Ask the experts

[Andeh]

Agreed on plus being a really bad fad, and tires like pizza toppings. Pick a width and be a dick about it! Some might say 2.6 is like the pineapple on pizza argument.

As a fan of Hawaiian pizza, I feel triggered by the comparison to plus tires.

[simple]

2.6 isn't plus right? We just got away with the marketing people assigning a name to them. Kept it numeric just like it ought to be. I've got a larger moto tire than standard. Shinko calls it a Fat Tyre. Its okay, pushes a little in corners.

[climberevan]

I thought plus was 3.0. Maybe 2.8. We enjoy our 29+ bikes for bikepacking and occasional slow trail rides. My GF likes her 2.6 in front of her regular bike, but I prefer the sharper handling of 2.4. Any extra helps in sand, though.

The OG moto fatty is the Goldentyre 216, which is excellent and spawned the knockoffs like the Shinko. It's not as quick turning but the confidence and stability make it worth it for me.

[rideit]

My OG was a 3.0 Gazzalodi on a 24" Sun Double wide rim...

[J. Barron DeJong]

My OG was a 3.0 Gazzalodi on a 24" Sun Double wide rim...

This belongs in the ‘The 00’s’ thread.

[Thaleia]

If you're not tired of tire size talk..

My Giant Contend AR has stock 700x32C (34mm) tires. I would like to go up to a wider gravel style tire. Per Giants site the widest I can fit is 38mm.

Does anyone have any budget friendly tubeless tire recommendations for 38mm and or favourite online shop?

(my local LBS shut down, the next closest has next to nothing in stock, the third closest have turned sovereign citizen and anti vaxx nuts so I avoid at all costs, the fourth closest sold me a bike with gears completely out of wack so I'd prefer to avoid.. etc)

[singlesline]

My 27.5+ hardtail has 2.8" maxxis rekon+ and those allegedly only measure like 2.7".

I see the point of introducing the "plus" word (especially when 2.5 and 2.6 weren't popular)...you needed frames/forks with more clearance, you ran 35mm or 40mm rims, and you might design the frame with more BB drop since the tires make it ride so much higher. And at the start the plus bikes seemed to be running 3 or even 3.2" tires, so compared to a 2.35, I could see giving that a different word between "fat" and "normal"

But yeah, people realized 3" wasn't enough for the benefits of a fat bike but was too much tire otherwise, so you drop down to 2.8 to save some of the tradeoffs. But at that point, you can get 90% of the benefits with even less tradeoffs if you just go down to 2.6 which you can fit on far more bikes and more normal width rims.

My wife likes pineapple on pizza and her new bike came stock with 2.6" tires. Coincidence? I think not.

[singlesline]

If you're not tired of tire size talk..

My Giant Contend AR has stock 700x32C (34mm) tires. I would like to go up to a wider gravel style tire. Per Giants site the widest I can fit is 38mm.

Does anyone have any budget friendly tubeless tire recommendations for 38mm and or favourite online shop?

(my local LBS shut down, the next closest has next to nothing in stock, the third closest have turned sovereign citizen and anti vaxx nuts so I avoid at all costs, the fourth closest sold me a bike with gears completely out of wack so I'd prefer to avoid.. etc)

I played the "will it fit" game with a ton of tires off amazon on a custom steel CX bike that I wanted gravel tires for. You might want to do the same as these tires don't seem all that accurately measured. Additionally, depending on what part of the frame creates the clearance issue, you might be able to fit tires at 40 or even 42 (e.g. if your clearance is more about width vs height, the layout of the knobs can make a big difference.
I had "small" tires that didn't fit and "large" tires that cleared my stays.

I ended up with WTB Riddler 700x37--price seems to have gone up a bit but they are pretty solid. Not dirt cheap, but not $70-80 tires either. Amazon and Bike Tires Direct both have them for $58.

[rideit]

I am a big fan of the Panaracer Gravel King SK, in both 38 and 35. (I haven’t tried the 42) It has an inverted tread, so still rolls really fast on pavement, but has enough tread for some dirt, if it’s not too loose and/or deep.
I did Around The Rock on them, and they were the perfect tire for that amount of road, gravel, and climbing.



https://www.fitzgeraldsbicycles.com/.../aroundtherock

[MagnificentUnicorn]

If you're not tired of tire size talk..

My Giant Contend AR has stock 700x32C (34mm) tires. I would like to go up to a wider gravel style tire. Per Giants site the widest I can fit is 38mm.

Does anyone have any budget friendly tubelessea tire recommendations for 38mm and or favourite online shop?

(my local LBS shut down, the next closest has next to nothing in stock, the third closest have turned sovereign citizen and anti vaxx nuts so I avoid at all costs, the fourth closest sold me a bike with gears completely out of wack so I'd prefer to avoid.. etc)

I really like the Schwalbe G One tires. The two higher end casings are sweet. I’m running some 700x50s on my Atlantis


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[GeorgiaSnow]

I need someone who knows AXS.
I have a bike with a rear derailleur: SRAM Force eTap AXS 33 and 36T front ring.
I need to make it a gravel climber type bike. was hoping for a 10-44 matched to a 42t or 40T.
What are my AXS options?
-A Red/Force/Rival 36T rear derailleur, and match it to a the same 36T front, for a 1:1 climbing ratio, but only a 10:36 top gear?
- A Red/Force/Rival XPLR 44T rear derailleur and a bigger 42T up front?

Can I put a MTB 50 AXS derailleur and cassette on it, do i need to run a MTB specific chainring too?

So much tire talk. I think this is why there is a separate tire thread.

