F1 tire blankets FTW!
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Too the Crux with the TB 2.1ās out this afternoon for a long trail rideā¦.it dumped overnight / early this AM, but the trail drains very well and was in great shape, so no issues with mud.
I did get a bit of frame rub on the non-drive side chainstay when out of the saddleā¦.nothing major but Iāll keep an eye on it before deciding what tire to run in races.
I believe Iād replace that rear TB 2.1 with a 50mm G-One RS Pro to give that chainstay a little more love.
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Awesome work getting those tested so quick after release! Iām pretty disappointed the pathfinder maxes in a 45ā¦
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Looking forward to your results
I donāt understand that decisionā¦.even if you donāt do it in a 50, why discontinue the 47?!?!?
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Perhaps, the Tracer 50 mm is faster than a 50 mm new Pathfinder would beā¦ I would not be surprised, as I find the slick center tread of the Pathfinder makes the tire quite stiff, as it is so thick in that section. Imagine a center section with (relatively shallow) knobs; it may result in a more supple tire, and a faster tireā¦ The knobs on the Tracer look like a fast shape, and are pretty low profile.
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Mmmm. Yeah. Iāve got the new 45 pathfinder also to compare.
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I did a local 100k gravel race today on my checkpoint running the Race King front and Pathfinder pro 47 rear. Pretty tame course, but ~90% gravel and fairly sloppy/loose in places with recent rain. Very pleased with how this setup performed. I felt like they were an advantage in lots of places that mattered and didnāt hurt me anywhere but on the road sections (feeling a little draggy on tarmac). I know feel can be deceiving, but the extra traction and confidence was hard to deny. On every tight loose corner I was saving effort by carrying extra speed rather than having to sprint out of the corner. And I watched a couple people wash out front wheels today on corners going slower than me. The bike was nice and planted on the loose sections where many others were all over the road or getting bogged down in the heavy stuff. Pretty high average speed of 21mph today and my NP was only in the 250ās at ~74kgās (lower than I typically see at those speeds on this type course). I donāt read too much into the low wattage because all races are different, but itās still nice to see that the race king isnāt noticeably dragging me down on a fast smooth course. Iāll definitely run this setup at Unbound this year if itās dry. Next week Iāll be racing a really smooth course with 50% road, so it will back to skinnies (42ās).
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Was that the Come and Grind it, race? I met the guy that got 2nd in the come and take it, at the rattle snake gravel grind last weekend and had a chance to pick his brain quite a bit. Great choice on the tire set up and solid NP! Jealous of the corner confidence. The front TB seems to be lacking it, more so than a 47 pathfinder on front. Feels great otherwise.
Are you doing the Jailbreak 100 in Iola? Iām planning on it in a couple weeks. Last race until unbound.
Yep, that was it. Not doing Jailbreak, next weekend will be Castell Grind. Always fun, but it will probably be even more of a road race dynamic than the race today. So many of the fast road racers have jumped into the gravel scene that it was inevitable. These short smooth gravel races are such a bad fit for my diesel physiology, but I guess it builds characterā¦
That said, Iāve figured out a pretty good strategy for optimizing my results in these things. Hold onto the fastest group possible for the first hour or so while Iām bleeding out my eyes (usually 2nd or 3rd group on road). Rest up for about 30 minutes as things settle down. At that point, people are tired and donāt want to chase someone rolling off the front in the aero bars for 10th - 15th place. Today, I had a little help and the 2 of us motored in for 11th and 12th about 8 minutes behind the winners. Iāve never caught back up to the leaders using this approach, but itās much better than slow rolling the last hour, smashing the last 5 minutes and then and sprinting from a group (I left road racing years ago to get away from those race dynamics).
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Schwalbe RX Pro on front review: I set my fastest time for 6 laps around my 7 mile dirt/gravel lake training loop with the 50mm RX Pro on the front to provide some needed cornering traction in the loose, tight, dirt/sandy sections. I averaged 17.1 mph. This tire replaced an S-Works Pathfinder that measures a little over 44mm. I still have an S-Works Pathfinder on the rear but now I want to replace it with a 50mm RS Pro. The RX Pro measured 49mm on my rims. I do this training session/distance at least once or twice per month in the last 16 months since Iāve had the Crux so I have lots of timed sessions to compare. I donāt have power data so I canāt say if I put out more power than some of my previous sessions and of course it doesnāt account for differences in air temps, wind speed, and/or soil moisture between different runs on different daysā¦just my experience on this particular course.
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FWIW coworker picked up the new Fast Trak and Air Trak in the Flex Lite casing in the 2.35s and mounted them up to 29.5 internal rims (Rovals) a few days ago. They measured 2.25 out of the box aired up and he let them sit overnight and in the sun all day at around 40 psi to stretch them. They hit about 2.35 today finally. Said they were āfast at acceleratingā on trail but he ran them at too high of psi and was coming off of a Ground Control front and rear. Would love to see RR figures as they claim to be faster than their predecessors which were quite slower than a grippier Vittoria or a more durable Maxxis (and the Spec hands down slower than a super fast but loose/delicate Conti or Schwalbe). Hard to beat that price at $55 though, even if ends up being just for training.
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You sure this shouldnt be in the are mountain bike tires on mtb rim the fastest for mtb bikes thread?
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Quite possibly? So much crossover these days with running mountain tires on wide rims for gravel and fast rolling tires on even wider rims (and possibly drop bars) for XC.
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Hmm. They appear to be rather.. mediocre?
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Dunno yet. Cat 2 / medium rough track gets the really meaningful resultsā¦ the cat 1 is interesting and like 5 minutes from my house so itās always in the mix
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Based on just those results Iād say they look pretty quickā¦
Wider and records the same RR as a Terra Speed which is generally regarded as one of the fastest āgravelā tires out there.
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