With the drop bar ban, I think we’ll see more emphasis put on tires/wheels/aero in other ways this year.
For most of us amateurs, I think the biggest/easiest get is tires.
My buddy Dan used the Dubnitals last year and loved them. He had traction where I didn’t with the 170tpi 2.25 Aspen STs, and if the 3rd party testing data is reliable, then they are faster rolling as well.
What tires are y’all thinking of using?
Edit: wrote a hydration/nutrition recap up from memory and realized I had actual full race notes to myself. I’m going to post that here in case it helps anyone, even though it’s obviously a bit personal.
Finish time 12:25:xx, total stopped time 06:xx, w/kg at sea level 2.7 (60 min TTE FTP)
Powder Mix: Infinit Fructose Fuel, 90g, 600mg sodium, no caffeine.
Gels: Neversecond 30Start: 1,000ml in the USWE at 120g, two bottles on the bike, mixed to 90G. 4 gels, two caffeinated.
Twin Lakes Alt (45 miles): Dropped pack, 2 bottles of 90g on the bike, 1 bottle of clear water in my jersey. 4 Gels. Only used two gels. Used all the water, had a half full bottle of 90g left. Eat more up Columbine if you go 2.5 hrs, but hopefully you get it done in two. This is where you’ll make up a ton of time, push a bit. You have a long time to “recover” before powerline.
Twin Lakes Alt (60 miles): 2000ml in the pack @ ~240g and two 90g bottles on the bike. 4 gels, 2 caffeine.
Topped bottle one off with water at Outbound aid, a splash at the top of Powerline, full bottle at Carter. Drank almost the whole pack, still had a half bottle or so of 90g. Really craved clear water on the last half. Gel every hourish all day. You are going to be so #$%^ing tired of sugar, sorry.
Run a 200 front rotor. Metal pads were good. Push more on the descents, you’re a strong rider, don’t be a b$&^%. You lost so much time here.
I could have gone way closer to 12 if I knew to push descents harder and sucked it up a little more up Columbine, but I didn’t even think I was going to finish. Once I got to the top of Columbine with enough time to beat the cut at Twin Lakes, that’s when I had the drive to get it done.
I was wildy frustrated about being fat. Maybe work on that, dumb @$$
I REALLY should have pre-rode the descents. I was being careful because everyone said you can lose more than you gain by pushing it, but I probably could have gained 10 min there alone.
I ran the Dubnitals (Race Rapid) last year, Race Kings the two before. All years - I’ve run inserts (Vittoria or Tubolight - so 50g ea) and haven’t had an issue so see myself staying put with one of those two and the inserts. I’m a little heavier than you, but also don’t descend like you do either.
I personally think going to something faster (Schwalbe Rick or Burt) comes with at least a little more risk so I see myself staying with one of those two. Race King actually being marginally faster and maybe a little tougher, albeit only a 2.2, if you have them or can still find them.
Wouldn’t be surprised if we see some 400mm flat bars with crazy drop and reach this year, or someone running some crazy “riser bar” 90 deg rotated 
I was happy on 2.4 Ricks with airliners F&R. Used the liners to run a bit lower pressure and traction was good even with the loose stuff.
Here’s what I did last year which mostly worked well but some notes on changes I’d make next time. I had crew at Twin Lakes only. Plan was 9 hr pace.
Start to Twin Lakes - took 2 bottles. Didn’t even finish 1 large one. Next time would only carry 1 unless warmer out.
Twin Lakes OB - Dropped off my 2 bottles from start. Picked up a hydration pack. Picked up an empty bottle for insurance if I needed to refill somewhere since the pack would take too long. Swapped gel flasks.
Twin Lakes IB -Swapped hydration packs. Picked up a full bottle. Swapped gel flasks.
Outward Bound - I had a drop bag here. I swapped my gel flasks. Plan was to pick up a bottle from the drop bag too but the bottle felt very warm so made a game time decision to not get water and instead refill at Carter Summit. Ended up running low on water and grabbed a quick refill from some tent on a pavement section (maybe Leadville Foundation and maybe what grwoolf is referring to 
). In hindsight, should have just waited till Carter as planned or not even refill bc I finished with a half bottle. Next time, I’d have a thermos style bottle in my drop bag so I could get cold water or refill at the aid station just before where drop bags were setup.
I think I ended up with under 2.5 minutes stoppage combined with the slowest being the drop bag stop.
Not sure how much I actually drank over the course of the day… Probably not enough but never felt like I needed more. Hit my plan of 110g carbs/hr and finished just under 9 is hrs.
So, I’d make minor tweaks but still only take the 3 stops as last time assuming I only had crew for one spot - TL OB, TL IN, OWB IB.
Last year for me:
Start - 1.5L in a pack, gel flasks
Lost Canyon on the way up Columbine - Swap pack and gel flasks, plus a cold water bottle to douse myself
Lost Canyon on the way inbound - Swap pack, gel flasks, plus a cold water bottle to douse myself and an empty bottle with my Mix
Outward Bound on the way to Powerline - Put a foot down, Fill the spare bottle at Neurtal Aid. 20s.