I’m planning on doing a sram AXS Brifter paired to a mountain derailleur. It is officially endorsed on their website but I’m not sure what it feels like as I haven’t been on one yet. I believe you don’t need a mtn specific chainring to run sram’s mtn chain/derailleur. But wolftooth does make some options that would work with various sram cranks if you felt like the drop stop works better than the road ring for chain retention. I need some serious granny gears where I am but was hooping to avoid a front derailleur so I’m very interested. Going to try it out once the gravel bike is built and if I don’t like it I’ll make one of the mtn bikes AXS and just go xplr or standard road derailleur with a front derailleur.

[Dee Hubbs]

I’m planning on doing a sram AXS Brifter paired to a mountain derailleur. It is officially endorsed on their website but I’m not sure what it feels like as I haven’t been on one yet. I believe you don’t need a mtn specific chainring to run sram’s mtn chain/derailleur. But wolftooth does make some options that would work with various sram cranks if you felt like the drop stop works better than the road ring for chain retention. I need some serious granny gears where I am but was hooping to avoid a front derailleur so I’m very interested. Going to try it out once the gravel bike is built and if I don’t like it I’ll make one of the mtn bikes AXS and just go xplr or standard road derailleur with a front derailleur.

I tracked down a AXS XPLR rear derailleur and a 10-44 cassette, a SRAM 40T front chainring, and a new flattop chain.
I'll go to the tire thread to discuss the 38C Cannonballs I'm going to put on it.

FYI I will have a 33t AXS RD and 10-33 cassette if you're looking for a road set up.

[Thaleia]

Sincere thanks for the gravel tire recommendations, helps a ton.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

FS camping near Kellogg? Drive up Old River Road?

I have camped in the Silver lot many times, but heading over next weekend with the lady friend to volunteer at NAEC since I can't race. Looking for a quieter place to camp in the GFC not too far from the mountain.

[bagtagley]

I like a semi slick on the gravel, something with a little bit of shoulder knob on it. I’ve been happy with the Kenda Happy Medium and the WTB Riddler.

[toast2266]

FS camping near Kellogg? Drive up Old River Road?

I have camped in the Silver lot many times, but heading over next weekend with the lady friend to volunteer at NAEC since I can't race. Looking for a quieter place to camp in the GFC not too far from the mountain.

I've camped up random roads in that area a couple times. It was always pretty sketchy. Lots of meth-y traffic at all hours of the night. I think one weekend a guy got murdered in the area we camped a couple days later.

We just camp in the parking lot now.

[Falcon3]

FS camping near Kellogg? Drive up Old River Road?

I have camped in the Silver lot many times, but heading over next weekend with the lady friend to volunteer at NAEC since I can't race. Looking for a quieter place to camp in the GFC not too far from the mountain.

Kellogg is definitely sketch in the wrong places. And you’re never 100% sure if you pull off into the dirt if you’re parked on a pile of toxic mining tailings


I’d be tempted to camp up in the Lookout Pass area- resort is shut down and summer ops haven’t started yet. Might be enough melt off to take the road down from the resort up to the base of St Regis Basin which is a great area.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Hmm ok good to know.

[MegaStoke]

Has anyone here tried SRAM HS2 rotors in Shimano 4-piston brakes? Im trying to run a centerlock 220mm up front, and these rotors are available but I’m a bit concerned about pad clearance.

[VTskibum]

Have run SRAM rotors in Shimano 4 pistons for most of past 6 months on m HT, works decently. Can't necessarily say it's as good as matching, but have ridden it that way in plenty of demanding trail scenarios and never thought twice of it.

[MegaStoke]

Oh yeah I know regular SRAM rotors work fine in Shimanos. I’m specifically asking about their new thicker rotors, the HS2, which are 0.2mm thicker than stock Shimano rotors.

[VTskibum]

Ah gotcha wasn't aware, I'm sure braintrust here has a better answer than me.

On plus topic, also am a fan of Hawaiian. Put a proper 29 XC setup Ardent 2.4 F/Ardent Race 2.35 R on my hardtail yesterday and it was noticeably less comfortable than the 27.5x2.8 Rekon/Ikon setup on previous. Can't say it was actually faster as I was riding with kids so no go-fast efforts.

[summit]

350’s will be traditional Star Ratchet with a 36t.
The new 350 is basically the same as the old 240.
Only the new 240s and 180s have the new EXP, meaning the inner ratchet screwed into the hub, with only the outer ring floating.

Got it.

But will the new 350 FH interchange with the new 240 FH?

[Dee Hubbs]

Got it.

But will the new 350 FH interchange with the new 240 FH?

Yes, or maybe...?
Last night I pulled a 240 EXP freehub off, and put on and old style 240/350 star ratchet freehub (with matching teeth numbers).
The fitment seemed okay, and it it spun freely.
I have not installed a cassette, or test ridden, I was just looking at fitment, and comparing flanges and seals.

When buying a new freehub, they are all the same and "compatible with: 440, 350, 240s, 180, and 190 model hubs
The only exception is the Straight pull MTB hubs cannot be converted for use with 11 speed road cassettes. Cassette will touch flange."

[Andeh]

Has anyone here tried SRAM HS2 rotors in Shimano 4-piston brakes? Im trying to run a centerlock 220mm up front, and these rotors are available but I’m a bit concerned about pad clearance.

One of my buddies is running HS2s with XTRs. Specifically 203mm version. He tried the 220 up front but was getting a weird resonant sound that went away with a 203. Not sure if that was due to an incompatibility, him glazing the rotors, or something else. My guess would be that he didn't get them properly bedded in and glazed them (larger / thicker = harder to heat up, probably didn't get good pad material transfer).