Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Despite earlier doubts about the merits of semi-slick tires, Jan Heine and the team at Rene Herse Cycles spent the last three years trying to design one that they believe redefines the category. The result is the new 700 x 44mm Rene Herse Corkscrew Climb. See it here…
Following a few years of development and testing, the first semi-slick tire in the growing Rene Herse catalog is the new 700 x 44mm Rene Herse Corkscrew Climb. It earns its name from the biggest climb on the SBT GRVL gravel race route in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Given Jan Heine’s opinion that semi-slick tires aren’t particularly fast or grippy, the new tires come as something of a surprise, but he says they offer a completely new approach to the category. Revolutionary, even.
At the heart of the lightweight Corkscrew Climbs is a continuous center tread for optimum power transfer. They have file treads in the center (for optimum braking), a first row of knobs anchored to the smooth center (for maximum stiffness and traction), and large side knobs (for traction cornering and reduced flex). The tires feature a round profile and gradual transitions to eliminate surprises when turning, and they also boast the brand’s noise-canceling technology. They tip the scales at around 481 to 564 grams, depending on the casing.
In addition to their noise-canceling patent, Heine and the Rene Herse team filed three fresh patents in creating the Corkscrew Climb tires. The first is for a semi-slick tire with gradual transitions from slick to knobby to prevent abrupt changes in tire behavior when leaning into a corner, the second is for the row of knobs anchored on a wide continuous line of tread, and the third is for the greater radius of tread than of casing. I’ve yet to see or test them, but if it’s more than just marketing magic, it strikes me that these tires might address many of the most common qualms with semi-slicks.
Four tire casings are available for the new 700 x 44mm Rene Herse Corkscrew Climbs: standard (517 grams, $82), Extralight (481 grams $96), Endurance (522 grams, $96), and Endurance Plus (564 grams, $104). Tires don’t appear to be in stock quite yet, but they should be available soon.
Find further details over at ReneHerseCycles.com.
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