Відео

I have been riding on 50mm race king since early 2021. It is faster than panaracer slick 35mm which is in line with rolling resistance data. On XC race, i put a crossking front if there are rocky loose descent because I need to got faster in racing condition. If not racing, it does not really matter. I found the the raceking in great as a winter uk dirty road condition because it rolls and handle potholes rather well

I wear the Neo Pro stuff as well and it’s a fantastic value for the price. The only thing I’ve found is the sizing is a little inconsistent and the exchange process is cumbersome. Other than that I think the delta in price vs. “premium” kits. (Which I own as well) is worth the hassle.

What was the choice of Headset on your bike?

How about using a fat bike

Hard not to like ANY decent bike when you're riding on those roads! My in-laws live in SB and over the decades I've ridden various bicycles there...and loved 'em all. Good that you're happy with yours since I assume you paid real $$ for it? Those things ain't cheap!

Great info!

Having a Vittoria Barzo in the front and the Mezcal in the back works wonders on singletrack

Maxxis Aspen ST are a great low profile nobby race tire

I think us mortals are listening to all the LTGP riders like Keegan talk about running MTB tires and we forget they have the power to overcome the negatives of running that big tire while your point of the pros and cons is exactly right. Carrying around that 50mm tire for 5 bad miles of a otherwise mild 100 mile course isn't worth it. The difference is that 5 miles of rough road for the pros will likely be the deciding point of the race so running a 50mm is an advantage and worth the loss of efficiency for the other 95 miles

I put a set of 2.1” Mezcal’s on my gravel bike a few weeks ago and agree with the upsides you describe - fun, floaty, confidence-inspiring. One downside I noticed is that, with the relatively narrow width of drop handlebars (relative to MTB), it’s pretty hard to lean the bike hard enough to really use/dig into the outer treads. I sorta feel like I’m dragging them around for no reason…

The "true spirit of gravel", a hard day on the bike with friends - new and old!!! 😉

Hi, what sunglasses are you wearing?

"All miles are not the same." This is very true. I think those forty miles would have been longer for us non-athletes. I've noticed many times on a bike ride that the miles at the end of the route have stretched. This video was a reminder that there is a lot of beautiful places in California. Someday I may visit it again. Thanks.

Does anybody make a rigid XC mountain bike anymore? Buy the frame and build it up as a gravel bike. I did the opposite. I bought a gravel frame and built it up as a rigid XC mountain bike. It fits 700x50 tires. If I need more tire width than that, I break out my real mountain bike. That works perfectly for my area.

Looks like it was a beautiful day for an awesome ride!

The lake basin bike path is one of the best I have ridden of bike paths. 1,000 ft in 5.25 miles with incredible views and experience. Medium route skips the early forest sandy pumice pit. Medium sort of parallels 395 then the old road. Just a long out n back to other side Crowley lake is the other big difference. Long is in the boonies to east of town. Sand pit hell hill at the end just sucked. Next year thinking of Big Bear gravel ride part their fondo event early Aug with Mammoth Grand Fondo the weekend before Tuff as a package deal. Enjoy the week sightsee, relax, acclimate in up there in between then do the Tuff event. Biggest tires you can fit your frame is no joke in riders guide. Great video of event. 40 miles route is equal 70-100 miles elsewhere at other events.

Great vid! Did the 72 mile course and it was indeed Tuff! My friend and I can be seen at the 1 minute mark - Native American looking guy in black. Laughed at the 9:30 mark because climbing out of Saw Mill Rd was total and hardcore suckage!!! Rode Pathfinders 42s and will be maxing out the Crux with knobby 47s next year. Thanks for sharing!

Ah, Mammoth. Haven't been up there for 30 years. Four years in a row in the early 90s we spent a week mid-summer riding the mtb park; gondola up, fun trails down. Camped up at June Lake each time.

Wait till gravel riders figure out the benefits of mountain bikes! 🤣

Lower your pressures a little, and trim the tread.

Too much thinking, analyzing, weighing, contemplating, deciding about a plus or minus 0.1 inch or 0.2 inch in tire width ..... just put on a good tire that fits with no rubbing and ride your bike 🙄

You’re on the right track. Running 29x2.1 Mezcals on my Otso Warakin. It’s the bee’s knees. Great tires.

