How well are the Ricks clearing out mud ? One of the great attributes of the Aspens is that they clear up mud really fast
My training wheel setup has a Ray on the front and a Burt on the rear. The combo doesn’t feel fast BUT the last two times I used it, I set numerous PR’s on my local trails.
My concern with the Rick up front is the lack of confidence it gives me in the soft stuff. I will chime in tomorrow after my race with the ray front and Rick rear. This will also be my first time showing up on race day with no practice laps and zero course knowledge because I have other obligations today.
3 Likes
It would have a lot if interest amongst bikepackers, seems to be quite a popular tire there.
I demand a retest! I’m outraged!
Now I know how it feels to have a (what you thought was a) fast tire test slow. My Aspen bros, now I understand you.
I think BRR has a max width of 2.4" due to the machine…so there might be that.
Joe
3 Likes
BRR has done fat tires before so at least up to 4" is good. Yeah, bummed about the Booster results. Have you run Booster a lot and/or Rush?
Yeah that’s right….there are fat tires on there. I’d love to see some 2.6’s someday on the list.
And yeah, booster pro has run fast for me. Not quite as fast as thunder burt and race kings but the 2.6” size is nice. I was in the tr version though for the tests….its a super thin casing. Now I’m questioning pretty much everything.
Joe
I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The TR casing could be a good bit better.
I have not ridden them in the mud. We don’t typically get muddy trails in the Denver area, and when they are muddy we stay off
Today’s race went surprisingly well by picking up the dub. The Ray and Rick combo was flawless and gave me much more confidence in the sandy and leaves covered single track areas. This might be my new go to combo.
2.35 Ray on the front and 2.4 Rick on the rear.
8 Likes
I’ve heard good things about the Ralph/Rick combo as well for marathon and such.
2 Likes
I ran the Aspen 2.4 Team Spec front and rear at Lutsen last year. While I didn’t have any issues, they weren’t great in the muddy sections, but I’m not sure there was any tire that would have helped in those conditions. Based on what I have seen of the course changes for this year, we’re avoiding the very muddy sections from last year, so I would think the RaceKings would be a good tire if it isn’t catastrophically muddy again.
Two new Specialized XC tires has been announced today:
Both available in “Flex lite” and “Grid lite” casing
Looks good, at least their weight is very competitive (605gr - 2.35)
2 Likes
Is the t5/t7 the same compound as the current fast trak?
It seems like it. They’ve trimmed the center knobs and claim a 5% rolling resistance improvement, or “1.7 watts faster than the previous S-Works Fast Trak”.
An interesting data point on the (somewhat negligible?) impact of the tread pattern.
1 Like
According to my weight weenie buddy, Specialized tires are notorious for being notably heavier than stated
Dang, was really hoping the 2.5 captain was coming
4 Likes
I know you guys like things like this.
I got some new 29x2.4 peyotes and put them on my 25mm wheels. Sadly they are measuring only 2.25" but I can’t be too mad, considering they are meant for wider wheels. The given weight is 730g and these were 741 and 756 respectively. I don’t really care too much about that but it’s another data point.
Can’t give any sort of review but I think they’ll fit my style of riding where I ride everything on 1 bike. In any place with more hilly terrain I don’t think I could get away with this being my only tire, but I live in the prairies and my local trails are not very demanding. I’m excited to test them out.
9 Likes
I’m curious how much they stretch too.
I meet the guy that designed these peyotes in Bentonville, at the top of “Zone 4” (hand-cut hollow). He was pretty excited, only put a foot down twice. Went back both times to “clean it up”. Our jaws were on the ground. He had peyote protos front and back. So, rider skill aside, I think these tires will do just fine in the tech. 
2 Likes
So I just measured them after 3 days inflated, and sidewall to sidewall they are measuring at 2.30". So they did actually stretch a little bit.
1 Like