Eclat Ridgestone Traction Tyre Review

Eclat Ridgestone Traction Tyre Review - Intro

This is a BMX tyre, with trendy marketing etc. But will fit most wide etro 406 rims (i.e. 20"). I was looking for a 20" tyre to use on a cargo bike, which has . . .

• Semi -Slick Tread
• High Pressure Rating
• High Load Rating
• Very Wide

. . .and this tyre seemed to tick all of the boxes, I would have liked some schwalbe type puncture protection, but I put some slime in the tubes instead. Plus these were £10 each on ebay, so pretty cheap. They are available in three widths from 2.2 to 2.4 inches. 

Eclat Ridgestone Traction Tyre Review - Description

The Eclat Ridgestone Traction tyre is a slightly nobbly version of the Ridgestone Slick tyre. Whilst the ridgestone slick has a smooth center tread, the ridgestone traction has slight steps on the center ridge, allowing for perhaps a little more traction. Although the difference would be slight.

Ridgestone Slick (Left) vs Ridgestone Traction (Right)

The side wall tread of traction is significantly more knobbly than the slick variant, with enlarged lugs, and more aggressive tread off centre of the central ridge. 

 

Eclat Ridgestone Traction Tyre Review - Build

The tyres are very sticky rubber, so will probably wear quickly if used for commuting, i.e. high milage use. These tyres has a very high TPI at 120, a quality touring tyre such as the big apple from schwalbe would use a 67 TPI carcass so why such a high TPI?

Sheldon Brown links a high TPI tyre to a thin wall, but these are fairly heavy tyres. but one would assume this is for greater flexibility and thus lower rolling resistance. 

These tyres are rated for 100psi, I doubt I will ever run them at that pressure. But it gives an indication of their quality. I have carried close to 200kg (including bike) on these tyres. 

Used for EBike on this Occasion

Eclat Ridgestone Traction Tire Review - In Use

If you are using these on a BMX then perhaps it is time for you to tune out. As I am using these on a longtail cargo ebike, which will never do a jump or a bunny hop in its life. 

There is tyre hum on the tarmac when in use owing to the slight knobbles on the centre ridge. I swapped these after using Schwalbe Jumpin Jacks for a while, but they just munch the battery being so knobbly (this would translate to leg ache on a normal bike). The eclat ridgestone traction tyre role very nicely on tarmac.

On rough stuff these are grippy as you would expect. In heavy clay they struggle of course, but the advantage is that the shallow tread clears easily once you get back up to speed. 

These tyres are not very puncture proof, a set of Schwalbe Dirty Harrys would be a cheap alternative to these, with better puncture protection, but these would not role as well, nor are they as grippy. 

I have been riding these through the hedge trimming season, in the UK with roads littered with thorns, and have unsurprisingly suffered numerous punctures, I am running tyre sealant (in tubes) and this has stopped the tyres deflating on most occasions but there is white sealant visible in numerous places on the outside of the tyre. I have puncture during the "thorn" season with other kevlar or better tyres, so this is not really a sign of weakness. 

Eclat Ridgestone Traction Tyre Review - Conclusion

A performance grade tyre, that is well suited for use on heavy duty cargo bikes, although its lack of a puncture protection belt is a slight draw back this can be easily got around by using tyre sealant. 

Environmental Consultants London