REVIEW
HOW DID MAT ’ S BIKE END UP UPSIDE-DOWN ...? TAP OR CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO ... my terrible bike fitness and average skills , the Trackers will have their work cut out for them to get me to the end of the trail . Riding gravel roads is fun and all , but can you really call yourself an adventure rider if you don ’ t push yourself from time to time ? The other goal for my time on the Trackers is to actually get out on some trail ride action where I can get down and dirty in the relative safety of a group of mates . That means I ’ ll be signing up to join a Berm Buster before the end of the year and find out why these massive trail rides are so well regarded .
FIRST IMPRESSIONS My first decent ride didn ’ t actually feature any dirt at all . Needing to get to The Mount from Cambridge to grab a test bike , I saddled up on the Rally . In the rain . On brand new knobbies . To my surprise , the Trackers weren ’ t terrifying to ride on in these circumstances and held on much better than expected . The tyre profile is such that you don ’ t suffer so
much of that drop-in feeling with the Trackers compared to other road-legal knobbies I ’ ve tried . Sure , you do get a decent bit of tyre whine as your speed increases , but you would get that with any knobby tyre and I think that ’ s part and parcel of the experience . I ’ ve been running slightly higher tyre pressures on the road by a couple of PSI as I ’ ve heard the Trackers respond well to a higher pressure . So far so good . Moving into gravel and a bit of clay as I jumped off the main highway on the way home from The Mount , I was quite surprised to find I wasn ’ t kicked in the butt for the extra pressure . Michelin Trackers ? More like Michelin Tractors ! These things hook up great in the dirt , and while the clay is still a surface that is slippery , the way the knobs bite in meant I could lazily chug my way up the clay hill on the side of SH29 with confidence . I ’ ve got a plan and some killer tyres that look the part on the Rally . Time to get into the real dirt and put it all ( and myself ) to the test .
36 KIWI RIDER