Crash/splat

Giraffoto

My first off while moving for several years . . .
In another topic I said of my tyres that "S-Works Fast Trak LK are doing a great job for me, I ride mainly on exposed chalk and gravelly tracks, with the occasional stretch of hard-packed mud punctuated with roots. But they don't like thick, squidgy mud much." Well, I proved that right last night by hitting a patch of thick squidgy mud (on a fast downhill curve) with too much speed and too little skill, and dumping myself in the mud. Some observations. . .

• Soft mud is really soft, but it has hard bits in it

• When you have a torch on your head, mud that a few centimetres from your face is blindingly bright

• It's possible to get one foot through the frame, round the back of the seat tube and caught up on the back wheel, all while the other foot's still clipped in. It is, however, b!00dy difficult to get out of that position when you're laying in mud

• A layer of mud is a surprisingly effective windproof

• No one likes to make casual conversation with you in shops when you look like you've just done something horrifically violent

• It can take longer to get some things off a shower than it did to get them off your body

• Once your freewheel's stopped buzzing, it's so quiet in the woods at night that you find yourself whispering phrases like "Ah f%&@!"

• A water bottle takes a lot of dislodging. But when the valve's covered in wet mud, that's irrelevant

warpcow

I've never used a Fast Trak LK, but I've seen people 'using' them. Very funny it was too.

bennett_346

Shite tyre simply put. Lets down Specialized otherwise excellent tyre lineup.

Northwind

The standard Fast Trak's a good tyre, for the job it's designed to do. Never really understood the LK model, it's not like the FT is exactly super knobbly.

rockmonkeysc

I tried Fast Track LK. Ok in dusty conditions, awful in any mud.

chez_m356

part of a description used on my lbs website

Low knobs make this tyre fast on track and trail (and road) yet the side knobs hook up to offer control on corners.

think that says it all

YeehaaMcgee

Giraffoto wrote:

• A layer of mud is a surprisingly effective windproof

Not to mention it makes you invisible to alien predators with heat vision.