Aug 07, 2023

A FEW MORE THOUGHTS ON MY TIRE CHOICE

THE ODD THING ABOUT MY TIRE CHOICE FOR SATURDAY'S RACE was that I'd never ridden the tire before. I mean I had, and I'd loved them, but never ridden...

... such a giant tire.

Not on a gravel bike.

Back in my day,
why we'd roll them
1.75" Ritchey World Cup SpeedMax tires.

Almost exactly the same width as the 45mm Continental Terra Speeds I mounted for Saturday's 50 mile gravel race, with noted and feared rocky sections.

I'd forgotten about those Ritcheys...

Heck, we railed
and ripped,
all trails.

Rocky,
Smooth,
didn't matter.

... in the late 90's those 1.75s were my go to for epic rides and races.

Here's the the thing, after the race I was rolling along on pavement next to a guy who outweighs me by at least 40lbs. Were were on identically spec'd BMCs...

... and I was rolling away.

Not exactly scientific, but confidence yielding for sure.

This afternoon, I hit a well traveled dirt road I've ridden many times. It's always pockmarked from horse hooves, and just bouncy enough to be annoying.

Not today.
Not on these 45s.

It was smooth and enjoyable.

For my next unscientific tests, I'll be hitting a few road group rides on this set up.

There's a point to all of this, so I'm glad you stuck around.

As much as I disagree with the idea of rocking 2.4" MTB tires for XC racing,
I disagree with as going skinny as possible for gravel racing.

I think it's always faster to error on the side of comfort vs rigidity...

... taking that edge off,
leaves us fresher,
and sharp,
and fast.

That's just me.

What's your preference?

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165.5
7.5 hrs
1 RaceDay Ready Circuit
20 minutes recovery
90 minutes reading + Journaling

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