I picked up two sets of these tires this month to outfit the touring bikes Sarah and I took to Acadia. For gravel road and hard packed dirt a regular cyclocross tire does just fine but can be a little slow rolling. I knew we would be spending a good bit of time on pavement as well so I wanted to go with a fairly low profile tread to get me the grip and stability desired for the off road parts but without feeling like I was being significantly dragged down on the pavement.

A week before leaving for our trip Kenda debuted it’s two new cyclocross tires for the 2011 season. Like most companies that have done their homework Kenda knew that there is no true jack of all trades tire for cross and different courses demand different rubber. With that in mind they came out with the Happy Medium and the Slant 6. Both share their design with Kenda’s new mountain bike tires of the same name.

I selected the Happy Medium. The center 1″ of the tread is a series of closely spaced diamond shaped little nobs. Not unlike those you would find on the classic grass friendly treads of some of the more famous cross tire brands like Challenge and Dugast. Where things differ the spacing of the nobs. They are a bit further apart which allows each nob to flex and grip a bit more. On the outer edges of the tire both sides come with two rows of fairly substantial squared off nobs. These sit much taller than the center nobs. They are spaced just far enough out that when riding in a straight line they don’t seem to touch the road at all to add resistance. As soon as the bike is turned or leaned they are immediately noticeable and dig in to the loose surface at once giving a confident grip.

For gravel and hardpacked off road courses I can’t recommend these enough. Fans of the Michelin Jet and euro style treads like the Challenge Grifo XS take note. These take cues from both and combine them into the best tire of this style… at least in this man’s opinion.