Carter Inbound - Emergency Stop, put a foot down and had them top off a bottle with Roctane. Last year, I needed it by that time. Cost me another 20s.
Stops were minimal. I was thinking about switching to just bottles but being able to drink / fuel with two hands on the bars is a benefit at certain times and I’ve always been able to stay well ahead of fuel and hydration this way.
I was thinking about bottles, but did Coldwater that way and was getting behind on fluids. Granted, way more singletrack there.
That’s almost identical to my approach the last couple years. I don’t typically do a water dump bottle at Lost canyon outbound, but have one available in both directions to use as needed depending on temp. And I always keep a bottle in the frame. Sometimes, that’s the dump bottle of water for cooling and sometimes it’s just an empty bottle (to be filled as needed inbound since I don’t want to mess with topping off the pack).
Last year I actually found the water dump bottle to be the ticket at the bottom of Columbine with the conditions, Cold and Refreshing, went a little harder for 5-10 minutes, then a quick break by the side to take a leak and let the heart rate come back down slightly, then settled in to the rest of the climb . Worked really well as a pit stop strategy.
I have mostly run Race King 2.2’s until switching to Dub RR 2.4’s last year. I’ll probably run the Dubs again, but it’s splitting hairs between those and the RK’s for me. You can run a little lower pressure with the Dubs and they likely roll a little faster on anything rough, but the RK’s are going to be a little more aero.
And I agree on the increased aero focus and I think Leadville is a race where it’s important. I’ve got a buddy who laced up Zipp Xplr gravel rims on some MTB hubs to get a little aero advantage. I’ll be surprised if we don’t see some deeper/wider rims being used at some point. The difference isn’t as dramatic as deep road wheels, but there has been some aero testing on the gravel side with MTB tires and deep rims still make a measurable difference. And the fork fairing seems like a no brainer as well on a course like Leadville. It will be interesting to see how things play out this year with hand position and bar choice in the name of aero. Even without drop bars, there are a lot of crazy directions people could go.
It’s an underappreciated tactic that I just started using a lot in the last couple years. At Unbound last year, I rolled into the 150 mile aid station overheated and struggling to maintain power. At the aid station, I took a couple ice socks and dumped 2 bottles of cold water on me. And I took 3 additional big dump bottles when leaving the aid station (2 stuffed down my jersey front) and that allowed me to push 30 more watts in the hour after the aid station compared to prior. Sure, it was a bunch of added weight leaving the aid station, but the extra watts more than made up for it. I’ve never imploded from the heat at Leadville, but even ~80F can feel pretty brutal late in the day on powerline and the road climb.
I was really happy with 2.2 Race Kings last year. Did the stage race and big race on them. But I also have Dub 2.4’s on my other mtb and am considering trying those at Leadville. It will be one of those two for sure.
It that the same as Twin Lakes alternate? And no neutral aid at Lost Canyon - just crew?
Yes and yes, lost canyon is TL alt. And no neutral aid there.
Maybe if they added more qualifying events. My nearest qualifier is 12 hrs away which seems unreasonable to just get into Leadville. Either add more races around the US or maybe consider different types of qualification.
Overheating can sneak up alot more easily than you would think I have learned. Last year I was on a long 100 mile high zone 2 gravel ride on the mtb, humming along at 210-220 constant. HR was nice and steady for the first half, shortly on the way back, HR started to decouple considerably and power had to be dropped to 180 to stay in z2. I was puzzled it to the root cause, i considered temperature but it was only ~80 degrees and sunny and I was riding largely shaded. As I was pondering my fueling, fitness and whatever else it could be, suddenly a rain storm rolled in and I got poured upon for 5 minutes. Totally soaked, and I cooled down quite a bit. Suddenly I was back to 210w at high z2. I would have never thought I was overheated. I bought a rule 28 gravel suit and im planning on taking on heavily chilled hydration bladders in the afternoon and soaking myself with water. I might experiment with this some more. I wonder how individual overheating is, and if im prone to it.
Picked up some racekings. Currently debating between 2.4 dub or the RK.
One other tire that keeps testing well for rolling resistance is the Rick. Is that one viable?
I ran the 2.25 burts at unbound in 2024 on my drop bar, i thought they were great. i was plenty fast on them.
Yes, very much so. Faster, but maybe a little less traction and durability as compared to the Race King / Dubnital.
The issue with the Thunder Burts has nothing to do with Speed. They may be the fastest option period. It’s just that they have a reputation for being sketchy if you need traction (i.e. better for gravel than MTB for most) and durability can be an issue. I wouldn’t use them on a course where flats are much of a consideration.
I brought a spare Racing Ray out for the front with me in case I wanted more traction over Rick/Rick, but never needed it. I wish they were the same size (ray is smaller) it would be a good combo for only a few theoretical watts loss.