Bridgestone Finally Gets into the ADV Knobby Tire Game

We heard rumors of this tire at the beginning of the year, and finally we can talk about the new Bridgestone Battlax Adventurecross AX41 tire. A knobby dual-sport tire made for adventure-touring machines, the AX41 means that Bridgestone finally has an offering for ADV riders.

It is surprising to think that the Japanese brand has been without a tire for such an important market segment for so long, but that is water under the bridge now, with the Battlax Adventurecross AX41 tire debuting at INTERMOT and coming to American dealers at the start of next year.

Tired of seeing other brands soak up the profitable ADV space, Bridgestone is finally getting around to the adventure-touring market, though we have yet to hear of any OEM fitment for the Battlax Adventurecross AX41 tire.

Getting a chance to see the AX41 at both INTERMOT and AIMExpo, the tread pattern looks aggressive, with big blocks staggered on the tire’s circumference. The Battlax Adventurecross AX41 will come in a good range of sizes too, once it fully debuts by January 2020. For the first year though, the popular ADV sizes should be available to interested riders.

Of course, we won’t know the Bridgestone Battlax Adventurecross AX41 tire performs until we get a spin on it, but the we are certainly excited to see Bridgestone finally in this space.

While the Battlax A41 proves itself to be a good 90/10 tire for ADV duty, Bridgestone desperately needed a big-bike 50/50 offering. Bridgestone obviously sees the AX41 as a counterpart to the A41 street tire in its lineup, but the real test will be how the AX41 compares to the Continental TKX80, Metzeler Karoo 3, Michelin Anakee Wile, and Pirelli Scorpion Rally tires.

Out of the major tire manufacturers, this leaves Dunlop as the only brand without a proper ADV tire in its lineup. Hopefully they will follow Bridgestone’s lead, and get with the program.

It should be noted that in addition to the Battlax Adventurecross AX41, Bridgestone also debuted a “scrambler” variant, cleverly called the Bridgestone Battlax Adventurecross AX41S tire. The Japanese brand has also quietly debuted its next sport bike tire, the Bridgestone Battlax S22. Busy, busy.