Gravel Racing in Michigan

Curious … what tires did you use? And … we’re you happy with them?

I said it a little earlier but here it is again;

Just a gear tech response, I used the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H in a size 40 and on the Zipp 303 S (23mm ID) they blew out to about 42mm.

I had zero problems anywhere on the course, they were ample on the flats and I typically was doing all the pulling and I couldn’t have asked for anything better on corners or loose areas.

I am 195lbs and ran 37.5/35.5 PSI and I ran a 1hr 50min getting dropped on every single up hill.

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Sorry… missed that separate post.

I’m not a strong rider.

I don’t hit 20 mph going steady even on the road, so I personally don’t sweat losing 5 W. Truth be told, I might just put something 42-45 mm and forget it, but its nice to have the option to put 2.1" if I want to in the future.

I didn’t understand this.

In MI, you probably don’t sweat sidewall protection for things like rocks and thorns.
If you grab the fastest tire possible for your need, something like a Continental Race King Protection will roll a lot faster than the Pirelli/Schwalbe/WTB offerings in that same space Cinturato Gravel H . The MTB tires here have thinner rubber under the lugs, thin sidewalls, and are made to roll at lower tire pressures. They’ll generally roll a decent amount faster than the gravel tires in the space. Panaracer / Rene Hense might be the exception here with their lighter casings.

Oh ok. Noticed that the Conti Race King Protection come in a 27.5 x 2.2". which will fit the gravel bike I’m going to buy. Choices, choices…

Rarely have I ever wished for a wider tire than my 700x43 GKSS’s. On the flip side, many times when I ran 2+" tires on grave did I wish for a narrower/lighter tire.

sure an RD will throw 2 miles of single track or rocky B-Road/MMR but if fast is your goal, I’ll take a tire that is optimized for 95% of the course vs. a tire that is only warranted for 5%

38-43mm is the sweet spot IMO.

The Continental Terra Speed roll’s just as well but has a better aerodynamic shape than a true MTB tire when fitted on a proper rim.

Its all about what you want to take, weight, rolling resistance, aerodynamics.

Ah to have choices lol

The black chili 3/180 casing ones? Those are nice. I couldn’t fit those or the Schwalbe equivalents on my frame :frowning:
Ended up with the Maxxis Rambler, not as nice.

I see your point. However I do have back and shoulder issues, and perhaps a bigger tire might help, at the expense of speed of course…

But I guess I should take care of my back and shoulder rather than use a big tire to muscle through. :blush:

You had a different experience than me. This was my first gravel event and I thought the race was friendly and the atmosphere was fun. I was in the 36 men’s open near the front and everyone was chatting and BS’ing at the start. Then through the race everyone was pleasant but in race mood. I fell off the front group and ended up finding a buddy of mine I race XC with in the 44 yr age group. I ended up finishing with that age group and it was a great experience.

I don’t recall anyone being a dbag at any time during the race and it felt very similar to the guys I race XC expert and MTB 100s with. The experience actually made me order my first gravel bike (I was on a borrowed bike), with the intent on doing more gravel races in the upcoming years.

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What gravel bike did you order?

2022 Checkpoint SL5 with the intent to convert it to a Sram Force AXS 1x12.

I used to live in southeast Michigan but recently moved away for work. I really miss the gravel roads and gravel racing there. I’m in North Carolina now. There are basically no gravel roads where I live. There are some great gravel races in the mountains, but most of my riding is on pavement now. Also the gravel is drastically different from the gravel in Michigan. Much looser and chunkier. Traction feels sketchy compared to what I was used to in MI. Anyway, not sure what the point of this was, except for that this thread made me nostalgic for MI gravel.

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Where in NC are you?

My personal experience is that there’s “gravel” style riding everywhere, you just have to work harder to to hunt for it in some places. You may not find awesome 5-10 mile stretches in your town but with some maps, and an eye for the right parts of town, I’ve never failed to find some cool mix surface routes. No matter where I’ve been. The kicker is you may have to be wiling to ride further, but that’s kinda what it’s all about, no?

The main mistake I’ve made is trusting the locals, who’ve only been riding the same 5 routes for 20 years, to tell you where cool stuff is. Not to say all old local heads aren’t good guides, but maybe take most route advice with a grain of salt when you’re new in town. In some respects you have a huge advantage being from out of town because you get to see everything with fresh eyes.

FWIW I’m a Trek fan, and recently tested a 58cm Checkpoint SL4 which was the only model in stock. Preferred the 3T Exploro I had for 3 months, and the Specialized Diverge I did a test ride on. Rode a 58cm Domane for 5+ years and it has the same rear IsoSpeed which was nice but undamped on the larger frames (Trek fixed this with the top-tube IsoSpeed but its only on high-end Domane/Madone). And the 58cm comes with a longer seat mast which compromised adjustments for ME (you can buy the shorter mast) - maybe I should have gone with the 56cm :man_shrugging: Overall the Checkpoint is a nice bike, those are my annoyances coming from a Domane point-of-view and to be clear I have annoyances with all my bikes. These days it can be hard to test ride a bike before buying. I’d also like to test ride the Cervelo Aspero.

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Yeah, looking on GravelMap it is definitely more sparse in NC compared to MI.

I’m in Chapel Hill. Not sure if you are familiar with the area. There are some really fun gravel trails in the Chapel Hill / Duke forests. I’ve managed to piece together a 50 mile route that has about 20 miles of unique gravel, and those 20 miles are really fun! More elevation and twists-and-turns than Michigan. What I miss, though, is being able to leave my house, get on gravel within a half mile, and then ride peacefully on gravel for basically as long as I want without ever seeing a car. It’s just different.

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Yea. Michigan is a gravel mecca. I used to live near the Pinckney Rec / Waterloo parks in southeast Michigan. I basically never had to go on pavement unless I wanted to. I do miss that. On the flip side, there are real mountains in North Carolina, and those are fun too!

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Roads must be nicer in NC though