Personally I will always take a bit of extra rolling resistance to have a front tyre I can trust. The tiny difference in RR between something like a Racing Ray or even Rocket Ron and the Rick means Rick is rear only for me. Most of my racing involves semi-damp roots and rocks though.
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Most true statement I’ve seen in a while
I thought that weight was the opposite from what I’ve seen.
I almost went with these for an SB120 build, but stick to the Forekasters
They tested a Super race Ray on rolling resistance in 29x2.35 - I may just go Ray/Rick (was Ray Addix Speed/Ralph Addix Speed the last few years) and was considering Rick/Rick for this year, I really wish the Ray was a 2.4.
I can say that the Ray on the front IMO was plenty of traction to where I almost thought something rolling faster with less traction may be faster overall but I have so much confidence in the Ray.
I am still torn, probably will not make a tire decision for 2-3 months luckily.
Sweet, my exact tire width/casing I run.
I actually have it on the rear currently for winter to wear it out before tossing it for race season and I was thinking “this actually rolls pretty damn nice as a rear too”. I wouldn’t mind them bumping Ray/Ralph to 2.4” either but it’s a small gripe for me.
One has to think they will update the Ray soon to the newer Pro casing. Regardless, the results look quite good and very competitive with the 2.4 Dubs. Dubs are a little lighter and maybe better puncture resistance if you believe BRR testing.
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This is my thoughts entirely, a updated Ray and current Rick in 2.4 would be a no brainer to me. I never had any puncture issues with my Ray/Ralph setup and the weight difference between them is irrelevant in my situation.
It matters on style too, this kind of handling is not my favorite, so glad to know I don’t need to try the Rick
Recently swapped from 2.35” Thunder Burt Super Race to 2.4” Barzo (F) and Peyote XC Race (R), inspired by John Karrasch’s testing showing them as the fastest tires for Cat 3 surfaces (other than the Schwalbe G-One Speed Pro).
Surprisingly, the Barzo (734g) + Peyote (696g) came in lighter than my Burts (733g + 707g), despite having quite a bit more tread. Volume is about the same (2.4” exactly – my Burts were surprisingly voluminous), but still need to leave the new ones inflated at 40psi overnight to stretch them out more.
Barzo has the same tread pattern as a Fast Trak, but with bigger knobs (3.1 to 4.0mm vs. 2.5 to 3.3mm). Very happy with its grip on the first ride.
Peyote adds a fair bit of grip in the rear over a Burt while still feeling fast on pavement.
Based on John’s testing, I’m probably losing about 8 watts on pavement vs. the Burts, but my gravel racing days are on pause for the time being, so a very reasonable trade-off to get substantially more grip (with no or negligible speed penalty on rough terrain).
Will report back after more time on them, but so far, two thumbs up. Purchased from BikeInn for $65/tire incl shipping and tax.
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Are you talking about using them for gravel or XC MTB? Two very different use cases.
I had used the Burts for gravel, MTB, and bikepacking. Built up an Epic Evo as a ~22lb jack-of-all-trades bike. It was quite a bit faster on all surfaces vs. my gravel bike with 47mm Pathfinders, as long as I minded my body position for aero purposes.
I’m just doing MTB and adventure riding now, so willing to give up pavement and gravel speed.
FWIW I’m doing some more singletrack based VE testing this spring so might have more insights there at some point. Mainly focused on 29” v 32” Aspen setups initially but lots of good potential for more common 29” XC race tire back to backs.
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Just dropping in to say holy moley Schwalbe beads are tough as nails.
New bike day and had my first Ralph/Ray ready to replace the stock Aspens. The Aspens came off purely by hand, no levers required at all. The Schwalbe? 60+ minutes of sweating and struggling, using two levers and my big toes to stretch the damn things on millimeter by painful millimeter.
My strategy now is simply “never flat” because there is no way I’m getting a tube into those trailside. I would just scratch the race and walk.
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Getting ready for this season and wanted to try something different from my normal ray/rick, Rick/rick, and DUb’s.
Looking at Peyote’s and Air/fast Traks. Anyone have experience with any and all of these tires to make a comparison?
Cheers
I can’t make a direct comparison. But I’ve used Fast Trak’s for BCBR, Swiss Epic and they are on my bike for local riding (Vancouver Island, Squamish type stuff). So a mix of wet and dry conditions and some pretty technical trails. I’ve been extremely happy with them. Zero issues from a traction point of view. No testing, but they seem to roll extremely well on both pavement and trail. I started PR’ing a bunch of more flowy trails I ride a lot when I first put these on. Also do long pavement rides on them and they don’t sound annoying when rolling 
. I’ll be using Air Traks for Cape Epic. Haven’t put them on yet though so no comments there. Coming from Aspens, I prefer the Air Traks myself.
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I’ve run Peyotes and really liked them, but they’re definitely condition specific. I don’t think they’d be amazing in soft, wet, or muddy conditions but I thought they shined in loose over hard/dry conditions (typical Colorado terrain). Granted, they are a minimal tread/semi slick/race tire so they’re not a do-it-all super confidence inspiring tire but for going fast, they toe the line well.
One note - the latest Vittoria Race compound does take some breaking in, in my experience. I’ve run both Peyotes and Barzos and on the first ride or few they do feel a bit slippery/skatey but after they wear in a bit I like them a lot.
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Definitely concur with the first couple rides on the vittorias. I think it was mentioned earlier in this thread that they have some sort of varnish/lacquer on them from the molding process and that needs to be worn off.
I hit a pavement section after a creek crossing and immediately slid 15 feet on my side first ride on them. Have not had that happen since then.
I’m liking the peyote a lot as a back tire. Mezcal is an upgrade over the Aspen, but still not 100% sold on it. May try Barzo next
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Excellent, thanks. So you recommend the Mezcal over the peyote for the front?
Nice! So what’s the ideal setup, Fast up front and Air in the back or fast/fast vs Air/air?
I wouldn’t run Payote on front.
I have run Mezcal on front and it’s okay, but Barzo is my preference for the front if I’m running Vitttorias.
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