An almost carbon copy of Panaracer's legendary Smoke tread, Conti's Slash is a good rear option for those who value high mileage over high traction.
The paddle tread certainly stirs impressive straight line traction out of most soft conditions. The long, stiff rubber edge treads and can be leant on pretty hard once you've banked the rounded carcass over too.
Its tendency to spit sideways suddenly when it does go makes it a gamble for heavy braking front use though. It also tends to clog on the shoulders in sticky conditions and the hard compound rubber is slipperier than soap on wet roots and rocks.It blows up smaller than most oversized 2.3s so it's XC rather than freeride tough.
The toughened 'ProTection' carcass shrugs off thorn punctures well though. The tread will still be looking brand new when most of the soft compound tyres here are down to bald carcass, which makes them good value in terms of mileage at least. >
