Where are all the 35mm tubeless cross\gravel tyres?. The WTB's looked like a good option until I found out they don't like Stans rims.
Failing that what's the current all round all surface favourite for tubes?, I've had enough of my thorn collecting SB8s.
Bontrager somethings? Cx0 cx3
And the compass Barlow pass are apparently good tubeless
Mountainbiking in the main, has moved so far from what attracted me to it in the 80s. Even Singletrack Mag. has gone more and more Enduro and less relevant to me.
Adventure / Gravel Biking has reminded me how much I love cycling and exploring in the countryside.
Same here, although was '89 I got into mtbs - so mostly 90's bikes where I cut my singletrack teeth. Before that I used to go everywhere on a 10 speed racer, mostly towpath but would do woodland as well in the dry! For me it's been mostly about getting outdoors and having a belt around, small adventures, light touring, sometimes longer. I still like to hammer singletrack on an FS hardtail, but prefer explorating for a full day with a bit of gear strapped on.
My 'gravel bike' is a humble home-brewed affair - ie a well-loved mid-90s Raleigh Special Products cromo mtb with full retro XT, Sun rims, Schwalbe Marathons, full guards, Ti flat bars and bar-ends. I since ditched the Gripshift for thumbies and it works a treat, is fairly light, very forgiving ride, quite indestructible and surpringly quick for a 26er.
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Found some road that had yet to be dressed properly, was a proper bit of gravel road, wasn't very long but loved it
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@malvernrider - that looks like a sweet ride - they are not 26er road rims are they???
i had another thread up about building up classic road or mtb, and i was swinging to road, but seeing that pic above.............. 🙂 🙂
soooooo
there must be some compromise between stiffness for climbing and comfort on the ruffty tuffty gravel stuff?
Hi.
Long time lurker here, I registered just to post in this thread.
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Time for a Tyres update Shirley?
Almanzos's I've been running since it's been baking hot and bone dry dusty tracks have been very excellent. Running them for faster riding and grip on bone dry trails. Grip wise they've been suprisingly good in a mix of conditions, on bone dry hardpack they've just gripped like they're stuck to the ground with no spinout even when climbing hard. Provided the trails are not covered in shale or deeper dust/dry mud these are the best tyres I've used in these conditions. On the road/lanes that are less roads than they are unsurfaced blobs of random tarmac and they've gripped like stink. All that gravel and field run off has just been blasted away. Pressures I'm running have settled into 35psi rear and 30psi on front. On occasion I've gone up to 45 rear and 40 front for mainly bad road/lanes but thats about it. I tried running them down to 25 rear and 20/25 front but got a couple of pinch flats and since I get cheesed off with these I've upped the pressures. They do grip well down at these pressures mind, but I can't see any reason to run them this low.
Wear, well they're the fine tread (small diamonds) with small knobs on the edges of the casing and I've done about 2.5ks on them and they've yet to show signs of wear. The sidewalls have started to discolour slightly but then they are skinwalls afterall.
T'is all for now.
Oh, I'm off up to Epping later for a blast and looking forward to a Hack in some Pine needles.
😯
Tyres? I started with 28mm Vredestein Senso Xtreme's, very road orientated but surprisingly capable on light off like towpaths and the like.
I've now put on a pair of On-One Gravel Roads in 33mm, these are much better off road and not as slow as I feared on the road either. I'm running them at 50 PSI but I think I'll drop that to 40 something for the next ride.
Do you/anyone know of a "road" based tyre (no tread or just a very paired down tread ) with a width of 35mm'ish?
Use? well road rides only, may use on shitty lanes but more long distance cross lane country rides..
Weight? well I'd like the lightest possible but also with some puncture protection (a little, like the Stradas mentioned that CFH uses)
I know I can get hold of Challenge's Strada Bianc's (the tan walls that CFH uses) but they're 30mm max.. I'm looking for something similar but a bit wider..
Thoughts??
BB I'd be looking at the Compass and Grand Bois tyre ranges.
I have fitted some Strada Biancas and ridden 300km so far, quite happy with them as I'm mostly on the road at the moment, but would prefer more volume like you say.
I have a steel road bike - that Ribble one - which I use as my commuter, takes guards and a rack etc, etc. It's very nice to ride and I like it a lot but it has awful tyre clearance, 25mm is pushing it. So the thought has been going round my head that really I should get a different (still steel most likely) frame with better tyre clearance. Would open up a few more possibilities for using the bike too. But then why not get one that takes discs as commuting in Scotland in winter means discs are a good idea. And if I do that then I'd need new wheels as mine don't take discs. So that's me up to frame, wheels and brakes. Hmmm. Now that's almost a whole bike...
Wow, that escalated quickly!
Nice to see the Amazons making an appearance here:
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Tyres wise, I go for:
Smart Sam 35c for mixed rides with a fair amount of road.
Smart Sam 47c for proper offroad.
Marathon Winter 35c for the snowy wastelands.
I headed out for a short ride this afternoon, the idea was to do some interval training as my average is pretty poor at the mo, anyway, about 10 minutes in and I was fed up of training so popped down a dirt track, found a bench and chilled out for 10 or 12 minutes in the sun watching the water foul on the pond, lovely. 🙂
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The Stradas are lovely, but on the road end of the gravel spectrum. Fine for mettalled road/track like those up on the Plain, but not as tough as a cross tyre proper.
