https://media.tenor.com/AEvLZdVy9AoA...newsletter.gif
Printable View
I’m starting to get serious about racing the Arizona Trail 800 this October and am struggling a bit with tire choice. I’m currently running Vittoria Syerra 29x2.4 with Tannus Tubeless Armour inserts on my rigid bikepacking rig, and am generally quite happy with this setup, but for the AZT I think I’m going to want some slightly tougher casings, and a bit more air volume. I haven’t been on the AZT yet but based on other experiences riding in AZ,it’s going to be chunky and sharp a lot of the time.
The first tire that comes to mind is a Rekon 2.6 Exo+, but what else is out there that’s in that sweet spot of durable, fast rolling, grippy, and reasonably light enough for racing on 800 miles of rocky singletrack?
My buddy did something like 10 days on the AZT (from the border to Superior?) with a Grid Gravity Eliminator in the rear (no insert), specifically because he didn’t want to risk issues. Should be available in a 2.6 - but yeah that won’t be the lightest setup.
If you are serious, there is an old Oregon thread you can bump (and I have some comments in there) or you can start a new thread and I can share deets / answer questions. Most of the hero soil is on west slope Cascade foothills and in the coast range, lots of rivers in those areas, but most of the lakes are high country riding where the soil is much looser and not as rich/loamy/duffy.
It''s for folks who know how to lean their machine hard and fast.
Sent from my SM-G780G using TGR Forums mobile app
Or you can buy tires that allow you to lean them hard without sliding 6" before they hook up.
Those do actually exist. Hell, Maxxis even makes a couple so you can continue the love-fest.
Also, not all turns require an intense lean. Going into a 30-45* hardpack, non-bermed, turn at speed on a DHF requires true faith in God.
Personally I’m finding the Vittoria Mazzas to have the perfect amount of drift. Not nearly as drifty as a DHF, but that transition zone is still there unlike an AssGuy. I’m really looking forward to trying the new soft rubber “enduro race” Mazza once I burn through my stash of regular ones, I think that could be my new holy grail tire.
Not God. Our DHF cult lord and savior is Colin Bailey.
The drift point allows for a lot more variety in turn shape and timing. I like being able to change pressure and square off turns instead of being more locked in to a turn shape in the “steery “ type tires like Assyguy.
Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
Enduro came first. Now the euro brands are all in on E-bike specific stuff.
Their nomenclature leaves to be desired. There’s been an enduro casing Mazza for a while now with the same rubber(“4C”) as the trail one, then came the e-Mazza which is the thicker casing and harder shittier rubber, and they just released a Mazza 1C “Enduro Race” with softer rubber and burly casing.
https://www.backcountry.com/vittoria...duro-tire-29in
That's a great word and, well, that's one way of looking at it. Especially when the tire itself is deciding on what "variety" of turn it wants to make.
Personally, I prefer to know exactly what is going to happen (as in, it goes where I point it) when I lean my bike over but hey, here's to making life entertaining! (What? no "cheers" emoji?) :biggrin:
Anyway, as I said, I don't understand the love, and I never will. I guess love is blind.
Thanks for trying to explain it to me.
Found the Vittoria catalog which provides some actual detail, unlike their website:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/re...ia-catalogue/3
Along with the 1C rubber compound, the Enduro Race 1C tires are also coming with a single ply 60 tpi casing with protection, as opposed to the dual ply 120 tip casing of the non-race 4C Enduro tires.
Nice, that’s good beta. Now I’m wishing I hadn’t stocked up on regular Mazzas on sale last fall, I wanna try the new softer one. It’s got graphene AND silica, it must shred.
Has anyone run a Rekon with an Assegai? Been running 2.4 Rekons front and rear on my hardtail that I regularly pedal from the house and have been pretty stoked on them. I enjoy the fast rolling nature of ‘em and thought tossing it on my stevo could be fun until proper enduro-ey/steep trails open up around here.
I tried a rekon with a DHF and the balance didn't work well at all. I have considered a 2.4 rekon/dissector combo though.
Trying to lose some rolling resistance for summer coming from MM/BB in trail Soft flavor. Anyone running Schwalbe's speedgrip compound in the rear? Recommend or no?
I have a speed grip nobby Nick on the back of my hard tail. It is pretty slippery on roots compared to the magic Mary soft on the back of my fs. A soft nobby Nick would probably be a decent summer rear here but doesn’t come in a very heavy casing so would likely need an insert.