Tyres for SDW

meesterbond

Sorry for the 'what tyres' thread but I need some suggestions for appropriate tyres for a South Downs Way sportive later in the year. Main consideration is to reduce the number of punctures whilst retaining a reasonable level of handling and comfort.
They'll be going on a pair of Hed Belgium+ rims which, although I've not tried, I believe are tubeless compatible which would seem to be a sensible way to go.
Schwalbe X-Ones look good but not sure how durable they'd be against South Coast flint. WTB Cross Boss perhaps?

Any thoughts

Chris James

In the absence of anyone else giving you any advice then I would recommend Land Cruisers. I use them for anything that isn't actually cyclocross. I've never had a puncture with them(they are pretty heavy) unlike most cross tyres which puncture very easily. They roll well on tarmac / gravel sections. Despite their tread not looking very nobbly they give quite good grip on most surfaces except heavy mud. They are also dirt cheap.

We don't have flints up here but they have survived loads of farm tracks and red and blue routes at MTB trail centres okay.

passout

Sorry to barge in, but do you use the version with puncture prootection? Also how do these compare to other gravel tyres in terms of pumctures. These might be another option for my first proper gravel tyres, and the price is good as you said.

luv2ride

Large volume might be the way to go. I like my 38mm Challenge Gravel Grinders (not tubeless), but also liking some WTB 40mm Nano's (run tubeless). At low pressures they'll be great on the off-road sections, and go remarkably well on Tarmac too.

Hopefully Monty Dog will offer his advice, think he rides the area a lot...

roger_merriman

I had Landcruisers years ago, though they don't seem to have changed, still fairly simple tyre. didn't rate them.

fairly poor grip, both road/dirt. it punctured as much as any tyre for that sort of use. and being that sort of tyre fairly poor ride quality.

TBH I found the Marathon Plus faster/gripper etc for mixed terrain. the landcruiser is very old fashioned tyre, my hunch is its more tradition than any thing else. it's not a Tubeless ready so need to be getto.

I use Racing Ralphs on my CX which I use on for mixed terrain, including up and over mountains etc. they do puncture but then they are coping with rocky trails, and give good grip/speed. running tubed and with the sort of use, so I run higher PSI than say CX races bar 3 Peaks.

Chris James

I run tubes in my land cruisers so am not bothered about tubeless compatibility. In fact I run tubes on my cross race tyres (Mud2s and PDXs) and run them down to below 30 psi for muddy races and have never punctured so I can't really see the point of tubeless for cross.

I can't kill the land cruisers. I once punctured 5 times on some conti cyclocross race so I would say the land cruisers are massively tougher than race tyres, although of course the ride does suffer a bit because of that. They do roll well on tarmac though, unlike a more knobbly tyre.

Monty Dog

Biggest you can fit - Schwalbe Smart Sams in 40mm or Surly Knard 41mm are both good but make sure they've got durable sidewalls. Fastest time was using a pair of 38mm WTB semi-slicks that were 8 quid each! Probably ridden well over a 1,000km of the SDW is all directions and conditions and main problem is pinch flats on some of the long-downhills, hitting fist-size flints. Rode down and along from Steyning to QECP yesterday, but pushing 5" Dillingers on my fatbike - needs to dry out a bit more before considering taking my CX bike.