X-Grip is a new tire company on the scene, and it has an entirely different approach to tire design, construction, and product execution. Based in Styria, Austria, X-Grip was founded in 2016. The company’s first product line was mousse tire inserts, which soon expanded into tires. X-Grip claims, “We want to change the world and have fun!” They back that up with some interesting marketing. With tire names like Jack the Gripper and HulkyBoy, the subjects of this test, how can you not like these guys? Now, we will see if we like the tires as much as the pitch.
One of the things I most like about X-Grip is the superior informed choice you can make using the tire and mousse product guides on its Austrian website. They offer easy-to-understand grids in English to help you choose the correct mousse based on the application.
Here’s how it works. The X-Grip Tyre Applications chart rates each tire on a 0 to 3 scale for each of these terrains:
- Snow/Ice
- Clay/Dirt
- Gravel/Hard Ground
- Rooty
- Stream Bed
This is a critical part of the process because X-Grip offers up to four hardness compounds for each rear tire it produces. The exceptions are the highly focused Escalator (Extreme Enduro) and Super X-Gear (Motocross) tires, which come in just one compound. X-Grip has two front tires, each in Soft or Hard compounds. There is also a 1 to 5 rating for Durability. If you know precisely what you want the tire to do, it’s easy to end up with exactly the right tire.
After you select the proper tire and compound for your use, you choose a matching mousse firmness from the X-Grip Mousse & Tyres table, which is also on the Austrian site. The front tires have only the Normal firmness, with the rear tires offering as many as four mousse firmness choices—Extreme, Soft, Normal, and Hard. This is an important step, as you are picking what “psi” you will be running. Unfortunately, X-Grip does not offer a psi equivalent for each mousse, something we’d like to see. X-Grip also makes mousse inserts for a broad range of popular tire brands.
For our test on my personal 2024 KTM 450 XCF-W, we went with the X-Grip HulkyBoy front tire with the Soft compound. It excels in all terrains, except Clay/Dirt (2 rating) and Gravel/Hard Ground (1 rating). It’s also a bit less durable than its Hard compound sibling. We matched it with the recommended Normal mousse insert. This is a fatty 90/100 tire, which I prefer upfront on all my bikes.
In the back, we selected the colorfully named Jack The Gripper tire, which comes in four compound choices—Soft, Medium+, Medium, and Hard. As it is an FIM-approved competition tire with the shorter 14mm knobs in a 2/3/2 center-knob pattern, we went with the wider 140/80 x 18. I picked Medium firmness, which focuses on Soft Ground/Earthy and Gravel/Hard Ground performance. Like the front, Jack The Gripper was matched with the Normal-rated mousse. I rarely choose a lower knob height, but I wanted to really test the tire’s claimed “extreme forward propulsion in boulders and deep ruts.”
To the delight of dual-sport riders who like to adhere to the law, both tires meet DOT and Euro standards for street legality. The Normal-rated mouse inserts feel equivalent to about 4 to 6 psi at both ends.
It didn’t take long in the dirt to determine that the X-Grip HulkyBoy and Jack The Gripper tires are exceptions to my indifference to short-knob FIM tires, as the grip is astounding, even on the ‘wrong’ terrain.
While Southern California dirt is not exactly varied—it is mostly clay or sand—it does vary widely in density, depending on the moisture and the location. However, we have no real loamy terrain or slimy riverbeds.
Having said that, I have tested these tires in dry clay, moist clay, wet clay, kitty-litter-like dry sand, talc-type dry sand, and wet sand, putting in over 15 hours with the matching new tires and inserts.
The X-Grip Jack The Gripper rear tire performed flawlessly at all times, except in dry sand where short knobs always suffer, though it was much better than I expected from a tire 14mm-high knobs. The tire provided no surprises, and I never felt the need for a firmer or softer mousse.
Jack The Gripper is predictable in acceleration, cornering, and braking, except in very deep soil and sand. There is only the slightest sense of squirm due to the soft rubber, and it is only occasional and momentary, unlike most all “hybrid” or “gummy” tires I have tested, which are a problematic compromise at best.
The front tire performed better than my favorite Golden Tyre 216-AA Fatty tire. The X-Grip HulkyBoy works particularly well on downhill ruts, where there’s no crawling out of ruts or tire bounce. HulkyBoy performs so well that I use the rear brake less and less on downhills because the front grip is so substantial.
Tire wear has been excellent, both front and rear, especially considering the performance level.
At 15+ hours of hard-terrain riding with lots of desert rocks, the Jack The Gripper rear tire knob height is down 2mm to 12mm. There is visible scaring of the knob faces, but no knob tearing of any kind—not bad considering how much torque the 2024 KTM 450 XCF-W puts out. I would estimate that this will be a 30- to 40-hour tire for my type of riding and terrain. The HulkyBoy front tire still feels new, looks great, and has the same lack of issues as Jack The Gripper. I estimate I will get at least 60 hours on the HulkyBoy before replacing it.
Central Powersports Distribution (CPD) brings X-Grip tires, mousse inserts, and tubes into the United States. The X-Grip Jack The Gripper has a list price of $145, and HulkyBoy carries a $122 price tag. The mousse inserts run $251 for a set—all in, you’re looking at $518. Given the performance and durability of these two X-Grip tires, that’s a price worth paying.