Wait until gravel bikers discover the benefits of a suspension fork...

Used to ride a current-gen Crux with Pathfinder 47mm tires and a suspension stem. Arm pump got unbearable with the gravel roads I ride at, so I opted to get a Lauf Seigla for my next gravel bike. Installed Schwalbe Thunder Burt tires in 2.25" with that leaf-spring fork and I'm never looking back. Rolls just as fast on road or gravel but with twice the traction and comfort of a MTB tire. Very affordable bike as well, and they make a model with a regular fork if that's preferred. If your local gravel roads aren't graded regularly I can't see an argument for going any smaller than a 45c.

do you think a 27.5 with 2.1 would be good on a gravel bike?

i'd rather move the lever all day back and forth because i san find it a LOT easier with a glove on. and i can repair anything that goes wrong cheaper and easier..on the trail without a laptop. Well just my .02 .. good vid though I enjoyed the rest of it. great info.

You are about three hammer strikes (to the back of the seatube) from success! 😊😊😊

Try to get a hold of some Rene Herse Antelope 700c x 55c slicks with the stronger endurance casing to test. They may fit your Cyclosys with the lack of knobbies and offer that high volume experience. The slicks may perform well in your dry SoCal environment. Would be interesting to hear your feedback.

My experience has been that on rough descents (with baby head rocks for example) , tires like the Mezcal (or Barzo), Race Kings, etc. are a lot better than skinnier gravel tires like Terra Speeds, Gravel King SKs, etc. For rough climbs with roots, rocks etc., for me, the same comparison applies. (Same goes for suspension and slack geometry.) Gravel races and rides with substantial distances on the road, the choice gets harder. I'm a good distance from my favorite gravel off-road stretches and spend 1-2 hours coming and going on pavement and prefer to be under-biked. BWR SoCal has a substantial amount of distance on pavement. Some pro's had been riding 32mm slicks. Though that may change given what Keegan Swenson and Dylan Johnson rode at Leadville this year. On pavement, for me, 30mm slicks are faster than 40mm gravel tread which is faster than 2.2in CX tread. Off road? It definitely can be the other way around as the route gets rougher.

RaceKings still exist in a 50mm/2.0 as does Schwable with a few 2.1 tires, those are faster than the Mezcal and good on the road too. Faster than a lot of knobby gravel tires too. May also want to take a look at the Pirelli Cinturato M, which is like a gravel tire meets XC tire and comes in both 45mm and 50mm options. I have 2.1 on my gravel bike, which specs say max out at 2.2 and I will not go back to anything smaller than a 50mm for gravel. Now my road setup for that bike is a 44mm Rene Herse tire in the standard casing. I was sold on the hype and some of it is true, but honestly not worth the full price. Got them open box so I saved $20 per tire, which helped.

Gravel bike will go through the same super-fat craze as mtb did. About 10-15 years ago we were told that plus-size mtb tires were the future and everyone ran out and bought a plus bike. People tried em and realized they were too squidgey, so we’re back on 2.3/2.4.

2.1 Schwalbe Thunderburt, 550 Gramm, faster than a lot of gravel tires.

Been Riding Southeast Gravel Series in North and South Carolina and the course in Hot Springs NC and Brewer Plantation SC need BIG freaking tires with all kinds of sand chunck gravel, crazy road washouts super steep decents with deep lose gravel

I echo your sentiments. Last year I converted an old XC mountain bike frame so I could test using XC tires on gravel. I used Race King 2.2s. Turned out to be overkill 90% of the time. This season I am going to the opposite extreme with an old CX frame. Challenge now makes a 40c tubeless tubular for gravel that is rated for 1.5 to 3 bar. With the ability to run very low CX pressures, this should prove to be more versatile than a TLR clincher setup not to mention the additional weight savings. Here's hoping :)

I have the Pirelli cinturato gravel M 650b 50mm tyres on my steel framed gravel bike. They are definitely softer on the rougher stuff. I aso have Teravail Cannonballs 47mm which are really good. One really big difference is how much mud and the wet stuff the 50mm kick up. I did a 110km race in North Wales on Sunday gone and it poured down. I was completely covered in mud. That said the grip was good.

