Race kings for me this year again. New wheels, so 29 internal vs 27 on my old wheels. I’ll run an insert in rear.
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Was there a test done specifically for the tanwall Race Kings tires or is this extrapolation from the GP5000 700cx28 BRR tests?
From memory/I believe other posts in this forum. Don’t take my word for it. I have a subscription to BRR and will try to validate when I get some free time.
You could run a 28 tooth with a 9-52 cassette. You will have more top end but also be able to spin more. I know that the 9 tooth introduces drivetrain loss but you won’t be in it very often.
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I ran Race Kings with tire inserts. People sometimes worry about the grip or volume but I just left them on and raced Silver Rush with no issues. Silver Rush is far more technical than Leadville in my opinion.
@VikingMD Out of interest, are you a heavier rider? I’ve never used inserts, but then I’d be surprised if they’d be of much use to me as I weigh next to nothing (60kg / 132lbs).
For the Race King runners, you’re using them on both ends?
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Yes - Front and rear.
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~155 lbs and yes front and rear. I ran inserts for insurance.
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I’ve only really ever had issues with sidewall damage, and I’m always careful to pick tyres as appropriate.
Just raced the Tahoe Trail 100 with the Conti Race Kings and Vittoria Light inserts (front and Back) this morning. Tires were great although I probably could have gone with something with a little more tread as I fish tailed a few times. Going to run them at Leadville.
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The race kings certainly aren’t an aggressive tire, but there are very few spots on course where it matters. The sketchiest spots (imo) are the high speed road switchbacks on columbine and a few spots on powerline descent (particularly the last section). You could run a downhill tire and those spots would still be sketchy.
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Same with Tahoe, it was in the extremely dust switchbacks and the 40mph descents where you could feel them moving around.
Ended with a 5h 21m time so will have to see where that puts me corral wise.
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Running Conti Race Kings on Roval Control SL’s. Did my third preride today and going to run 17/19 F/R at 177lbs with no inserts. Ran a little higher psi prior two rides and felt to high….17/19 felt perfect today for me coming down Powerline. I also don’t want to mess with inserts…especially if I do get a flat and have to put a tube in.
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I did my last big weekend ride today before heading to CO later this week. Not great, ended up cramping about 4.5 hours in and then really bad again at the end. That’s at the same effort/power I held for over 8 hours last week (on a cooler day). I had not cramped all year, so it definitely wasn’t the ride I was hoping for. I think it was hydration because I was trying to ration fluids early to delay my first water stop (dumb). And my hands were cramping before my legs. It wasn’t terribly hot, but humid enough to be soaking wet and have squishy shoes filled with sweat by 6am (so sick of that). Got better after store stop, but didn’t feel great and cramps came back late to the point I pulled over several times and almost had to call for a ride. I was ~8.5lbs lighter after the ride, which isn’t too out of line for summer riding, but that’s after pounding fluids for the last 90 minutes or so. I still got in 10k feet of climbing and 375 tss, but it was ugly.
Oh well, I’m not going to stress too much about it. Ironically, I was just debating going with less fluids at the start of leadville this year because I don’t typically empty my pack before twin lakes and usually have to pee about that time also. Based on today’s ride, I’ve decided I’m not taking any chances on hydration and I’ll just carry the extra weight and pee more if I have to.
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Well, my turn to pretty much wrap it up. A hair under 600 TSS over the last 3 days, new all time CTL and weekly TSS for me. Over the last 3 days, two of my rides were race pace (plus) interval simulation rides for the first and second half of the course, adjusted up for sea level and hitting IF’s of .77+ for 4.5 hours both times. Doing all of this on tired legs at the end of a block, was happy to finish strong with another day that topped out in the high 80’s here. Garmin tells me I’m 100% heat acclimated and I’ve been handling the heat pretty well - so it’ll probably be cold and rainy on race day 
Recovery spin tomorrow, day off Tuesday, I’m sure I’ll do something Wednesday - Friday, but I’m on the road to CO Saturday early and rolling into Leadville a week from right now, so won’t have the time to do a ton more damage.
Bring it!
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I keep telling myself all this suffering in the heat is going to help with the altitude (blood plasma, blah, blah), but I’m pretty sure it’s mostly a pointless beat down.
Let me know if you want to connect for some pre-rides after you arrive. I’ll likely be doing sections of the course Tues, Thurs, and a last big-ish ride Saturday. Then some shorter stuff t/th the week leading up to the race.
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Even if it’s Placebo - I’m going to keep telling myself it helps when I’m baking on Powerline in the afternoon!
I think it’d be great to meet up and at least put faces to names with some people. I arrive Sunday afternoon, As of right now, I was planning to acclimate a couple days with Friday/Saturday to be my Columbine then Start to Bottom of Powerline days, then Sunday an easier day back and forth from the Fish Hatchery or Pipeline to Twin Lakes.
Either that, or just find an afternoon / evening to get a couple people together and BS about the race…
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Would be fun to say hi if I get a sec. Though sadly I wasn’t able to get accommodation in Leadville this time (poor planning) so I’m down at Twin Lakes.
I get in a week before the race, so hopefully will have time.
On the training front, I’m still doing monster efforts, but that’s pretty normal for me. I’ve never done well with tapering too early.
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Hope the smoke clears and the wind patterns remain favorable for you all who are coming out soon. The summer has been pretty good smoke wise but winds just shifted and we’re now blanketed by Canadian wildfire smoke. It’s an unfortunate new reality of the world we live in.
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Not entirely convinced my altitude tent is working properly; SPO2 not dropping anything like I’d expect it to (96% lowest value).
Guess I’ll just keep increasing the altitude until I start to see some lower numbers.
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