Michelin StarCross 6 tires: First impressions

Michelin was making some bold claims with these new StarCross 6 tires. Especially when you consider how well the StarCross 5 tires already performed. For the sandy trails in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, where I frequently ride, the 5s have been a go-to option for myself and many riders I frequent the trails with. The level of grip and longevity are tough to beat for the money. I’ve also always appreciated the number of options offered within the StarCross line, as it allows every rider to select the best choice for the terrain they plan to tackle.

Knowing this, I was a bit skeptical about the claims Michelin was making pertaining to the increased traction and greater durability the new StarCross 6 tires were bringing to the table. So when Michelin invited my buddy Matt and I out to Texas to test out these bad boys with the Gnarly Routes crew, I couldn’t reply “yes” fast enough.

Technology

We arrived in Texas and made our way to this little town called Post, where Cole Kirkpatrick from Gnarly Routes has a family ranch stocked full of incredible trails and bikes. We met with the Michelin crew to get the rundown on the new tires and learn a bit more about the advancements in the technology and varying compounds.

The new Michelin StarCross 6 will be available in Medium Hard, Medium Soft, Hard, Sand, and Mud options while the StarCross 5 came in a Hard, Medium, Soft, Sand, and a Mini. Obviously, we all ride different kinds of terrain that require different tires. It would be great to have one tire to rule them all, but that’s a bit of a unicorn. And generally, if a manufacturer claims a particular tire “can do it all,” I wouldn’t believe it. Any given tire may excel in some areas but it will certainly suffer in others. The point being, figure out what terrain you plan on tackling most and snag a compound that is best suited for it. These varying compounds and designs exist for a reason. 

Michelin says the new “adaptive design” of the Michelin StarCross 6 provides up to 16 percent more traction when new compared to the 5. The adaptive design is associated with the new lug pattern, the tread “buckets,” and the material utilized for the new StarCross 6. The lug pattern, spacing between lugs, and their shape all change from one compound to the next. These are specific choices Michelin makes for each compound to help increase traction and maximize performance, based on the kind of terrain that particular compound will be used for.

The lug pattern and the new silica technology go hand in hand to improve traction and longevity, according to Michelin. The silica technology came over from the car side of the world and helps strengthen the knobs so they maintain their shape for a longer period of time. This is where the 19 percent more traction when the tires have been worn in and about 11 percent more durability come from, based on Michelin’s extensive testing.

If you’ve ridden in the dirt long enough, I’m sure you’ve seen how the knobs wear over time. They’re no longer sharply squared off and the edges take on a rounded shape. Additionally, the knobs can tear away from the tire altogether. Because of the new silica technology, which gets away from carbon black rubber tread blocks used on the previous gen, the StarCross 6s will wear and retain their initial tread block design much better, according to Michelin.

Since most of what I usually ride is tight single-track and sand, I've personally always run a Soft front tire and a Medium rear tire when I used the StarCross 5s, so when I learned the Soft would no longer be an option in the StarCross 6 line, I was a bit bummed and concerned. I was quickly informed by Cole and his Gnarly Routes co-founder, Russell Bobbitt, that we’d have plenty of sand for me to play in so I could see if I really needed that “soft’ compound.

And with that, it was time to gear up and hit the trails.

Time to ride: First impressions

The trails we tackled had every combination of terrain you could imagine. We rode through snow, a good bit of ice-topped rocks, deep sand, rocky hill climbs, etc. Most of the trails were hard-packed underneath with a nice dusting of sand on top, which I’m sure you can imagine is not really a recipe for traction. On top of all that, when we started up the bikes on the first day of this two-day ride, it was 17 degrees… and yes, that’s 17 degrees Fahrenheit. With the wind chill, it was said to feel like zero. Needless to say, the conditions weren’t the best for riding dirt bikes, nor were they the best to showcase the level of traction and performance of a new tire. Regardless of the weather conditions, I was all smiles for all the miles. I’m happy to suffer through the cold when my "day at the office” is on a dirt bike.

Considering the difficulty of the terrain, getting used to a new bike, and freezing cold temperatures, to be honest, I really wasn’t sure how the ride would go. But after getting settled into the bike and warming up a bit, I can confidently say that these tires felt incredible. Our bikes were equipped with the StarCross 6 Medium Hard compound and the tires really hooked up through everything we rode, despite the varying terrain. Everything felt planted and confidently so. Sure, I got squirrely here and there but that was no fault of the tires but rather my own.

At one point I watched Russ — who is a five-time national enduro champ, by the way — tractor right up a wall of ice-covered rocks with very little speed and the tires didn’t skip a beat. I was right behind him and frankly I didn’t think I was going to make it. The terrain was a bit technical and with the ice and snow on top, I just had a hard time thinking I’d get through this cleanly. But, I just kept on trucking and sure enough, everything hooked up and I went up that rock wall without trouble. Could an alternative brand make it up that same rock wall in the same conditions? I’m sure it could, but I know for certain that the StarCross 6 made it up with ease.

Russ and Cole helped push me outside of my comfort zone and not only showed me what I could do as a rider, but they also showed all of us the level of traction these tires provide. I could be aggressive on the front brake coming in hot to a corner, hammer on the gas coming out and more often than not, I felt like I was on rails. So at the very least, these tires provided confidence and allowed me to trust the level of traction provided.

Final thoughts on the StarCross 6

While I was riding, I thought about the placebo effect, right? I’m excited, I’m testing new tires, I got fresh knobs on the bike, this terrain is super cool and diverse. Are the tires really that good? Or… am I excited to be here and getting super hyped up? I’m sure it’s a bit of both. And honestly, I don’t think I’m fast enough to truly appreciate the performance gains of the new StarCross 6 tires, but I felt confident riding that crazy Texas terrain with them.

In order to get a concrete direct comparison to the StarCross 5, I’d have to pick a loop, hit that same loop several times in a row and record the lap times. Pull over, swap to a set of Michelin StarCross 6 tires, hit that same loop several times again and compare the lap times to the StarCross 5. And, even then, it would be challenging to get a direct comparison, as the terrain is changing a bit every lap.

So can I say for certain I was getting precisely 16 percent more traction compared to the StarCross 5s? Not really, but I can say with certainty that after my initial impressions of their performance, my next set of tires will be the Michelin StarCross 6 Medium Soft tires.

I’m eager to get these tires here in my neck of the woods and see how they stack up on the trails I’m familiar with. After tackling the terrain in Texas with a Medium Hard compound, I’m confident the Medium Soft will replace the StarCross 5 Soft I used to run. The 5 Soft performed very well, but it did wear down fairly quickly, so knowing the StarCross 6s promise increased traction and longevity, I imagine most riders will be pleased with their performance.