Cx sportive tyre choice

gwillis

I'm doing a cx sportive in a few weeks vax looking fir the heads up on tyre choice . It's a 55k route and predominately off road . Any advice would be great on whst to use and any deals

bigmul

Only tyre I can think of is the Conti Cyclocross Speed. Get the folding to make it lighter, its a 35mm tyre with some small side knobblies. I've used it for commuting on the CX in the past, not a full on off road tyre though.

bendertherobot

I had tremendous success, (and by that I mean plenty of traction), with a pair of Uncle John CX tyres from PX. Running at 40 psi on some really muddy stuff. Taken them off road and, if the going is too much for them, the going is too much! They're bloody good on the road as well. And cheap.

ugo.santalucia

Vittoria are pretty light, cheap and robust enough not to puncture at the first sight of a thorn. The XG is a good compromise between rolling resistance on the tarmac and grip on the soft. Run 40 PSI, I find it's a good pressure to do it all.
If you are brave you can even run them tubeless and save yourself 300 grams of pointless inner tube

gwillis

Cheers guys food for thought .... I'm tempted to try tubeless but the event suggests against using tubeless fir done reason and I've never used them on my h plus sons
I thought road tyre choice was bad enough !

ugo.santalucia

gwillis wrote:

Cheers guys food for thought .... I'm tempted to try tubeless but the event suggests against using tubeless fir done reason and I've never used them on my h plus sons
I thought road tyre choice was bad enough !

I ran XN tubeless all summer and rode the rear to the threads... I can't think of a downside to be honest

gwillis

Tbh Ugo I'm not sure why they advise against it . The whole course is more or less off road and pretty remote so maybe it's down to that ?

ugo.santalucia

gwillis wrote:

Tbh Ugo I'm not sure why they advise against it . The whole course is more or less off road and pretty remote so maybe it's down to that ?

And what difference does it make if you have or have no inner tubes?

gwillis

I'm totally new to tubeless have read your blog etc Paulo so can't see why . I'd be tempted to give it a go my biggest issue is wanting to swap between 25mm clinchers for club runs and off road tyres as my cx bike is also my winter bike .

ugo.santalucia

gwillis wrote:

I'm totally new to tubeless have read your blog etc Paulo so can't see why . I'd be tempted to give it a go my biggest issue is wanting to swap between 25mm clinchers for club runs and off road tyres as my cx bike is also my winter bike .

Yeah, with tubeless it becomes a bit more expensive, unless you find a way to recycle the sealant liquid every time you swap

FransJacques

I like the Vittorias too. You could try a file tread XN (read: Grifo XS/Clement Las Vegas/Conti CX Speed) on the rear: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... itttyrf125 and a slightly knobbier XG (read: Grifo) for the front. Or maybe a Chicane on the front depending on how sloppy it might be. A Chicane on the rear might be gripper than the minimalist Vittoria XN if it's muddy.

I really like the look of the tread on the Conti CX speed but have never tried them: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-cyc ... g-cx-tyre/ I would NOT, however, want one on the front if I was cornering in mud > 10 kph. The results could be ugly.

bigmul

Conti CX Speed, over 10mph, gravel path on a fast banked turn

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6hcjl50lqf1js ... 0.jpg?dl=0

4 lots of stitches and 2 new teeth

ugo.santalucia

I've just fitted a pair of Vittoria XG PRO TNT... tubeless ready... nice tyres, go on easily and they are airtight, so you don't need to put too much sealant in, just 20-30 ml to prevent punctures. If you don't like them tubeless, you can always run them with inner tubes... easy.
26 quid each at Highonbikes... for a tubeless tyre it's peanuts, really

gwillis

Sold ! I'm taking your advice ... Always been right so far I'll order then now

ugo.santalucia

Just taken them out for a spin around Esher common, which this time of the year offers the whole package... mud, sand, roots and steep banks... nice tyres, but they really want to be ran at low pressure... I pumped them at 30 PSI, which was rolling OK on the road, but 20 PSI would have been a lot better on the muddy bits

gwillis

I think the route / course is mix of road /single and double track and rocky bits . If I get time I'll get the tubeless kit if not I'll use tubes this time and try 40psi as you said

ugo.santalucia

gwillis wrote:

I think the route / course is mix of road /single and double track and rocky bits . If I get time I'll get the tubeless kit if not I'll use tubes this time and try 40psi as you said

It's a less flexible casing than the normal XG, so 30 PSI is plenty, with or without inner tube. I went over lots of tree roots and didn't bottom it

gwillis

Ugo is this all I need fir my h plus sons ?

http://www.tweekscycles.com/Product.do? ... wgodC1QAZA

ugo.santalucia

gwillis wrote:

Ugo is this all I need fir my h plus sons ?

http://www.tweekscycles.com/Product.do? ... wgodC1QAZA

Yes.

