. Handling is great and quieter than knobbies too. I use Sunlite puncture resistant tubes, adding weight, but hey, it's got a motor. Extended hard shoulders on these tires also increase weight a little but give a wider profile on soft ground and protect the sidewalls from damage. So far, so good, knock on wood. Installed the tires many years ago and they are still rolling just fine; wear is minimal but starting to show age. Probably need to think about getting another pair sometime and will definitely replace them with another pair just like the current pair. Highly recommend.

I've got about 250 miles on these tires so far, and I've been extremely pleased with them. The original tires on my Jamis Explorer were hybrids, but since I really only ride on paved trails, when it came time to replace them, I decided to get a road tire, although staying with the original 1.95 size for comfort, and the possibility of riding on grass or packed earth at times. A skinnier tire would no doubt be faster, but these are quiet, smooth riding, and they handle wet pavement extremely well. The cross section is reminiscent of a bell curve, and that recurve on the edges of the tread sheds water cleanly, at about a 30 degree angle, so puddles splash you much less than most tires. They seem very durable, even though they are extremely thin, and after the 250 miles I've put on them, about 80 percent of the little molding 'hairs' are still on the tires. I should note that my bike is a steel framed model, I weigh about 250, and I carry panniers with about 5 lbs of gear and lunch in them, so I am loading these tires pretty highly. I maintain air pressure right at 65, which still rides very smoothly, although for one ride in Tampa I cut it down to 50 in the front and 55 rear due to a lot of cobblestone streets, which made the ride very smooth over the rough bumps. In combination with the heavy duty Slime-filled innertubes I'm running, I think I've got a pretty nearly indestructible set of tires at a great price, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for a good, durable, general purpose street tire, which can handle the occasional, gentle off road excursion (the one surface I have found they DO NOT like is wet, packed dirt... there isn't enough tread depth to get a grip, so you slip!). Plus, the tread looks just like one of the patterns Kenda uses on their motorcycle tires, which certainly gives my bike a bit of a unique look (for those gearheads who care about these things...)

I got the Kenda K838s for my Specialized Enduro about a month ago. I was using a single-speed SE Draft road bike to carry my 6'2" 230 pound (mostly muscle of course) body on the 7-mile round-trip commute from West Philly to Rittenhouse Square everyday, but the tires and frame just couldn't give me a sturdy and comfortable ride on the rough and dirty urban streets. My 35-pound mountain bike rolls just as easily as my Draft bike, but I now have the added benefit of gears, a softer ride (thanks to the full suspension), and the stopping power of disc brakes. It's like upgrading from a Vespa to a Hayabusa. Pretty impressive. My commute time from my house to my job was 22 minutes on the Draft. I now get to work in 14 minutes. That's 3.5 miles of stop lights (optional right?), traffic, pedestrians, and construction. I will say that in the first week, a tiny piece of broken glass got stuck in the tread and was able to puncture my tube. Not a big deal, but based on other reviews, I was expecting these tires to hold up to the "typical" street debris a bit better. But that happened early on and I have not had any issues since. These tires offer tremendous grip on the road. There are times when I make tight turns at high speeds, reach for the brakes, and then simply re-grip the handle bars and hold on as I sling around a corner or weave past a double-parked car without slowing down. In the rain, they hold up just as well. I really feel like the king of the road riding with these tires, especially as I pass all the hipsters riding lightweight, fixed-gear road bikes. UPDATE Nearly 1.5 years later and these tires have held up really well. I upgraded my star rating from 4/5 to 5/5 because that piece of glass in the first week of use must have been a fluke because I have had no flats or issues in the hundreds of miles since then. These tires are tough and still roll great.

I got these tires to replace a pair of aging stock Kenda bike tires. Here are some things I've noticed since putting them on: * Practically silent compared to mountain bike tires. I actually liked the whir of the knobs hitting the road, but it seems like most people don't.) * The ride is so much smoother. * Steering is more responsive. * My bike feels more stable during high speed turns. * I now ride on a couple higher gears than before over the same road conditions. * Each push of the pedal is much easier - seemingly half the effort of my previous tires. * Climbing hills is surprising easier as well. ** I find that my bike is now less stable when using my standard one legged kick stand. The smoothness of the front tire and lack of knobs allows the front wheel to twist more to the side than before. A small price to pay for all the benefits of the tires I guess. Thanks to the reasons listed above, I get to the same places faster and with less effort. You should too. I should have gotten these tires years ago. If you do most of your riding on city streets like me, these tires are for you. You won't realize what a difference the tires make until you try these out. I didn't have any trouble installing these tires like some people seemed to have. In fact, these tires went on easier than all the other mountain bike tires I've worked with. For less than eleven bucks per tire, they were a steal and I couldn't be happier with them.

I was looking for a tyre that would take some work out of riding. I am now riding in a higher gear and about 2mph more for the same energy.

Very good product good quality

Good

#20 day after damage very bad