I think for a lot of us who dabble - having 2 sets of wheels is a limit / luxury. I plan on this season borrowing a set of wheels from my wife and leaving them in the pits with intermediates on - I’ll run my wheels with the best tyre for the day and if I puncture I can swap a wheel in the pits. Last year there were no wheels in the pits - just a quick prayer on the start line for no punctures or tubeless sealant to actually work!
If you have the luxury of two sets, cool, i’m not bothering with it.
I always run mud in the front, intermediate in the rear. I’m not racing for the podium, so am not going to bother with getting “the perfect tire” for the course. I like the aggressive tire in the front to have confidence in the front end not washing out, and an intermediate in the rear because it rolls a bit faster and has sufficient grip in most conditions. Mud on the front and sand is tricky, but just jump off and run.
So far in 5 seasons i only had 1 flat tire from a nail, so DNF’d, so be it.
If you get a second set of wheels, what tires to mount?
Depends on what you want the use the second set for. Is it as an emergency set to let you finish the race in the case of a mechanical? Or do you want an extra set with different tires for different conditions?
If i would do it:
1 set of intermediate front and rear.
1 set of mud front and rear. That way, depending on conditions, you can mix and match to get the “right” tires for the conditions.
Say you start on intermediate and have a flat, so what if you have to change it in the pit for a mud tire, you at least get to finish the race.
I would not bother with other tires other than intermediate and mud. File thread, semi mud, semi slick, etc. etc. so many options. Whatever.
YMMV.
2 Likes
I would say intermediates and muds, but given that you mention training on one set then I’d say intermediates on both. Racing on tires you train on is the worst, they just loose so much grip when you start doing road/gravel rides on them. I keep my race tires for racing only. In my case I actually have three wheel sets. I keep my stock wheels with gravel tires for training, then I run muds on a second set of stock wheels that I got on the low from eBay, and the I have industry nine ul250 wheels that I run intermediates on. Unless it’s raining/muddy the intermediates are my go to, I’ve tried file treads and for me they don’t make that big of a difference. However, the muds for me is the difference between finishing in the top 10% or the bottom 50% of the field of it’s actually muddy.
2 Likes
First season where I have a second wheelset. Here’s what I’m running.
Primary: 33c Schwalbe X-Ones
Backup: 35c Panaracer Gravelkings (my gravel tires)
The GK’s could also double as my fast, grass tire if need be. I actually think they could make for an excellent cross tire in dry conditions.
1 Like
Now that’s a war face! 
1 Like
Ran a few laps at a local mini-CX course (mini in width, not length). We’ve had a very hot and dry summer, so ground is hard, packed, and bumpy. Just mounted a new set of Grifo Pros with latex tubes and started at 30/28psi (I’m 64-65kg). With the ground so hard, it was way too much pressure and I was bouncing all over the place. Lowered it to 28/26psi and left it there, though I could have probably dropped another 1-2psi.
On dry grass/hard-pack, the Grifos really grip. You can hear grass/ground ripping as you round a corner, especially as you lean the bike. I’ll be running them for the first race this Sunday, and it looks like it’ll be identical conditions - dry grass and packed mud. Temps are high too (19-20C on Sunday), so heat will be a major factor in the race.
My only worry about Grifos is the durability … I have no experience with them, so I’m wondering how they’ll wear. I do a fair bit of trails/single track on my cross bike (and pavement to get there!), which is mostly packed dirt/mud with the odd rock and root. Guess I’ll find out soon enough…
When I first started in CX I had no road bike. So, I switched between road tires and my CX tires frequently, all tubed.
That got old real quick.
Picked up a set of Forte Titan wheels for ~$150 at performance. Way lighter than my Alex wheels my cheap bike came with.
Eventually got a road bike and also some more cheap wheels.
Now I have two sets of tubeless wheels for my CX.
I race in SoCal, grass crit city.
I start the season with one set file tread and one intermediate. Pick the most appropriate for the day and the others are pit wheels just to finish. (Don’t like paying $40-$65 for one lap)
Once (or if) we get weather, I’ll swap the file treads for mud tires to finish the season.
Generally we don’t get much weather, I tracked the high temps on race days a couple of years ago and the average for the Sept-Jan season was 85.
i’ve used MXPs exclusively since I started based on popular recommendations. But I’ve never seriously explored using PDX or anything else. I do have 38mm gravelkings I used for a gravel event but never actually tried them for CX. I really don’t think I’m at a level where tire choice is going to be super critical, I’ve got bigger fish to fry lol
I have actually been going out to a nearby park with some cones and have been practicing some cornering, notably tighter 180 turns the past 2 days. Interestingly for me, it’s easier for me to go left into one of those than right
1 Like
I do a PDX front/MXP rear combo and have found it works well.
I have the exact same thing cornering, I’m more slightly more confident into a left turn than into right.
2 Likes
I think that’s normal. At least, I’m the same way. So it must be normal.
Right?
1 Like
Is anyone here planning on racing Trek? I’ll be out there Thursday to Sunday and will be racing the single speed races on Friday and Saturday. Would love to meet some other TR users.
1 Like
I’m racing the Cat 4 race all three days.
1 Like
I like the Gravelkings for grass as well, unless you have a lot of off-camber stuff. I kept my GKs on my bike for a CX clinic put on by our local organizer, and we spent some time on switchbacks on a grass berm. I kept sliding out. Some is my own lack of skill, but I just didn’t feel confident that the sideknobs on the GKs were substantial enough.
YMMV, of course, but knowing how much our local series loves off-camber sections, I definitely need burlier side knobs, like on the MXP or the older version of the Specialized Tracer.
Very amped for racing this weekend. Registered for the Cat3 and then SSCX immediately following. Hoping I finish the first race fast enough to avoid missing my callup in the second.
4 Likes
Makes sense. I’m just keeping them on because they were a nightmare to mount and I don’t feel like changing them. Just a back up set.
1 Like
Update:
Sitting out this weekend, I tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. I’m asymptomatic, at least.
Super bummed, I’m riding the best fitness of my life right now. Trying to keep positive and keep motivation high.
3 Likes
Dang! Get well soon. I’m 6 days into a head cold, not COVID, and pre-registered for the first race of the season 3 days ago thinking I would be 100% for racing today.
I feel fine despite some lingering head congestion, and want to race, but I know doing so cold prolong the illness. This is exactly how my 2019 season started. Gosh darn it.
Rest up, it’ll be worth it. Alternatively, do the races but just focus on bike handling and skills without pushing the effort?
I’m doing great—Zero symptoms, just following quarantine protocol.
2 Likes
So…after a long time looking at different bikes, 2 days many km’s of driving to different bikeshops trying to get a new CX bike, some with delivery times for end of januari, and putting a Canyon Inflite in my framesize with a delivery time of only two weeks in my “basket”, until i was about to pay and the delivery time changed to end of december, i finally got one, very happy with my Giant TCX advanced pro 2.0 (it’s an 0 frame, the top one, with 2 components). SRAM does need some getting used to, but feels good so far. Can’t wait for racing to really start.
10 Likes
First races this weekend. Technique was expectedly pretty unpolished and struggled with a lot of pedal strikes on my gravel bike which was frustrating. Upside was the 32-36 combo came in handy for being able to ride the steep hill without having to dismount.
1 Like