Mitas E09 long term review
 

So a friend put me onto these tyres so here's my review.

I fitted these tyres myself, and for the most part it was pretty easy, the only problem came just getting the final bit of bead over the rim, certainly a tyre you need plenty of tyre soap on. The tyre was fitted with a MP T6 combo spanner and a pair of 8" MP enduro levers. The carcass on this tyre is very still.

on my test run I ran the tyre at 26psi. At first I thought something was wrong, when new the tyre has a very rounded profile compared to the previous 07. Theres a slight hum at slow sppeds but it is more nit picking.

after a few miles I soon settled into the new profile and how it behaved. I hit my usual test lanes 1 sand and one gravel. I was amazed how it performed, compared to the 07 the difference was night and day. On both surfaces the tyre was amazing. Normally I'd then follow the lanes I'd hit the roads on the way back to put some miles on them, instead I just turned round and hit the lanes for a second time.

so if you hadn't guessed so far I'm loving these tyres. I'll put some more miles on then report back.

Hi mate, as we cannot be off road all the time (unfortunately) can you please share some experience on tar also?

Thanks

I'll be back to work next week so that'll put some commuting miles on them.

Getting an 09 on has never really been the issue. However, without a substantial bead breaker, removal can be fun. Plenty out there in the ether describing the process. That said, this tyre has never caused me any grief. Wet, dry. Sealed, unsealed. No doubt the cause for the difficult removal (the XT's safety bead is a part) is the reason why I have not had any puncture issues.

I simply cannot fault the E09!

What pressures do you run the E09 at? I'm currently playing with 26psi

Ok so I've now got the tyre scrubbed in.

On the road the tyre is happier running at 30psi. It's done nothing but rain here and the roads are pretty water logged. I've not had any issues with it in the wet. It grips well in all conditions, but works a bit better once it's warmed up.

I'm finding there isn't to much feed back. the rear now tips into bends easily having a more rounded profile. on some roads you can feel the tyre moving around but it's nothing to bad. I've not taken it much above 60mph as I'm geared for more off road riding.

but so far I'm enjoying the E09

ok so we're up to nearly a 1000 miles now and wow, this tyre is very flexible in how you can use them, I've left them at around 30psi. I don't really need to play with pressure unless the off road side of things get tricky. my confidence on a few tracks has shot right up, you can hit them harder and faster and it just bites in. I can also take some paths the E07s would of been a pig on and have no issues.

it seems after the initial scrubbing in there is what i'll call bedding in as it's the only way to really describe it. the road performance has been brilliant, doesn't lock up as easily as I'd of thought under braking in all conditions.

I'm still getting wandering on a few spots so I will be looking at wheel bearings shortly to see if there's a problem there that is causing some of the feedback I'm getting.

the blocks do still move around on the road but I'm growing used to it, still behaving well with over banding and white lines, no concerns there.

Ok So I've had these on a few months now and hit a wide variety of surfaces. This tyre is more flexible than its appearance would suggest.

The road manners aren't far from a proper road tyre in my opinion. I run it at about 30psi, the transition from road to dirt is good enough that theres no need to drop the pressure unless things get really tricky. I've done some dual carriage ways recently and no problems at all. It actually behaves better than the tkc80 I have up front.

I've not put much mileage on lately as I've mostly been doing shorter journeys but i'm expecting to go beyond 3K before it wears out.

On cold slimy mornings it can feel a little twitchy for a few miles until it's got some heat in it, but the handling doesn't seem to really suffer, the grip is there when you need it.

I know this review is still in it's infancy but honestly right now I would have no problems fitting the same again.

ok so a update seeing as I've not added much lately, the tyre is still performing really well.

Here in the UK we're just entering our winter season so plenty of wet dirty greasy roads. so far now dramas, holds well on the nastiest of roads that are just covered in leaves and mud. As the temperatures are dropping I'm finding when it's cold and wet it takes a few miles for the tyre to play nicely. It's twitchy to begin with but nothing dangerous until it's got some heat in it.

On a note regards to off roading, it digs into the wet mud really well and is prooving a very good for getting through everything I've come across. only niggle is the sideways traction when going across inclines is slightly lacking but this is probably more down to the tread design.

But still very happy with it. prooving a reliable all round tyre.

Well this weekend I finally found the limit of the E09 rear. now I'm referring to off road here, road wise this tyre is brill. but I am noticing if I drop the pressure I can feel the big blocks vibrating but nothing serious.