Great video. You could also attach the Ortlieb Fork bags to the front mounts you added. Those bags also work on gravel bije forks Gives you a 2 for one. Also, with your set up, get one more thru axle for your gravel and the rack and panniers can be used on both bikes. For many this could help justify the cost fir the Divide rack. Your review is much appreciated.

Absolutely! My gravel bike came with 38’ combo tires, I’ve gradually moved up to the largest the frame can handle which is 47 rear and a 50 on the front, I also have a set of 47’s for light gravel/road excursions, now I just need another set of wheels…..always something else I need……

I currently have 27.5x2.2” Conti Race Kings on my Specialized Diverge but had to do it on 650 wheels for them to fit. I love them everywhere except pavement. I especially love them on singletrack. The side clearance is about 6mm (1/4”) on both the front and back. My other wheelset has 700x47 Specialized Pathfinders, which also have about 6mm side clearance. The official Specialized recommendation for my bike is a max tire width of 47mm on 700’s and 2.1” on 650’s.

I realized a few years back that I don’t ride fast enough to care about maximizing speed. I don’t ride anything less than 2.1 at this point. I’ll never buy another bike that won’t fit at least a 2.25.

I stumbled upon your channel a little while ago. I really enjoy your videos. Are you sure you're not Randy Pobst, the race car driver? He sounds like you and has a lot of wise words, also.

I found I'm just not riding my new-to-me used hardtail off-road, so I installed 2.2" Continental Race Kings, and using it as a "flat bar" gravel bike. Sure, it won't be as fast as a true gravel bike, but let's be honest-there is a lot of overlap between a gravel bike and a hardtail. I do wonder-are we going to see drop-bar XC mountain bikes from major manufacturers in the next few years?

To me, a gravel bike should have the room for up to a 2.4. That gives you choices. Tires are your primary suspension. Every bump that your tires don’t absorb causes the bike and rider to go up and over every little bump. That is slow.

Got 38s Switching to 44s

The 40mm spectrum of "gravel" tires is a damn scam. The tread depth on them is just ridiculously shallow for any sort of longevity, I get about 1k miles on my rear riding 99% kitty litter/walking trail gravel on top of that the prices which are as much as my damn motorcycle tires and even a small car tire!!! I've been debating selling my Jamis Renegade, Salsa Fargo and Specialized Sirrus and getting a Bearclaw Beaux Jaxon. The Fargo can fit the fatties but the front triangle is just non existent for a half frame bag, the Jamis can fit a nice half frame bag but wont fit the fatties, the Beaux Jaxon can fit the fatties and has the same size front triangle as my Jamis. Really the only thing holding me back from immediately selling them all is that the Beaux Jaxon is internally routed for the rear brake and I hate that for hydro brakes, I weight 250lbs and theres no comparison between mechanical and hydraulic for my husky tail, I could always just velcro strap or tape the rear brake line externally but we shall see 😔

As said a couple times, why not use 650b wheels? That takes care of the overall diameter issue you are having.

Are you using custom bike? Can i have the details/geometry chart of your size, I'm making a custom bike, like to make sure I don't get the same problem.

Vitoria tires super fast rolling but grip is trash IMHO.. The profile is to round I find. I running Schwalbe Thunder Burts. Again, super fast grip not good but, I am not riding MTB.

Same here. Good analogy. You only want these 5% of the time. The pros too. Can’t run in the mud, anywhere with lots of climbing. Too many people are drinking the Kool-Aid on MTB tires. Sure they are fun and faster on dry big rocky gravel, but they are slower everywhere else

To ride bigger tires I bought a new bike. Marin dsx 2. Yes , it's a flat bar, but.... for some reason, geometry in Medium and Large is absolutely similar to the new Baum DBM.Maybe later, I will convert to the drop bar. Originall tires are 44 mm. Got new tires Vittoria Terreno dry 54mm. Tubeless. They roll like a charm. There are no issues with the frame. PS I'm thinking I'm done with a drop bar on gravel bike.

I run 650b with 2.1 Nano’s and have been pleased with its all around competence around where I live in the UP of Michigan…. But I always have thought a 29’er 2.1 would be the ultimate all rounder.