The only difficulty with non tubeless-ready rims is to build the initial pressure, as they are loose fit and don't seal as nicely as tubeless rims... if you have a compressor it's easy, with a track pump it might or it might not. I suggest soap and water on both rims and tyres

imposter2.0

gwillis wrote:

Cheers guys food for thought .... I'm tempted to try tubeless but the event suggests against using tubeless fir done reason and I've never used them on my h plus sons
I thought road tyre choice was bad enough !

I know the event you mean - and there is no such advice not to use tubeless tyres. The advice is not to use tubulars. Which is not unreasonable.

If you're on a CX for this event, 40c Smart Sams would be ideal...

gwillis

Ugo would I struggle to sort it with a track pump then as I can't get my hands on a compressor

Imposter I take it you know the course have you ridden it by chance ?

ugo.santalucia

gwillis wrote:

Ugo would I struggle to sort it with a track pump then as I can't get my hands on a compressor

Imposter I take it you know the course have you ridden it by chance ?

Worth a try, you might or you might not... depends how tight the tyre will fit on the rim

imposter2.0

gwillis wrote:

Imposter I take it you know the course have you ridden it by chance ?

I haven't ridden this route, but if you are on a cross bike I would suggest fitting the widest tyres your bike will take. Tubeless v tubes isn't really going to make much difference over 55km, but tyre volume will...

ugo.santalucia

Imposter wrote:

gwillis wrote:

Imposter I take it you know the course have you ridden it by chance ?

I haven't ridden this route, but if you are on a cross bike I would suggest fitting the widest tyres your bike will take. Tubeless v tubes isn't really going to make much difference over 55km, but tyre volume will...

For a sportive I wouldn't worry about having the perfect tyre, if you can't take a corner full on, you'll take it slower. I'd rather have a tubeless tyre that doesn't puncture, than having to shed a load of mud from the tyre/rim to replace an inner tube.
In a race of course priorities change

imposter2.0

I was thinking more about the ride quality for what is going to be a relatively long time in the saddle, off road, on a cross bike.

drummer_boy

I haven't done a CX Sportive (by name), but have done quite a few of the AdentureX events this year. Rode them all on Schwalbe Land Cruisers (35mm), without a single problem.

They roll very well on fire trails, and handle off road stuff pretty well.

I would be a little reserved about using pure CX tyres (I race on Racing Ralphs) as they have quite thin side walls, and not much puncture protection.

Eitherway I realy enjoyed the AdventureX events, as they played more to my long distance cycle muscles, than a pure corss race. I carry a little too much weight to be competitive in a pure corss race, but in AdventureX I usually finish inthe top 15%.

gwillis

I used the vittoria xg's with tubes @ 45psinand they worked a treat . The adventure cross series looks cracking shame it's so far from Wales . Apart from cross mountain and the cx sportive series that's all I've seen

ugo.santalucia

gwillis wrote:

I used the vittoria xg's with tubes @ 45psinand they worked a treat . The adventure cross series looks cracking shame it's so far from Wales . Apart from cross mountain and the cx sportive series that's all I've seen

Go tubeless... and pressure is too high for the TNT ones... you've got no traction... I use 30 and they still roll fine even on the tarmac

slam that stem

bigmul wrote:

Conti CX Speed, over 10mph, gravel path on a fast banked turn

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6hcjl50lqf1js ... 0.jpg?dl=0

4 lots of stitches and 2 new teeth

Ouch - you're a handsome man. I swear you look like Ryan Reynolds.

The Conti Speed would be a good rear tyre on hardpack. It would make a great Roubaix/cobble tyre due to the volume.

Those Vittorias are super nice. Good luck with them.