Kenda K925 Kaliente Road Tire

I ride between 80-100 miles a week on a Pinarello FP3. I bought the bike in July of 2010 and have put on 1000 miles in 8 weeks. I was riding on the Continental Ultras, which came with the bike and they had a worn down. After reading about the Kenda Kaliente's in Road Bike Action magazine (July 2010), I thought I would try them. I have ridden on Continental Gatorskins but have never ventured outside that. I put these on yesterday and rode 16 miles. I went out for an easy ride (I usually average around 16.5 mph) and still averaged 15.5 mph. The hills I used to have to push hard to maintain 12 mph, were easy to average 14 mph. There is a huge difference in the rolling resistance. At under $40, I was not expecting much, but I was very surprised at the performance of these tires. You can't go wrong here.

These tire are a great value for the price.Light weight at 200 grams and good tread life.I have been racing on these tires for the last 2 years and have no complaints at all.They wear long and don't cut easy.I have turned my friends on to these tires and they all love them!!

I have trained and raced on much more expensive tires that don't perform or last as good as the Kalientes.Kudos to Kenda on offering a superior tire at a great price!!

This is a great lightweight tire for the price. I do a lot of climbing in the mountains and wanted something lighter that wasn't going to break the bank. I put a set on mid-summer last year and they are wearing well. They handle really well on winding roads. The ride is OK. The rolling resistance is good but I think there are better tires out there.

They have reasonable puncture resistance considering their weight. The only flats I have gotten are from some goathead burs I ran over. The rubber seems somewhat hard and resists cuts and tears.

Note that this is a skinny tire and is difficult to get on the rim. Not a lot of extra rubber here, but that should be apparent given their weight.

I ride them at 115 psi and I weight 165.

I picked these up to try after riding on Vittoria Rubino Pro Slicks (came with my Felt F75), and a pair of Maxxis Courchevel tires. I have over 1k and not a single flat. I'm a larger rider 6'3 220 lbs, having dropped about 15 lbs within the last few months. I'm riding over 100 miles a week now, up from 60 miles. There is a flat spot wearing on the rear tire, which I have experienced with all the tires I have used. I ride these at 120 psi, and will buy another pair. Great tire for the money, and I think I can get a few thousand miles without a problem.

I have been using Kenda Kalientes for the past 3 years. I ride about 10,000 miles a year and these are the best all around tires I have ever ridden. Yes, there are other tires with a little more grip in the tight turns, or a little better in the rain, or a little more supple ride quality. The operative word is a little because these tire still compete very respectably in these departments but totally blow away the competition in durablitly, puncture resistance and value. Pair after pair of these tire deliver 5000 miles (with one tire rotation at about 3k) with nary a flat. Sometimes I'll run the rear until it gets a wide flat spot in the middle and finally punctures, then just replace it and leave the front alone. Either way, they last twice as long as Michelin Pro 3s and most of the other tires in this class. To be sure, I am a light rider, 135lbs, but these tires are sure to deliver great performance no matter what you weigh. At barely 200 grams and 120TPI and 125 max pressure these tire fit the bill in every category. I've tried most tires in this class and the Kalientes are my hands down favorite. I never even think about flatting when I'm on these tires.

Im a poor College student and these fit the bill. All around great tire used them from crits to road races. Great rubber life and just work.

I have been riding these tires for about a year now as a replacement. I had heard decent things about the tire. Now that I have been riding them for a year I have really enjoyed the way these tires wear and the feel of the tires. I really like these tires.

My 2009 Giant Defy came with 700 x 25 Kenda Kriterium tires that wore fine. Late that summer I wanted to go to a 23 tire, so I gave the Kaliente a try. That was 3 years ago. Since then, no other tire has been on my bike. In over 8400 miles, I have flatted only 2 times on the Kalientes Once a fine wire and once a glass sliver. Being a heavier rider (190lbs), I ride 125psi in the rear tire and 95psi in the front. The rear tires will tend to square off at about 1500 miles. I then move the front tire, which generally shows very little wear, to the rear and put a new Kaliente on the front. That means that I am easily getting 3000 miles out of my tires. The old rear tire then becomes my winter tire for use on my trainer. As an endurance rider, I need a tire that is trustworthy when Im 40 miles from home. The Kaliente has never let me down. I use it for everything training, metrics, centuries and even for my 24 hour races. Dollar for dollar, at under $30, to my way of thinking, the Kenda Kaliente is the best and most reliable buy on the bicycle tire market.

