What Tyre - South Downs July - 100 Miles

[Four Litre]

Guys

Appreciate your info on this decision... Doing the south downs randonee (100 miler) in late July and wondering what tyres I should be running for the event.

Im currently on Maxxis high rollers which have been amazing on my daily offroad commute throughout the winter, but are these going to slow me down on the south downs in July! As its 100 miles, I'm looking for every option to ensure a finish is on the cards!

Also are there any suppliments/dietary pointers to take a few days before the actual event?

Cheers

R

[hman]

whats the terrain? for xc without gloopiness I would use Maxxis crossmarks - very low rolling resistance on hard pack tarmac and mud and good traction on cinder type tracks.

My mate has high rollers on his and the rolling resistance is very high compared to the crossmarks- BUT he can atack the gloopy stuff wheras the cross marks just clog.


SO in summary crossmarks if its dry and not on sand and high rollers if it isnt.

[Four Litre]

Believe it to be Chalk over the downs and quite a bit of loose gravel.

[hman]

chalk is fairly slippery even when dry (silica content I think)-

when wet its lethal- I ride a dirtbike and chalky lanes can be as bad as clay!

maybe something a little more agressive- why not pop down and trial ride a section, its all open land isnt it?

for the record I ride everywhere on crossmarks - just adapt to suit , but the only place where its hopeless is really gloopy mud.
tyre pressures are also something to consider ;-)

[timbo48]

I've been running Crossmarks for quite a while now and the western end of the South Downs is local to me. I've had no trouble with grip on the chalk in the dry and tend to run comparitively high pressures, 45psi ish, helps to keep the punctures away. If it's dry that's what I'd be using. There realy isn't such a thing as a wet chalk friendly tyre, it's like riding on ice. Mud tyres aren't any good as a lot of the surfaces, especially the further east you go just remain solid but get very slipery when wet, nothing for the knobbies to dig into, Just let some air out and take it easy. At least you know it's going to be slippery when it's wet, unlike black ice on tarmac which you can't see.

[Gooby]

I am doing the 100 miler Randone in August ( same thing just later in the year) My tyre priorities are lightness, rolling resistence and puncture resistence.

I am still in 2 minds over Nobby Nic or Rocket rons. Both evo and both UST. They are incredibly light and grippy race tyres and UST gives them enough puncture resistence to last the distance. They are a little "thin" on the sidewalls but for the type of riding it wont be a problem...

[hman]

have stick in kevlar liners in my crossmarks- never had a puncture!!!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

[anonymous-user]

Gooby said:

I am doing the 100 miler Randone in August ( same thing just later in the year) My tyre priorities are lightness, rolling resistence and puncture resistence.

I am still in 2 minds over Nobby Nic or Rocket rons. Both evo and both UST. They are incredibly light and grippy race tyres and UST gives them enough puncture resistence to last the distance. They are a little "thin" on the sidewalls but for the type of riding it wont be a problem...

Gooby, go for some smart sams evos, they are the middle ground between the nic's & the rons, not sure they come in UST though, although with some conti supersonic tubes will still be the same weight or lighter than as a UST set up with more convenience if not total protection of tubeless or just stick the fluid in anyway.

I use them round here on the flinty stuff and they do ok I've had two punctures in about 300 miles which is good for me, very light in 2.1 guise and roll very well with an almost continuous central ridge.

Edit: you can get UST smart sams but they're 200g heavier per tire than the normal evos 495 vs 690, I'd just go with the normal evo's and fill with fluid, you'll be running at 40psi+ so there's little chance of snake bites and it's not the sort environment you'll be ripping the tires apart going through a rock garden and catching a pointy bit at speed.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 6th June 19:13