Geax Evolution 29″er Tires: Final Review: by Guitar Ted
The Geax 29 inch sized commuter tires have been put through their paces now and it has come time for a Final Review. If you want to re-visit the previous reports on this model from Geax, see here and here. Now for my final take on these commuter treads from Geax….
The Geax Evolution, since my last posting on this tire, did make the final cut for 2012 production, so this is the tire you will be able to get sometime soon. It is a budget tire, forecast to come in at under $30.00 USD retail, so it won’t take a bite out of your pocketbook if you are thinking about these for your 29″er. Now, just who would want such a tire?
Well, maybe you’ve retired an older 29″er, but can’t see fit to get rid of it. Give it a second life as a townie/utility bike with a set of these, perhaps. Maybe you’ve been eying a mostly paved/smooth tour, or maybe you will be commuting to work now. The Geax Evolution is a perfect tire for any of these exploits.
Conclusions: Geax has a great, inexpensive tire that will expand the uses of your 29″er, or maybe revive an older steed and put it back into service. I liked the super-smooth feel of the tire and it rolled well enough to not be a detriment in my opinion. Added to this the tire is durable, seems to resist puntures well, and does gravel, pea gravel, smooth dirt, and rough chip seal well.
Short of full-on mountain bike riding, the Geax Evolution seems like quite a capable utility/commuter tread that shows little signs of wear. I suspect that it will wear well enough to easily pay for itself many times over in trips to pay bills, get a few groceries, and commute back and forth to work. Plus, I can swap out these tires easily to make my bike a full-on off road machine in a matter of a half an hour tops.
The Evolution may only have two negatives. First, it doesn’t have a reflective stripe around its perimeter, which seems as it might be a useful thing on a tire with the intent of the Evolution. Secondly, it isn’t a very exciting tire. Commuter tires or tires for paved riding may not seem very fun, but this tire deserves a good, hard look. It seems to be, to my way of thinking, a tire that would work to open up a lot more uses for a lot of 29″ers out there.
Geax submitted these tires for test and review at no charge to Twenty Nine Inches. we are not being paid, nor bribed for these reviews and we will strive to offer our honest views and opinions throughout.
Sorry I did see a weight listed. Must be heavy, >1000grams?
@yogi: In one of the hyper-linked previous articles in the text above, it would have shown you that the weight of the tires is 820gm-830gm. : http://twentynineinches.com/2011/05/25/geax-evolution-1-9-29er-tire-out-of-the-box-first-impressions/
🙂
These look “shorter” in the photos than many 29er tires… is that true? Wondering as I wouldn’t mind a larger-volume winter tire for my 700c commuter but I know clearance is fairly tight in the front.
GT, would you ever consider running these “ghetto” tubeless? Of coarse this would be with the understanding that you would not inflate above 40PSI
@Matt: Yes, they are a bit “shorter”, and in reality, probably are 28″ers. I am quite sure these would fit on my Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross model bike, for instance, so you may have good luck with your situation.
@JamesB: Consider? Yes. Actually going ahead with it? Probably not. 😉
@ GT – Thanks! I’ll measure my actual clearance before ordering, but this sounds pretty good.
I’d appreciate anyone who sees this “on the shelf” letting the rest of us know! It’s not QUITE winter in Virginia yet, so I still have some time before I switch out my setup (the non-ice-tire setup, that is).
Love to see pics of them clearing the Black Mountain Cross frame you have GT.
Nice.
I have a eye on theses to replace my barro race on my commuter (mounted tubeless on speedcity !)
As i use a karate monkey for commuting also, i’m very interested in your fender setup and feedback. Please send me some info !
On my bike I used the 26″ version of the tire and had, in particular at the front wheel, problems with the tire “collecting” a lot of small gravel stones in the profile, which, in turn, led to flat tires on some occasions.
Did the 29er version have this “stone collecting” problem, too?
@ADi: Yes, I suppose I was noticing a similar situation when the tire was run in the sand or decayed gravel. I did not see flats due to that though.
For a commute of mixed Paved and Dirt Roads, would you recommend the Evolution of the Schwalbe Big Apple (2.0″)? 2″ is about the max I can fit into my Rawland Drakkar comfortabley. I also love longer dirt orad rides, so keep that in mind.
Recently purchased these tires and they are the most comfortable tire I have used on my Trek DS. Run them at 50psi and they are only 0.1mph slower than the 700 x 38 Bontrager LT3 tires that came stock on the bike which I ran at 60psi. The Evo also weighs 560 grams/pair heavier so I’m gonna keep the Evo due to the comfort. GREAT tire for daily riding.
I put these on both mine and my GF’s Long Haul Truckers along with Planet Bike Cascaida 29er fenders and they “just” fit. After 100+ mile dirt, sand, gravel bike packing trip I was amazed how well they handled off road and also how smooth the ride was. Back on pavement the difference between the stock 37mm Continental Contact is small enough I’m just leaving them on. I can definitely recommend this tire for anyone looking to give there bike more versatility and great ride comfort…
-Robert
Hi!
Thanks for the review, I’ve got interested in these tires, but I owe a cross/trekking bike and I am afraid it won’t fit into the frame I have.
Could you please leave us here a real-size measure of these tires? what is real width and height in mm-ers?
And by the way to all the rest – do you know what is real width and height in mm-ers of Schwalbe big apple 2.0 29″ ?
Thanks a lot!
B.
@Blazej: See here: http://twentynineinches.com/2011/05/25/geax-evolution-1-9-29er-tire-out-of-the-box-first-impressions/
I bought a set of these tires in no small part to your review and others. Best bang for the dollar IMO. Great tire for some one who rides street (can’t avoid road hazards and not get run over), gravel, pasture, woods, and dirt all on the same ride, they are excellent.
Anyone notice that after having a 29er, riding a 26 inch bike feels like you are on a kid’s bike?
Thanks Ted. Remember, blues rules.