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.