Tour Divide/GDMBR - tires

[trebor]

Kurt - is this the new tread pattern?

[trebor]

I also had to google "goat head"......... turns out on this side of the mississippi we call them sand spurs.

back to the tire talk............

[krefs]

Yup, that's the new tread pattern.

And I had never encountered goatheads before I moved to Colorado, and since then, I've never seen then east of Nebraska. They're horrible little buggers in some places...ride off the trail and within one wheel revolution, you can have 80 of 'em in one tire!

[trebor]

At least they exist in FLA. get them in the tires here, but not at that quantity. Also in my Pup's paw pads on walks. Ouch.

[DenisVTT]

I ran Nano's last year. I had a few flats along the way but my front Nano went tubeless all-the-way to AW by adding additional Stans along the way when I had a puncture.

Does that mean you were carrying a bottle of fluid with you, or adding some at bike shops along the way? If the latter, is that easy to do? Do they allow you to refill just what you need, or do you need to buy an entire quart each time?

[caseygreene]

While i've never raced on ether of these, I used the Nano 2.1s and the Race King 2.2s fairly extensively last summer and really preferred the Race Kings. They seem to be a bit more plush/supple, smooth out the ride a bit more, and "felt" faster. I understand why they opened-up the pattern, but it seemed a bit unnecessary with the release of the X-Kings into their line up.

I hope in the future Conti releases a 29r Black Chili version. I'm running the 2.2 Black Chili Race Kings on my 26r rigid bike and they feel even that much better.

[JF-mtnbiker]

Does that mean you were carrying a bottle of fluid with you, or adding some at bike shops along the way? If the latter, is that easy to do? Do they allow you to refill just what you need, or do you need to buy an entire quart each time?

DenisVTT. Yes. I took a 2oz "sample size" bottle of Stans with me and put fluid through the valve stem without breaking the bead. I refilled it at a shop. Just make sure that you refill the 2oz'er yourself. Shake the fluid real good before filling your smaller size bottle. Stans seperates when it sits for a while and will not preform well if not mixed.
Also had shop help in Breck when I sprang a leak turning onto Boreas Pass Rd. I hauled butt back down Main St. to a shop before going totally flat. The guys added Stans for me. They were TD fans and wouldn't take $ for fixing me up so I bought a Clif bar and a new water bottle to replace my nasty cow turd caked one.
So...I took some with me, refilled it "and" got some from a shop.   Good luck.

[DenisVTT]

DenisVTT. Yes. I took a 2oz "sample size" bottle of Stans with me and put fluid through the valve stem without breaking the bead. I refilled it at a shop. Just make sure that you refill the 2oz'er yourself. Shake the fluid real good before filling your smaller size bottle. Stans seperates when it sits for a while and will not preform well if not mixed.
Also had shop help in Breck when I sprang a leak turning onto Boreas Pass Rd. I hauled butt back down Main St. to a shop before going totally flat. The guys added Stans for me. They were TD fans and wouldn't take $ for fixing me up so I bought a Clif bar and a new water bottle to replace my nasty cow turd caked one.
So...I took some with me, refilled it "and" got some from a shop.   Good luck.

Good tips. Thanks.

[SimonK]

Stans Crows worked for me. No punctures. I changed the 26" rear tyre twice. The 29" front tyre was fine the whole way.

I agree that making rolling resistance a top priority is the way to go. Specialist mud tyres are fine for short races, but they can throw up a lot of mud and that will end up in your gear, wearing stuff out fast. Better to have a slicker tyre which picks up less mud (even if that means a little bit more walking) imho.

[Martin W]

Hi all
I am doing the GDMBR this coming June but it looks like I won’t be able to get hold of any Nano’s until just before I leave the U.K.  I need more time for gear testing so am going to have to go for something that I can get hold of much sooner (preferably with similar characteristics to the Nano’s). I can get hold of Tubeless Continental Race King’s quite easily – looking at some of the comments above they appear to be suitable. If they are should I go for 26x2.0 or 26x2.2? I’m a light rider at 64kg and will have front suspension only (if that has any bearing).
Thanks

[caseygreene]

Stans Crows worked for me. No punctures. I changed the 26" rear tyre twice. The 29" front tyre was fine the whole way.

Whoa... Stans Crows! That's awesome. I've looked at running those before, but always envisioned them sorta disintegrating from my rim. Good to know they are the kind of tire that can handle the TD.

I can get hold of Tubeless Continental Race King’s quite easily – looking at some of the comments above they appear to be suitable. If they are should I go for 26x2.0 or 26x2.2? I’m a light rider at 64kg and will have front suspension only (if that has any bearing)

Do you mean the 650-700gr "Race King UST-Tubeless" version, cause I wouldn't run those. I would stick with the 430-470gr Race King Supersonics and run a Stans tubeless conversion.
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/mtb/cc_marathon/Race%20King/raceking_en.html

[Martin W]

Appreciate the advice caseygreene, I'll be sure to make sure I run with the lighter weight version.
Sorted!