Great tire for racing or training. Good ware and great stability. It's the best value I've found in a road tire.

These tires were bought to replace the Conti. GP4000s tires on my Gunnar Roadie. I found that these tires roll as well, are as light(as the 4000's), corner positively, and install easily. I've put a bit over a thousand miles on them and they are wearing better than expected. I will ride these for the rest of this season, and put them on my spares for next year. I think 4000 is a reasonable hope for these. This may be a bit optimistic, but even 3000 I'll take. By the way, the previous brand had sidewall tearing on 2 different sets(6 sidewall repairs on 4 tires). Our friends in Taiwan could teach the Germans a little bit about making bicycle tires.

I use these tires on a French Mercier road bike. They last longer than other tires I have tried. Nice product!!!

mounted on carbon rims . What's not to like? Tires wear well and hold the line in turns.

First time trying these tires, decided to try them out after reading other positive reviews. Have about 600 miles on them so far, I don't think they have even begun to wear! Been through some crappy roads with lots of rocks, glass, etc with no damage. Grip and general handling is about the same as other tires in this $ range. I'm extremely happy with them and will make this my tire of choice from now on.

Type of Rider 200k fun rides, climbing

The wear on these tires is great. One of the best tires I have used so far.

Love these tires enough to have bought another pair for spares.

I have about 1500 miles on a set of these tires. Wear is good, traction is good and the price is right. I have only had 2 flats and they were caused by rim contact with the inner tube at the nozzle.

Have had the tires for a few of weeks and have been able to put about 100 miles on them. They ride and handle nicely as I had hoped.

Very happy with the tire. I got about 1k mile on the tire now, they roll fast and corner very well. I keep 120psi on them and show very little wear. I would not use them in wet conditions. I will buy them again.

Only have a few hundred miles on them sofar but Im very pleased with the ride smoothness, grip and speed. I would definitely recommend these to anyone looking for a high quality slick at a very reasonable price.

I have logged 300 miles with no issues. My riding partner did get a flat on the second ride but we still feel it is a good tire.

These tires wear like iron. I never get less than 5000 miles per tire. Have been running these since 2004, with very few punctures. I've gone nearly 15,000 miles since my last flat. And a large tack caused that one! No flats in in spite of many miles on both chip and seal roads, and significant city mileage.

In my club rides- I'm about the only guy not to flat this year.

They're about half the price of the Michelin Pro4's- and they last longer.

My only complaint is that the logo looks kind of ratty after a thousand miles or so.

Buy these! You can't go wrong.

I'm not a racer but like trying to keep up from time to time. I'm more of a sport cyclist. I wanted to get more miles on these tires before reviewing them, but unfortunately fate had a different idea.

These tires seem to work very well although, as stated above, I have a limited amount of miles. My experience in the hills was very satisfying. They cornered well and the ride was smooth. They were also easy to install, a plus in my book when it comes to fixing flats on a ride, although that never happened.

Compared to Continental Grand Prix 4000s, they seem to me about equal. And compared to Michelin Pro3 Race, well, there is no comparison, they are much better! I had a lot less flatting than with the Pro3's!

The only thing they did not stand up to was running over a tandem, yeah, pace line accident. Sliced the tire.

All in all I really like these tires but would like to give them a better run for their money. I will be using them again.

I had been shelling out $$ for Schwalbe Ultremo ZX these past couple of years, however this year and I decided to take a more economical route and give the Kendas a try. So far, so good - after about 1500 miles. Wear seem normal, and the performance of the tires as good as any other tire I've had on my Fulcrum rims. The only thing I appear to be missing is a splash of color on the sidewall (black is the only option). Would I recommend? Yes. Not a OMG! You have to try these tires!, type of Yes, but a practical, reliable, durable kind of Yes.

I got a set of 700x23 when they were the deal of the day.

So far so good. I carry a spare tube just in case.

Rolls smoothly, the ride is a bit harsher than the bontrager racelite hardcase (same size).

If they last as long, this is indeed a great buy. Much easier to put on the wheels as well.

So far so good!!!

Having had a great experience (4,500 miles) with Kenda tires on my older city bike, when my Specialized tires (not unsurprisingly!) wore out on my new road bike, I bought these Kenda Kaliente-s, expecting a long useful life. Got 1,000 miles on them and they're worn out. Perhaps Calvin Klein would buy them...they have a lot in common with the women featured in his ads some 10 yrs ago.