Michelin Star Cross 5 Tire Intro

Bib Has Some New Sneakers

Michelin invited the media out to Cahuilla MX track in Southern California for the introduction of the new Star Cross 5 off-road tire line. The company has been a little quiet in the off-road world as of late, working on launching a lot of on-road product but all the while developing the off-road tire. Michelin is quick to point out they spend a lot of money and time in tire development and wanted us to feel the results.

The new tire line is based on a new tire casing that has most of the tires 10% lighter than their previous type and up to 15% lighter on specific tires like the SAND. Internally the tire is now a two-ply casing of PET replacing the three-ply nylon construction of the older tire. This accounts for most of the weight reduction. All of the tread patterns are new as well with aim to spread a larger span of dirt conditions, especially the SOFT and MEDIUM tires.

Michelin made some changes to the bead of the tire for improved seating and also made a point to stress that most of the tires are non-directional so they can be reversed for longer high-performance use. The tires are available in a wide range of sizes in 18”, 19” and 21”. The tread has a few unique features, one called fine horizontal tread lines. These, along with the Mud-phobic bars on the SOFT tire do not allow mud the chance to get a good grip and stick on the tire.

We sampled both the SOFT and MEDIUM Star Cross 5’s during the day and came away very impressed. The track was ripped deeper and softer than usual to allow the performance of the tires to be tested. For us the standout was the ability of both SOFT and MEDIUM to go onto freshly watered areas without any worry of slipping or giving out without plenty of warning. That combined with very consistent and strong traction all the time gave both riders a high sense of confidence straight away.

The tire’s construction on both types has a less rigid sidewall than the tires we typically run and had us stiffing the suspension setting on the CRF as the tire was doing more of the work on the sharp bumps. For some this is a “springy” feel but tire pressure and clickers can tune this out and then the traction goes up at the same time. And as you lean either of these tires over, front and rear, there wasn’t what we like to call a “happy” lean angle, they just kept on gripping way past where we were confident on other brands. The Michelin got better the farther it got leaned over and stayed consistent in slides.
Since we did not do any direct back-to-back with other tires and did not weigh the Michelin we can’t say how they stack up here but we all know the lighter unsprung weight of a tire is a huge advantage. On both bikes we had on hand, a Yamaha YZ125 and a CRF450R the steering was as good as with any other tire and flying in-air manners were solid as well. For sure we’ll be doing a full test in due time. Tires will be available September 1st.