My Lauf seigla came in a couple days ago. I’ve almost got it ready to go. It came with Goodyear connector tires which I will probably need to swap out with something else. I’m undecided b/w 45m and 50m tires.. Been on Ramblers for a while now, but been wanting to try something new. Going to throw on some ridewrap today in hopes that will keep it clean and nice a bit longer!
Maybe Schwalbe G One R Pro or Tufo Thundero for the tires?
Congrats on the new bike, personally I feel no difference between a 45 and a 50 but if you can run bigger, do it, especially for NWA. I have never ridden the Tufos but tend to get positive reviews. I have ridden the Schwalbe G-One line and those a great, fast tires. I do like how they give options for how much tread you have and all of those options are relatively fast so you can select a tire for a course or mix and match. The RX front with an RS rear is a good choice for mixed terrain. I want to try and R front with an RS rear myself. I have also seen a lot of riders running Thunder Burt front with an R rear and that is a fast setup that gives you much of the benefit of big volume tires, even if you can’t quite stuff the MTB rubber the rear. I think for Arkansas you might want to say off the RS due to its thinner slick center as the R will afford you more tread to fight the sharp rocks.
Go with the 2.2 Race Kings. I ran them last year and it was like cheating. IMO the “chunk” is over blown at BS. A majority of the course is decent gravel roads and the Race Kings/Lauf fork turn that into pavement.
If it’s between 45’s and 50’s, definitely the 50’s. But I’d highly recommend running a 2.2 or 2.25 if you can. They will be a big advantage on much of the course and the only place they are a negative is the pavement run to the finish. Unless you are optimizing for the road finish, big tires are the way to go. Mtb tires aren’t best for every course, but they are a cheat code at big sugar.
Ugh. I was very lazy and just now looking for tires. I cannot find Race King 2.2 protection anywhere online that can ship to them to me in time. Lame. Can’t find Vittoria Mezcal either. I can find the Race King 2.2 in the slower compound. Maybe I should just do that? Not like it will make a huge difference for me being a slightly faster than average rider.
You might consider the Dubnital rapid race if those are available. In theory, it’s the replacement for the race king and has similar rolling resistance in the testing I’ve seen. I guess the jury is still out on puncture protection, but I doubt it’s dramatically different than the race king. I’ve put quite a few miles on a set with no punctures, but not on any terrain that is prone to flats like Big Sugar.
Anybody ridden the course yet? With the lack of rain this fall I assume it will be extremely dusty like last year.
I rode the section between Pineville and the 2nd aid station. Dust was not terrible. We have had more rain than last year, but not a whole lot. The descents are as sketchy as I’ll get out. I would not recommend road shoes for anyone. I know the roads, and even I will be running mtb shoes for extra assurance with 0 plans of hopping off the bike. The climbs are fine. But the descent have loes gravel (think a bunch of rocks slightly smaller than a ping pong ball) So there will be a large lack of control. Just remember that the downhills are fast but usually have sharp turns in them.
I haven’t ridden the first half or back half since early this year, but they shouldn’t be too bad.
Also, brownie points to anyone who hits the paved pump track line that parallels the road going out of Pineville.
Can’t find those either! Only in 2.4 on amazon
They still don’t have the aid station information posted. So strange. Is it like unbound where you can do bag dropoff or do I need to rely on someone to meet me at the aid stations? I definitely want to use my own carb mixes. Definitely don’t want to rely on what is at the aid stations as who knows how many carbs will be in the mix.
As far as I know, it’s neutral aid without drop bags. If you have a crew, they can travel to the aid station to support you (at least that’s how it was last year). For what it’s worth, Unbound is self supported unless you pay for support from a 3rd party (which does allow drop bags). I’m not aware of any 3rd party support options for big sugar.
If you want your own mix, I think you’ll either need to have your own crew at the aid station or carry mix and mix it yourself with water at the aid station.
It’s looking like a reasonably cool day (~80f), so I plan to do a single stop at mile ~75 (worked out perfect last year). Everybody in the group I was with skipped the earlier stop last year and I expect this year will be the same. The aid station moved a little bit from the prior location, but it’s at a similar distance and it still looks like a significant climb after it (so not as critical to stay with a group). I’ve found the neutral aid at lifetime events to be quick and efficient. And even if this was a high priority event for me, I probably wouldn’t worry about having my crew at the aid station. The aid station is pretty late in the race, so having the optimal nutrition for the last ~25 miles isn’t that critical as long as I get it right for the first 75 miles. And my stomach isn’t too picky either when it’s not hot out.
Thanks for the info! I assume that means you carried more than 2 bottles on you? Probably a hydration pack as well? I wasn’t planning that, but the more I think about it, that makes more sense than 2 stops. For unbound 200, the first aid station wasn’t even until mile 70 anyways.
I do have some tubes I can put my carb mix in and just mix it myself so that’s probably the best option. Any other tips or insider information for someone coming from out of town? I’ve heard about sketchy turns and lots of loose gravel, but anything else about pack dynamics or anything?
Yeah, I’ll run a pack with 1.5l in it and then one or 2 full big bottles depending on forecast (temp and shade). If one of the bottles is empty, I’ll put mix in that one and top off with water at aid station. And if you have room in a back pocket for an empty bottle with mix, that can save the hassle of messing with mix from a baggie or whatever. 2 big bottles should be more than enough to get to the finish from the aid station, so no need to mess with refilling the pack.
Sounds like you have the main points covered and they are all related. IMO, the biggest area to focus on are the loose descents (which often have turns involved). Try to be near the front before the descents so you can pick your line and also so you don’t have to dodge people in front of you who are out of control. People will push it on the descents and they can be more selective than the climbs (lots of chasing back on). Many of the descents happen right after a climb, so try to be near the front at the top if you are strong climber. I’m not a good climber, so I tend to be scrambling on the descents to stay with the group while dodging wrecks.
Quinn Simmons is apparently racing Big Sugar. Should be an interesting benchmark for the current crop of domestic riders. Hopefully he’ll do his recon homework and chose appropriate bike + tires for the job so he makes it to the finish line.
Hopefully he learned some lessons from his failed Unbound attempt. My guess is he will be attacking early and often, should be interesting if he can keep it upright with air in the tires.
I believe Pirelli is the tire sponsor for Trek. Do they have a fast, durable gravel tire?
Just race the mtb tires. I recon thats what he will do.
I think he’d have to ride the new fs checkout to do that. The checkpoint and checkmate won’t clear a 2.2 in the rear.
I saw that Quin held 390w np for about 6 hours in that solo effort last weekend. If he can get away and avoid mechanicals (big ifs), I suspect he’ll win by a good margin.
Agree, he will ride away from the whole field if his bike continues to work. His brother almost won it last year and Quinn is much faster.
No, Page Onweller is running MTB tires. Just run the checkpoint. It also appears like its going to rain. Great news for me lol. But for the Quin. I don’t know. Do we know how skilled he is at tech and gravel?