Pirelli sponsorship for this round of advertorials (going back to last year) has introduced significant noise into the data. Their line of lightweight to demi-balloon road slicks features modern advancements in compound but not in construction with the largest tire size much thicker than the narrowest - opposite best practice.
Jan has made the fastest tires but performs some of the worst experiments. Ronan has performed a series of very good experiments except he failed to account for a significant variable and doesnāt address it at all. Which makes me question the value of those experiments?
Pirelli told his this, or he assumed it himself, but itās not true.
It was about taking a single, (mostly) consistent tyre family and using it to stress-test our test protocol.
P Zero 40: 3.6mm thick
P Zero 35: 3.4mm thick
P Zero 32: 3.2mm thick
Consistency in the wrong direction for the conclusions he is attempting to reach. Escape Collective makes articles for ādata nerdsā of each flavor - the kind who skim the article and unquestioningly internalize the high points to craft their worldview, and the kind who skim the comments to find strong oppositional signals from other authoritative voices to reinforce what they already know against the point of the article.
Really, weāve already crossed the threshold into a form of Tire Academia. Everything thatās relevant to tires can be found on Bicycle Rolling Resistance, all other published works are about capturing further available salary and revenue for individual and organization.
Both of these are equally useful, one easily justifies the $9 a year for further access. The other is forced into increasing complexity to justify a cost 10x as much.
ATMO thereās a place for lab testing and testing on the road. Being able to test a tire as a part of the āwhole packageā while outside has value just like being able to look purely at rolling resistance on a fixed drum is worthwhile. Saying that BRR is the be-all of tire testing and everyone else is just cashing in seems kinda cynical here.
Ronanās process seems pretty thorough , and Iām not sure thereās any other tire family that spans that size range with the same tread?
I donāt think it matters so much that the first set of tires he chose have this weird inconsistency across the size range. I wouldnāt put much faith in any sweeping generalizations about tire size, or pressure, or anything else if the source was one test, or one brand, or model of tire.
The point of the exercise, as I understood it, was to demonstrate a testing procedure that would let him compare tires tested on different days, in different weather, etc. I think he did a good job there, but the real payoff will come after heās tested more tires.
BRRās drum tests are great for what they are, but thereās always been a question about how much they carry over to a real road surface. And even if the drum was a perfect stand-in for riding on a real road, having those tests be replicated and confirmed is valuable.
Now that you mention it, youāre right. We didnāt see many dogs and I would have expected many. Cornelia said itās probably because of rattle snakes. Folks donāt let their dogs run around in this area. Itās trails on a ridgeline between Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano in Orange County.
Have a new āexperimentā of sorts to try in 2026. After years of 650x48 drop-bar ride data for my ~45min commute, Iāve learned thereās a ~5min range for same perceived effort, depending on where Iām at on the fitness spectrum. Am now going to try the same with alt-bars + 29x2.4 new Contiās. Itās a 90% paved route.
Thesis: modern XC 2.4s roll so well that, unless racing or doing endurance/rando distances, the efficiency benefits of sub 50cc rubber arenāt worth the trade-off. Just get the comfort for shitty asphalt and mild singletrack and call it good as your fitness will make as much difference as the rubber choice.
Sure, you can be an underbike heathen as much as you like, but what if youāre the person who is one-bike curious (gasp) and could care less about event cycling?
Iām not smart or anything on this idea - thereās timed event people saying the big meats donāt give up much in the gravel sphere too. Thatās fine for racer vs racer - but what does it mean for Joe Schmoe with a pannier or lunch bag out on the weekend?
Yeah I think the vast majority of people are under-tired. Especially, like you said, how fast Thunder Burts, Rick XC, Dubnitals, etc. are, you may as well run them unless youāre doing some fast cornering on paved roads and need the traction.
There was a time when Mondials, Marthons, Big Apples and other stiff & heavy options were the deal, even for pricey tires. So I get why the precedent landed us here, and why Jan did so well in the face of it. But now weāre awash in smarter optionsā¦and need to adjust.
well interestingly, I did a sprint race with my friend during an overnighterā¦ for fun
Flat road
fully paved
800 meters
Him: Canyon Exceed
29 2.35 XC / 32T CR
Me: Hunter Ditherer
650b 2.1 ThunderBurt / 46T CR
He took the initial lead by 4 seconds. Then I gapped and took the win. My theory is wheel size and tyre pattern donāt matter as much as power output / what chainring youāre running. Then again this was 4 years ago and Iām in my slow and dithery summer and maybe itās a combination of things that add up
