MICHELIN DH TYRES

RATINGS

(DH22)

VALUE 8/10

FUNCTION 10/10

LOOK 8/10

OVERALL 9/10

Earlier in the year I reviewed Michelin’s excellent Wild Enduro tyres, finding them to be truly outstanding all-round trail and enduro tyres. Michelin has now expanded its mountain bike tyre range, adding a family of more focused, downhill/gravityspecific tyres to the mix.

Designated as “DH” tyres and tested and developed with the help of Michelin’s roster of pro downhill and enduro racers during 2019, the new range adds four different tyre options for your descending pleasure.

The DH22, DH34 and DH Mud models form part of Michelin’s premium Racing Line of tyres. Sporting Michelin’s stickiest Magi-X DH rubber compound and sharing the same overall construction, these three tyres differ mainly in their tread patterns.

Michelin calls the DH22 their most versatile downhill tyre. By this they mean that the DH22 is suitable for use on the greatest variety of surfaces, for everything from hard-packed/bike park terrain through to soft/loose trail and everything in between. The DH34 on the other hand is more focused only on hard-packed/bike park terrain, where Michelin says these will be their fastest tyres. The Michelin DH Mud tyres round out the Racing Line and have a much more open tread pattern which is designed, as you’d expect from the name, to shed mud.

The DH34 Bike Park model sits in Michelin’s more wallet-friendly Performance Line of tyres. They use Michelin’s Gum-X rubber compound and have the same tread pattern as the premium DH34 tyres. As such, Michelin says they are also best suited to