Tour Divide 2013

[BigPoppa]

Because, the race really starts whenever Crazy Larry says it does. 

[BobM]

Because, the race really starts whenever Crazy Larry says it does. 

HUGE LOL!!!!

I wonder if Crazy Larry is really Matthew Lee in disguise?  Has anyone seen them together?

[novarider]

Im setting up to do the Divide in 2014...I am currently running a 1x9 set up with a 32x12-36..Would you say this is a sufficient set up or should I convert to a 2x9 with a 24/32x11-34 or possibly a 2x10 with a 26/39x11-36 or 1x10 with a 39x11-36?

[BigPoppa]

HUGE LOL!!!!

I wonder if Crazy Larry is really Matthew Lee in disguise?  Has anyone seen them together?

All I know is that when I did the race, everybody was nervously standing around, taking photos, checking gear, etc and then all the sudden Crazy L rolls up on this trike with balloons all over it. He says, "Here we go!!!!" And, everyone took off in a huge pack after him.

[Georg66]

HUGE LOL!!!!
I wonder if Crazy Larry is really Matthew Lee in disguise?  Has anyone seen them together?

I really thought, Matt Lee were a phantom ... until I met him and was shaking hands at Brush Mountain during TD 2012 :-)

[Christopher R. Bennett]

Thanks kcampagna, I decided on the Arch EX rims after a chat with the guy who will be building my wheels. He reckoned that there was a 99% chance the Crests would have been fine, but thought that I'd be safer with the Arches. The way I see it is that the weight advantage of the Crests over the Arches would be completely negated if I destroyed a wheel mid race.

What tyres are you running with the Arches? My Maxxis are near impossible to mount so any field repairs would be daunting to say the least

[pickupel]

Hi Christopher,

I've given tires a fair bit of thought, mainly due to mounting concerns with Stans rims. I had initially decided to go with WTB Nanos, but apparently the tubeless specific ones (Nano TCS) aren't compatible with Stans rims. The regular Nanos can be run tubeless on Stans rims, so they're still on my 'maybe' list. The plan at the moment is to run some Shwalbe Racing Ralphs in training and see how I get on with them for now. Stappy recommended them as a good Divide tire and I can get a good deal on them at the moment, so they seem to fit the bill. When I get my wheels I'll let you know how I get on with mounting them.

[woody]

Hi Christopher,

I've given tires a fair bit of thought, mainly due to mounting concerns with Stans rims. I had initially decided to go with WTB Nanos, but apparently the tubeless specific ones (Nano TCS) aren't compatible with Stans rims. The regular Nanos can be run tubeless on Stans rims, so they're still on my 'maybe' list. The plan at the moment is to run some Shwalbe Racing Ralphs in training and see how I get on with them for now. Stappy recommended them as a good Divide tire and I can get a good deal on them at the moment, so they seem to fit the bill. When I get my wheels I'll let you know how I get on with mounting them.

Not to add to it, but if you haven't come across this older thread take a look in it.
Good info.
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,1924.0.html

Woody

[pickupel]

Thanks for the link Woody, there's a pretty good bank of TD specific tire knowledge on there! Having read that thread it appears some seem to have found the Racing Ralphs to be overkill for the TD, where a tire with slightly better rolling resistance (like the Nano) seems to be the right tool for the job. I still plan on going with the Racing Ralphs to train on, however, mainly because the seriously wet weather we've had in the UK lately would make me uncomfortable on anything with less grip. As it dries out in a couple of months I may try out the Nanos and see which I like best.

[Mauro_N]

Thanks Blackhound, Im going to run a pair of X kings and ship a replacement set half way through.

[pickupel]

There is a link on the thread Woody mentioned that has some great information about tires. Half way down the page someone has posted some pages from an MTB magazine which ran a brilliant evaluation of several tires. Worth checking out.

http://forums.mtbr.com/wheels-tires/tire-test-results-german-bike-magazine-419392-12.html

[BigPoppa]

I raced with Stans Arch rims and tubeless Nanos.

They weren't hard to mount but you had to mount them according to the Stan's way of doing things.

Google their online video for help.

[Christopher R. Bennett]

Not to add to it, but if you haven't come across this older thread take a look in it.
Good info.
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,1924.0.html

Woody

This shows that there are quite a few good tyres out there which will work. Last year I ran Schwalbe Marathon's which we great and really easy to mount on my wheelset. I was very surprised with my new Arch how impossible it was to mount my Maxxis. In the end had to get the LBS to help! So I think it's a case of finding which of the good tyres can work with the rims ...

[BigPoppa]

I'm just going to post this video. You have to put the bead of the tire down in the middle of the 'drop channel' (i.e. the MIDDLE of the rim). If any of the tire is up on the bead edge of the rim (i.e. where it will sit when it is fully inflated), it won't mount.

ZTR Tire Install demo

[legendontour]

That guy is not mounting a TCS nano, it looks more like a Kenda tire.  Having recently spent an afternoon trying to get a TCS nano onto a ZTR flow rim - it won't work.  Stans actually say on their site it wont work. http://www.notubes.com/recommendedtires.aspx.  Mounting folding tires - no probs, which is what I suspect that guy in the video is doing.  I have folding Geax Saguaros on my Arch rims and they weren't too big of a deal to get on.

[BigPoppa]

You're correct, he's not mounting the tcs nano. I posted that so people can see how to properly install the tires. I had a crap ton of trouble getting them on until I watched that video.

Here is a link with photos of a tcs nano mounted to a Stan's arch rim and run tubeless.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/04/12/project-24-2-review-wtb-nano-tcs-2-1-xc-tires-and-weirwolf-grips/

To each his own. If you don't feel comfortable, don't go with it. I just had a great divide race experience with that combo.

[Long Hall]

I'm hoping to return to the TDR this year after a slightly less than ideal effort in 2011.

I haven't read all 20-odd pages of this thread.  Is there a start list anywhere?

Cheers

Mike

[kcampagna]

long hall --->

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnV6xT65HkPRdFRTWGUyNTRnWGNrNkZsbVVPNTViNkE#gid=0

[Long Hall]

Thanks! - I take it I add myself?

[kcampagna]

Ya. Just fill it in and it will save it automatically.

See you in June