 

[Aidan]

I started out with Kenda Small Block 8s and tubes. They were terribly hard to fit to Stans 355 rims, and the rear tore badly on the first day.

After that, I found the Crossmark to be an excellent replacement. It was pretty worn by Steamboat, so I switched it for a WTB Vulpine, which was less impressive. I had to be really careful on sandy climbs and it was very torn up by AW.

Beforehand, I had thought that sidewall strength would be significant. I don't really think it is the biggest issue on the Divide as the trail just isn't very rocky. As others have said, I'd pick rolling resistance as more important.

This year, I have just got some Maxxis Ikon tyres to play with. The sidewalls seem quite flimsy, but they are light. I don't have Crossmarks to-hand so that I can compare them. My default will be tubeless Crossmarks; if the Ikon really blows me away, I might use one on the front.

Again, just re-enforcing what people have said: mud-shedding isn't something to worry about. The muddy bits are so claggy that you'll be dragging fistfulls of mud out just to make the wheels go round. The dry bits are in the majority, so target them.

[chriskmurray]

I know lightweight racier mtb tires are common but I have been currious about more touring oriented tires like this one from Schwalbe http://www.schwalbetires.com/node/2179

Its designed as a touring tire so it is plenty durable and the weight is actually pretty good.

Also I'm sure it has been tried and is still not the norm so I am sure there are plenty of downfalls but I am just curious as to what they are towards semi slicks?

[krefs]

I know lightweight racier mtb tires are common but I have been currious about more touring oriented tires like this one from Schwalbe http://www.schwalbetires.com/node/2179

Last fall, I ran into a Dutch guy touring the GDMBR in central Colorado. He was fixing a flat on these exact tires, and he had nothing good to say about them. He was pretty disgusted with their durability and was going to switch to different tires as soon as he reached Salida. That being said, he looked like he was also carrying 40 lbs of gear on his bike, so that's going to be a bit rough on any tire.

[SimonK]

I know lightweight racier mtb tires are common but I have been currious about more touring oriented tires like this one from Schwalbe http://www.schwalbetires.com/node/2179

Its designed as a touring tire so it is plenty durable and the weight is actually pretty good.

Also I'm sure it has been tried and is still not the norm so I am sure there are plenty of downfalls but I am just curious as to what they are towards semi slicks?

A bunch of the cyclo-cross guys used those on the Kiwi Brevet last year, and they seemed to like them. I was reminded of this on a MTB ride on Sunday - a friend turned up with those tyres on his CX bike and was raving about them for rough stuff riding, but said his bike no longer handled like a road bike, instead it was solid and a bit sluggish. I guess if you can't fit a really wide tyre in your frame then the extra thick tread might make up the difference to a certain extent.

[chriskmurray]

Last fall, I ran into a Dutch guy touring the GDMBR in central Colorado. He was fixing a flat on these exact tires, and he had nothing good to say about them. He was pretty disgusted with their durability and was going to switch to different tires as soon as he reached Salida. That being said, he looked like he was also carrying 40 lbs of gear on his bike, so that's going to be a bit rough on any tire.

Good to know, Schwalbe seems to be very hit or miss with some tires.  I have been running a similar tread (marathon CX) on my cross bike for a couple years now and love it.  Over 2k miles with a good deal of singletrack riding thrown in and one 1 flat and hardly any signs of wear at all.  They also hook up pretty well considering its a semi slick so thats what made me curious about this style tire

[KootenayB]

Any reviews on the Schwalbe Racing Ralph 29 tires for the TD/GDMBR?  Can get with sidewall protection (Snakeskin) for minor weight penalty.

I love the Schwalbe Rocket Ron tires as they hook up way better than they look like they should and are very fast, but they have very thin sidewalls and wear reasonably quickly so not a great choice for this application.

[wookieone]

I have one of those racing ralph snakeskin tires, looks like a great tire, but I think you want a bit tighter tread pattern thus faster rolling, look at the WTB Nano, it has all those tightly spaced and almost continuous center knobs thus fast and long lasting. This is what I looked for tires. I have chosen a Geax Saguaro front, and a Maxxis crossmark.

[phil_rad]

Last year I went with the nano's; very sketchy in loose gravel and not wide enough, 2,2 would be better IMO. Also had a puncture going down whitefish divide, could have happend to any tire. The record speaks for the WTB Nano's though. Next year I'll be using Geax's Saguaro's; best tire I've ever used. Wears like iron; mine have around 3,000 miles on them and their going strong! They roll super fast, better traction than a racing ralph if a little heavier. Easy to set up tubeless.