I wanted to try a semi slick for my gravel bike as a change from my go to Maxxis Rambler, not because the Rambler wasn't good, more just for a change. Mounted the Kenda in 42mm on the back with a Vittoria gravel insert. It went on pretty easy and was higher volume than the 40mm Rambler I took off, I was looking forward to riding it. First ride impressions were hard to come by though as I got a big hole ripped in it within a couple of miles of hitting dirt, so bad I had to return home. $70 totally wasted. Now I know that can happen to any tire but I have ridden thousands of miles on Ramblers and never had a problem. Binned the Kenda (it was write off) and went to the store and bought another Rambler. Bummed because it looked like it had a lot of potential.
So far I've ridden these a few hundred miles on anything from intermediate mountain bike trails to gravel to city streets and they've performed great on everything. They're nice and durable on rocks and roots, grip dirt corners well, and roll easy on asphalt or gravel. Got them on sale for a great deal too. My only complaint is that the tread is rather lop-sided or somewhat off-center at some points on one of the tires I got, but I was able to remedy that pretty well by inflating it with more air to set/align it better and it stayed good even when lowering the psi back down to normal.
These tires wear well - I have 1500 miles on them in the last 3-4 months. 85% street riding, but a good bit of gravelsingle-trackhardpackmud. They climb great until the ground gets too soft, and suffer in bad mud, but it's a gravel tire not a mountain tire. Low rolling resistance on the road, and great cornering and traction on the trail. I really like these tires.... except.
I have had more flats in my rear tire than I have had in any other tubeless tire I've mounted on this bike, and the Stan's sealant just doesn't seem to seal them. Just blows that sealant out through the hole, and I need to unmount it, use a sticker-patch on the inside of the tire, and re-seat. They seat just fine with C02, but takes me 2 canisters just to repair - one to locate the hole, and one to re-seat after I've patched it.
These are 5 star tires with 3 star puncture resistance.
I needed a tire for a multi-day gravel tour. I've tried many tire brands over the last few years. Most gave out before the wore out. All except the Kenda Flint Ridge with the original SCT casing. It simply keeps going and going. I've had zero flats with this tire positioned on my rear wheel and my sealant doesn't need to be replenished all that often. I ride mostly private timber and BLM roads which are often built with quite coarse aggregate. I needed to replace my front tire (from another name-brand company) at the last minute and was unable to locate another Flintridge. With such good experience with this Kenda, I guessed that the Alluvium (with the GCT casing) would serve me well in the realm of longetivity. Regarding the ride, our route took us up and down many steep winding roads. The tire stuck to the course with aplomb. If this tire performs anything like the Flintridge, I won't be doing a follow-up review for at least a couple years.