Anyway back to what I was saying, did some green laning and some routes were literally just bogs, getting up to the sprocket in thick mud that sticks to everything. when the bike couldn't get any speed the mud was sticking on and making the tread pretty useless. it still managed to get through and once sped up the tyre cleaned really well. it was the first time I've really had any traction issues but at no point was I truly stuck, just took a bit longer to get through.

Time for another update, the rear tyre has now done over 3k, looking at the amount of tread left I'd guess I can squeeze another 1.5k out of it before it's toast.

over the last few months I've not had time to really get out and play off road so most of my mileage has been road riding.

The tyre has been a very good tyre and has behaved very well with no slips or slides. and has now been paired with a army special front.

now that our temperatures have dropped and usually below freezing when I go to work I've noticed that on the colder days the tyre is very stiff and sometimes feels like it's flat. this just seems to be the nature of the tyre, I don't now if it's designed to do this to aid studs in more extreme environments, but apart from just generally feeling like crap for a mile or 2 it actually behaves very well and grips nicely.

On the roads this morning the gritters hadn't been out and there was a heavy frost on the ground with ice patches. there were no issues at all, both tyres performed really well and never really struggled for traction anywhere.

on a side note about the army front, it's a devil to fit on a cold day. the first 200 odd miles it scares the **** out of you in wet and damp conditions on the road. but after that it is a very good tyre not to far off the road manners or the TKC80 it replaced, but in the dirt it's totally different and a far superior tyre. It doesn't like high speed work (70mph+) and with no Centre blocks is prone to the odd weave. But paired with the E09 it is a very good and flexible combination.

Hi, have used the E09 and found it great off road,have the E10 on the front and back and at the moment finding them superb tyres with good off road grip if run at right pressure , more rounded sides than the E09.Nice reports you have written and I will definitely use them again.These army specials , are they the seriously chunky looking things on the old trelleborg site,any ideas what they are like on the rear?..cheers jo..

I've not tried the army rear yet, I've heard it wears down quickly. But I have thought about trying it out once the E09 wears out.

If the way the front behaves is an indication of what to expect I'd say in the dirt it would be remarkable but you would be taking things slower on the road.

if I get enough requests i'll try a different rear once I've worn out the 09, or if I some how get lucky and mitas offer me one to review.

The Army special front is far chunkier than the website pic would have you believe http://www.mitas.co.uk/Adventure-/Sa...ial-Front.Html This is who I get my tyres from.

I think I shall try those next at that price!..they look like the kind of tyre that I would like,but if you get one before me let me know how it is please!..

Nice updates mate. What size e09 are you running? And have you tried the dunlop 606 if so how does it compare to it?

Cheers, I'm running the E09 in 130/80-17 the 606's are difficult to get over here so not tried those yet so can't give you a fair comparison sorry.

ok so the E09 is just getting to the point to start thinking what should go on next.

There are 3 tyres I'm thinking of running on the rear. These are army special, CO2, or another E09. And if you've been reading my posts you will know there is currently a army on the front. Inbox me your requests to save clogging up the review.

Ok now back onto the review.

The E09 has just gone past 4k and is easily good for another 1k, if I'd been a bit more gentle with my riding I don't see why it couldn't of gone another 1k extra. It's gained a squared off profile but still handles fine. both off and on road manners are still great. I've been really impressed with the E09 and it is certainly good value for money in terms of life and performance.

More useful information,I might go back to e09 after the e10 has gone not saying I don't like the e10 I think it's a great tyre more rounded than the e09 maybe a bit better on the hard stuff especially in corners maybe ?..I'm keen to give these army specials a go..proberly after the summer when I'm back on the bike!..keep up with the good info!..

I think the Army rear could be interesting. Although the Army front has good manners I have noticed some of the blocks breaking up a little, nothing detrimental to handling but it was a little concerning at first but the tyre seems to be settling down now and no new blocks are breaking up. i'll see if I can get a picture to post.

So the E09 rear is just under 5K now and tread is getting pretty low in the middle around 4-5mm left, off road traction is getting interesting now and it's becoming much easier to spin up.

If I used the bike as just a off road toy I would change out the E09 at this point, but as the bike is also my commuter and the tyre is still legal and road grip is still good so I will run it for longer.

