The Pinner Pro ATC is a fast-rolling tyre for dry, hardpack and rocky terrain, with reassuring steering and a sturdy carcass. It lacks bite in pretty much any sort of wet or loose conditions, though, so it’s very much for dry, rocky days only.
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With its four-block pattern and low, fairly closely-packed tread, the Pinner Pro has an obvious bias towards hardpack with loose rock and dirt. The ATC casing is the lighter of Kenda’s two Pinner options (Rach tested the downhill-oriented AGC version here) and this 2.4″ wide 650b version weighs in at 923g.
ATC is a more enduro/trail bike orientated sidewall, but it’s still tough – it happily shrugged off regular rocky terrain attempted damage.
Setting this tyre up tubeless is pretty easy: the pair seated without fuss on my 35mm rims with only one needing a pressure shot, then held up overnight with only a little top up.
The claims of predictable cornering are well deserved, and the edges are confidence-inspiringly tenacious. The (relatively) light sidewalls means it feels fast when pedalling, too, and it’s supple enough to help with traction and braking.
It has a confident, reliable feel on firm dry ground. It climbs confidently and rolls well, too.
Kenda uses its SCT protection in the sidewalls and a separate belt of K-Armor under the tread. The sidewalls held up well throughout the test, as did the casing beneath the tread, but I had one issue with a main block shearing and creating a hole. It led to a slow puncture that never really sealed.
The Pinner is great in dry, rocky terrain, but in the wet – or on dirt – it feels nervous and offers a much less reassuring feel. It isn’t designed for wet, muddy conditions or even regular mixed terrain use, and it’s not going to stretch to it either.
The Pinner Pro is arguably more of a rear tyre – using it as a front, you find odd moments when a little more bite would be handy. On the back, rolling speed is good, and it gives reliable traction for braking or climbing.
It’s happier run slightly firmer, as with really low pressures it develops a squirm to it.
The price is reasonable and it wears well, so the value is good – though its use is fairly niche, at least in the UK. It’s definitely a dry weather tyre, and ideal summer Alpine trips, or if you need something purely for rocky, hardpack riding in the summer.
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