Michelin Power Cyclocross Jet Tyre

Michelin's Power Jet Tubeless Cyclocross Tyres are fast and ideally suited to dry races. Show them a little moisture and they quickly become hard to handle, so not the best for the mixed conditions that a full season of racing brings, though they'd be ideal for a local summer race league.

Michelin recently re-released the green tyres that became famous (well, in the world of CX they did) when Wout van Aert won the 2017 Worlds using an original tread from the 80s, glued to a Dugast tubular casing. This new-age version doesn't feature the same silica compound that made the original so popular, but they are green, and that counts for a lot.

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The green tread was based around a silica compound for maximum grip in wet conditions and it caused a lot of rummaging in sheds as tyres in good condition were going for upwards of £100 in the weeks following that Worlds. It's probably why Michelin has decided to bring them back.

This is the Jet version of the same tyre that I reviewed earlier in the season. The difference is that the Jet features a much lower tread that makes it very fast on hardpacked, dry surfaces.

The construction is the same and I'm glad to say that all of the good setup points carry over to this tyre. Setting the tyres up tubeless is easy and they held air well, even when down at low pressures. I couldn't get them to burp air either. It's a solid system, though you will be needing levers to get them onto the rim.

The main issue with the Jets is that they're not great when things turn wet – as they so often do in the UK, and have been for most of the review period. In testing they've been limited to hardpacked surfaces as anything grassy has been too wet for the low tread, and I found them quick to lose traction on any mud.

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The flipside of that lack of grip in the mud is the speed you can hold on the tarmac. Michelin describes the tread as providing "excellent hold on dry roads while maintaining maximum performance", and I'd concur: on dry, hardpacked surfaces these tyres are really fast. You could easily use these on the road if you were looking for something with a bit of tread.

Value

At £42.99 per tyre the Power Jets look pretty good value on paper, but if you're willing to pay a little more you end up with a better deal in terms of all-year/all-conditions performance.

The Challenge Chicane TLRs, for example, are £54 each but have more aggressive side knobs for better traction on wet grass, and then there's Schwalbe's X-One Bite TLE at £59.99. For year-round racing in the UK, those are what I'd recommend. They'll cope with the worst mud a British winter can create and aren't too slow in the dry.

If you're looking for the grip that the original silica compound gave, then FMB still offers a range of its tubulars with the famous green tread.

Conclusion

While the Michelin Power Jets perform very well in the dry, offering easy setup and a fast ride, I can't help thinking they would be a limiting option because of the lack of grip on even slightly damp grass. They work well as a faster tyre for mixing road and trails, but for racing cyclo-cross I'd suggest looking for something that can cope with a wider range of conditions.

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Verdict

Very fast in the dry but limited in their range of use