Here are some pictures of the breaking up I'm getting on the Army front.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFGK8m3I-7a/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFGK6Pgo-7Y/

I'm pretty sure that's the same as I got on my Tkc on the front and my gt201..pretty sure that's just normal break up

Never had this kind of break up on the tkc when I tried them. It's alarming at first but the tyre is none the worse for it.

Ok the E09 is coming to the end of it's life now.

There is only 2mm of tread left in the middle now, which is taking forever to wear down. The tyre has now gone past 5k and is still performing well both on and off road.

But today it really surprised me, I decided to hit some lanes on the way to work tonight (we have recently seen a few days of torrential rain). The lane is one long swamp of deep wet muddy sand, in places up to 1foot deep with puddles (3foot deep) and many exposed tree roots where the soil has washed away. Initially I regretted my choice to ride this lane when I saw how bad it was but I shouldn't have worried. despite being so low the tread still somehow found grip even on tree roots when I had to bump up them to get out of recesses. This tyre is proving remarkable. Had I tried this lane with a E07 rear I would have been totally stuffed and still stuck there now.

I think it's safe to say this is a true 50/50 tyre, it's managed everything I've thrown at it. It has certainly shown it can get you through the deepest s??t and then you can jump on the motorway and travel home in comfort. It certainly is a true tyre to get you to work in the week and let you get out and play at the weekend.


Now a side note on the Army front. so far it had around 1.5k-2k on it and there is a lot of life still on the tyre, it's starting to cup so I will be rotating it soon, but there is still plenty of tread left on this tyre, my initial guess is it will make it to around 4k before it's ready to be replaced. Road manners are very good, it's never given me any cause for concern. There is a drop off in braking performance but nothing dangerous, just remember this is a knobbly tyre.

The army doesn't like high speeds, anything over 60mph and it starts to weave a little from the tread pattern, in the torrential rain we had while commuting I had no real issues, I only had to be careful not to overload it when braking hard in the wet. Dirt wise it's fantastic at any pressure I use it at.

Ok so here's a shot of the tyre coming to the end of its useful life.

So, the review has come to a end. I've still not decided what tyre I will be fitting next as the Misses is due soon and I may need to use up some of my tyre stock before I can continue with other tyre reviews.

Anyway so the E09 rear, I've managed to squeeze 7000 miles out of it which has brought it to the "road legal" marker. at the end of it's life road manners were still spot on, slimy mud had become a bit tougher on the occasions where the side blocks weren't able to bite in, to this I must add the side blocks are still very good so in conditions off road where the tyre could sink into the surface the side blocks were able to keep the bike rolling.

Although Mitas say it's something like a 90/10 tyre it'd be fair to its more a true 50/50, I hadn't come across anything it couldn't get through and it served amazingly well for commuting.

I found it works very well with the weight of the XTR and the wear rate is more than acceptable. depending on the use I ran pressures from 24psi-30psi and I'm sure I could probably have taken them lower.

Would I buy one again YES without any doubt.


Now a bit about the Army Special front in case I don't use it again.

Road manners have been very good, I probably use it far more on the road than it was designed for. there is a nice diagonal wear on the blocks where it's been used on tarmac and this is making for a choppy ride now, certainly a tyre you need to keep rotating to get the best from it.

I'll be honest I've not tracked the mileage so well with this tyre so these are guesstimates. I think the tyre is good for around 3k with road use.

notes on how this tyre performs.

1) dislikes high speeds 65+

2) Total pig to seat on the rim

3) will try to spit you off for the first 200 miles on the road, after that very well behaved, fantastic manners and corners great, never a issue braking in the wet.

4) handles every surface and road I've thrown at it with ease

5) likes to run at 26psi

6) the tyre communicates well with the rider

7) noisy tyre


I hope you've all enjoyed my review, and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

Thank you for the constant updates it's much appreciated

Cheers Buddy.

So today I spooned off the E09 to fit the Army rear, the E09 was a absolute pig to pop off the bead, not impossible with normal spoons and lube but being at home after the second lap of one side and still not popped off so I cracked out my motion pro bead busters (I always try to use only my trail tools). This would have you swearing if you had a flat on the road side or trail, good thing it's a very tough carcass.

Fitted a rear eo9 on foot of review and i love it better than a tkc80 at half the price .
Thanks for review .

Are Motoz tyres available in the UK..?? If so, and you are after an aggressive 50/50 tyre, take a look at the Motoz Tractionator "Desert".