Michelin Pneu Souple Wild AM2 29"

This is the easiest tire ever to inflate tubeless. The tire is very tight on the rim compared to other brands, you might need a tire lever to get it on, but with no effort at all. Once on, even before putting in the sealant, pumping with a normal floor pump will simply seat the beat, no sweat at all.

The casing of the tire is quite stiff. This is very likely a very hard tire to puncture, even on sharp rocks. I rode them on alpine very rocky terrain in the Italian alps and the tire handled it without any damage whatsoever. Of course the stiffness also has a bit of downside making the tire feel harder. With the casing being so stiff I dropped the pressure and could check the rim was still not hitting, but this was a much better ride due to the dropped pressure. Grip increased noticeably too. On the front I used 20-21 PSI and on the back 22-23 PSI. I'm 75 kg and don't ride super hard. With this setting I was quite comfortable (good vibration dampening from the tires), not concerned about punctures and had good grip.

This tire shines on the soft and mixed terrain as advertised. On loose loam feels amazing and it can also handle alpine loose rock terrain quite well. On asphalt it's fairly quiet for being so knobby and grips well. A software casing (more compliant) tire might do a bit better on rocks, but would also increase the puncturing risk. Compared to dry conditions, in the wet the grip decreases just a bit on rocks and hard surfaces, being very well within my expectations, on loam and softer surfaces I would say the grip is basically the same.

Rubber is grippy but not too soft, so cornering feels quite stable and predictable. This is not the softest compound Michelin does, get a Magi-X tire if you want the very maximum possible grip. Long pedaling was not a problem due to the well balanced nature of this tire, even with the dropped pressure.

Who is this for?
- newbies: probably not, as you don't really need the gravity casing when starting up and the tire would be quite stiff if inflated with high pressure, but can work well if inflated correctly and even better if tubeless
- pros: you probably want a Magi-X tire instead for maximum grip downhill. Assuming good fitness the additional effort required for the climbs should not be a problem, but might have its own right use case for pros too
- in the middle of the above: probably the sweet spot, where you can have a tire able to handle very rough terrain without worries of punctures and still deliverin a very good grip performance, close to the best possible.