Friday 11 June 2010

Product review: Odyssey prototype frequency G

Review by Effraim.


The tyre debate will go on and on, individual to individual. I never really took much notice of this until Level Vibes last year, I was running Frequency G tyres (P lytes) front and back, and was riding on marble leading up to that event, sometimes in the wet, which I thought would help with adapting to a slippery floor, to cut a long story short it didn’t help. So I’ve been experimenting ever since.
In late January I finally after many years trying, I finally after all these years and winters got a chance to have a regular indoor spot to ride, so I tried the KHE tyre on the front, that’s another testing story though. Fast forward a few months, At Jomopro, Odyssey released a few prototype frequency g tyres to Pat Schoolen, again I had the normal frequency g tyre on the back, Khe on the front, the Khe was a lil slidy but generally fine, but on the back wheel I was sliding out a lot!!, I normally use 120 psi, but I had it down to 100 psi to try and get more grip and I was still sliding out when I pumped on the back wheel too hard, there was no room for a lil’ extra speed. This problem was solved when I switched to the softer prototype tyre, immediately I noticed that the tyre is sticky in my hands as I put it on, it took a few mega spin turbines outside the contest arena to wear the tyre in, and it was ready to go.
The traction and grip the tyre gave me was immediately noticeable. My confidence on the back wheel rose at jomopro as a result and my consistency, less hesitation. I ride on marble and wood predominantly so this tyre is perfect for me, it does what its intended to do, whilst its also sticky, it’s not too slow, infact it didn’t feel much different to a regular frequency g, I’m fussy with tyres and surfaces, and this tyre was great from the get go! And this tyre has been great for helping me adapt to surfaces slippier than what I’m used to, the only difference being that it grips, at jomopro and my indoor spot, I haven’t slipped out once! I’ve been using the tyre for two months now, and its only a lil’ worn (see photo), if you ride rougher surfaces regularly then you may want to think differently, I have only used the softer tyre a few times on a rougher surface and its been fine (a regular frequency g I would presume last longer), whereas my Khe tyre shredded to pieces in a day at the Green Mile for example. Bear in mind this softer Odyssey tyre was designed for indoor slippery floors, so it does what it says on the tin, so to speak.
It’s great on turbines, grips well on the indoor spot, grippy on backwards spinning when your really leaned over, responsive on quick pivots, it feels nice and responsive if you scuff, or one kick tricks, a major plus if you don’t have to let the tyre down to get more grip, or coke the indoor spot, it’s durable. For me so far this has been my dream tyre, it’s helped me overcome a major problem and concern!! Riding indoors is now not so much of an issue! Thank you Odyssey! (and Pat for the tyres-still on the first one).
I see this tyre as a major competitor to the Khe tyre, so to compare the two from my experience, the Khe tyre is instantly rideable as a plus point, but it is slippery at first on an indoor spot, the Khe tends to get grippier after a few sessions, but not as grippy as the frequency g, sometimes I slide out on backwards spins on the khe, the frequency g takes a few mega spins on a rough surface to wear in and it’s good to go, and I found it more durable if you go to a rougher surface than the khe tyre. The khe tyre is lighter, but I don’t care about that, the difference is hardly anything.
Pat at FF said at Jomopro, that the tyre will be available in around four months, and that was two months ago, so I hope its in stock at FF soon, I know I’ll be ordering mine.  Thanks to Odyssey for listening to the demands of the riders, so if your riding an indoor spot, I’d recommend this one, a reliable sticky tyre, I have however not tried the Ares tyre. Anyone have any feedback on that tyre? If so write a review and send it in.


7 comments:

Unknown said...

thats got to be the longest ever review for a tire ever! i ride on tarmac and the best tyre is frequency steel bead, cheap , fast ,effective

flatmatters said...

Thanks lee, I pride myself on attention to detail on stuff that I believe matters, odyssey made a tyre for indoor flat surfaces so why not not offer detailed feedback?

Unknown said...

i did have a ares a-class which i have to say is my favorite tire to date, but i only rode on tarmac not wood or marble and are very hard to get hold of in the uk, so i adapted to the frequency which is readily available

flatmatters said...

Ah yes I remembering you saying lee, what was good about the ares tyre? Great from the start? What's the durability like being you ride in Tarmac?

ortho said...

Wow, I love seeing such a detailed review. I love my reg Freq-Gs but they are pretty slidy on contest-type surfaces. I'll probably get a pair of these new ones just for those contest trips.

No more goofy Coke/RedBull/Alcohol tire treatments!

flatmatters said...

Definitely worthwhile, I ride a wooden indoor spot which is slippery with the regular frequency g tyre, but no problems with this new softer tyre, as I said it does what it's intended. It's not for Tarmac, rough surface riding.

flatmatters said...

Stoked this tyre is being released!!!