Skinwalls ate making a comeback though, so watch this space for more choice.
@malvernrider - that looks like a sweet ride - they are not 26er road rims are they???i had another thread up about building up classic road or mtb, and i was swinging to road, but seeing that pic above.............. 🙂
Thnks B2B 🙂
Ah, rims - they're retro Sun Chinooks handbuilt on to some earlier more svelte XT hubs. Think they are lightweight MTB rims - I used to have some handbuilt CR18s on my old Rocky Mountain Thin Air and liked those very much so was delighted that these were available.
Not sure what I'd do if I was to start over, whether to go road or MTB, love the idea of discs too but tbh I haven't suffered any with the Avid Vs for the use I give it. It was a lot of fun to build up and does the job with panache and comfort, can't imagine getting rid. n+1
Build history and costings all here: (most pics sadly retired since imageshack changed)
[url] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=101088&start=0 [/url]
Received a really nice comment on the second page there from the Raleigh Special Products manager, chuffed to bits about that, I was.
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^^Approved!^^
Back to tyres....
These look nice;
http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/new-express
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And, from the people who make them;
Panracer Pasela
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A little used bridleway type section from my commute into central London this morning. It's a some but detour but it's lovely. This is in zone 3
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bikebouy - Member
Do you/anyone know of a "road" based tyre (no tread or just a very paired down tread ) with a width of 35mm'ish?...
Before I moved over to a roadified 29er, I liked Schwalbe Marathon Racers for gravel bike duties.
Schwalbe Marathon Plus here, bike is mainly a commuter
WTB Nano 40c came with the bike but barely used
I'd switch between if I could face taking the marathons off and on, they're very tight!
Before I moved over to a roadified 29er, I liked Schwalbe Marathon Racers for gravel bike duties.
+1. Can't fault them really. Never had a puncture in 5 years of use, roll fast at high pressures, good offroad at lower.
Has anyone spotted any shops with the new Schwalbe G-One in stock yet?
32mm marathon plus here too - bit on the narrow side maybe for some tastes but a good compromise for sealed roads and side walls don't get worn thru and my skills are such that maintaining traction on steep ground isn't a problem 8)
Tyres?
I'm a long time Pasela user but fitted the CAADX out with Durano's. They are very light and zippy but have a belt for puncture protection. I've had 2 in ~2k miles; a big shard of glass and a big screw. Something really heavy might have stopped them but it's unlikely. I'll go for these again, they're fantastic.
I've been using 35c Sammy Slicks for off road and they're pretty swift off and on road and grip well. Obviously it's been pretty dry this year (here at least) so they may well be crap in gloop.
Hi,
Vittoria Randonneur 28c for road duties and WTB Nano 40c front and Bontrager LT3 38c rear for off-roading on my Plug.
Cheers!
I.
Stopped for a spot of lunch today 😉
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I do use XPlor 40 MSO's but they've got too much tread 😕
Looking for more "baldness"
😆
Challenge Parigi Roubaix, or too narrow? They are a 27 but come up closer to a very round 29.
Bikebuoy, sounds like the Compass Barlow Pass for you. Or the Schwalbe Supermoto.
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme? I have a pair on my CX bike, roll nice so they do.
Cheers Guys.
As you can imagine I have almost every variety of Challenge Tyres except those Strada's CFH uses, Clem don't do anything other than the Xplors that tick the box so I'm now looking into those Compass Barlow Pass's, ta.
The Xplors a fine Tyre BTW, I really do fancy "bald" and "big" on the CX for lane hacks..
8)
Anyone know the difference between schwalbe supremes and racers. Racers rarely get a mention but according to schwalbe roll and grip better and are lighter and they look to have more tread. In pics anyway as ive not seen in the flesh
I really do fancy "bald" and "big" on the CX for lane hacks..
Me too! Just waiting to wear the current crop a little more before I splurge another £80 on tyres for the same bike. I was strictly a 1 set of tyres at a time man until I bought the Peregrine, I currently have Thunder Burts, CX speeds, Race Kings, Fat Franks and GP4S in rotation for just the peregrine. Although wife's Swift has had a couple of goes on the TBs.
I am slightly upset the Supermotos won't fit in my forks...
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Stevens Vapor Disc. Readied for baby fun duties. Alpkit 20l drybag perfect for snacks, tools, nappies and baby sundries!!
nedrapier - Member
...I am slightly upset the Supermotos won't fit in my forks...
It's why I sold my Peregrine.
Anyone used the trigger pro 2bliss tyres, are they any good? Riding a mixture of road, hard pack and crusher and gravel trails. Ta.
What did you get in its place, epoxy close?
Or epicyclo, if I override autocorrelation. Autocorrection.
Just ordered the surlly knard 700x41. Get good write ups. Any real life experience?
Ok, anyone know where I can get a set of those Barlow Pass's?
Firestarter - how do those top tube bags get on with paint on top tube ? I have the revelate one and used some duct tape under the straps..
Ok, anyone know where I can get a set of those Barlow Pass's?
[url= http://www.velovitality.co.uk ]Velo Vitality[/url] is the only importer of them i believe,
Paint is unmarked but then again shand paint is awesome. Ive not taped anything up I'll ride it til its battered then send it back for new paint 😉
nedrapier - Member
What did you get in its place...
I road-ified my 29ers. (They weren't getting ridden because fatbikes are more fun.)
Currently riding this
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Agree so much with the sentiments on this thread.
