I’m thinking of trying Schwalbe as an alternative to FMB fat road tubs.
This:
Or this:
Any thoughts?
[quote=DDYTDY][quote=lukasz]Got to the beach yesterday and looked down at my bike to see this:
Radial tire patches are boughten. I also ordered a new tire from Compass but no way it’ll get here in time for d2r2. Sigh.[/quote]
What size? I have a 38, a 32 and I think a 30
Edit: oh you’ll have a tire? PM me and I can bring of all fails. Or, Harris stocks them.[/quote]
It’s all good. These are 48 maaannn
Are compass tires really worth it though? Seems like dudes are getting <1000kms before major sidewalk fuckage. I mean, yes, there are exactly 2? 3? At 650x48 but cmon
Sure, if you don’t ruin them beyond repair. I put >5000mi on a rear Babyshoe before wearing thru tread; front tire was still looking fresh. The rear tire suffered a sidewall cut in the first 100mi, so I stitched it and used it for 2 years.
[quote=lukasz]Got to the beach yesterday and looked down at my bike to see this:
Radial tire patches are boughten. I also ordered a new tire from Compass but no way it’ll get here in time for d2r2. Sigh.[/quote]
Looks like you need somea this:
Does that shit work on the bubonic plague?
Mig I’ve never worn through the tread on a pair of these. I ride stupid shit with EL tires and deserve the sidewall fuckage. I rode that one from near the beach at the southern end of brooklyn to my place at the northern end of brooklyn (10-12 miles?) on 5 psi on Sunday night. I’m torturing these things.
After experimenting with pari-motos I think compass tires are worth it. Performance-wise they were very similar (light and sos upple) but I wore through two pari-motos on the rear while an old babyshoe EL on the front is still going strong(ish.) Now I know a rear tire takes a lot more abuse, especially for a skidding enthusiast like myself, but the babbyshoe they replaced lasted longer than both pari’s combined.
Sometimes sidewall tears are bad luck but they can generally be avoided by you know … not aiming at sharp rocks and shit.
Absent a major sidewall tear the extra $$$ up front seems to be worth it. For comparison, the pari motos are ~40-50% of the price but only last 30-40% as long as the compass tires. I’m about to order two new babbyshoe ELs actually 'cause I want two fresh&new tubless setups for my 600k attempt in a couple of weeks (and hopefully no flats!) (wood knocked)
That’s not a particularly helpful review. You should get two rears for one front, that’s pretty normal for any tire. And then you admit that you’re a “skid enthusiast”, which means you effectively abused the rear tire. Of course it failed well in advance of the front.
also, 3+5 is not knuckle-able.
SOST UPID
BABBYSHOO standard down and dirty review:
Installed these rubbers later winter iirc. Set up tubeless on AC101 rims in a snap with 2 plies of yellow tape. Used stans.
Initial reactions: Dang these feel better than the 630 gram Soma Grando blues. No shit amirite?
More importantly… pretty sure these are faster than the Hutchinson Sector 28s.
Started commuting with some light yoloing. Feels goodman.
Took them on some bumpy rocky forest service roads… on the fine crushed stuff was nice. Got bounced all over the baby fist sized stuff. Hit something hard enough on the tread to put a hole in them that actually split a few chords in the casing. Stands did its job. Within a few days that area started to blister from the weakened casing. Pull it… cleaned it out… installed a park glue on patch inside the casing. Used copious glue and set it in place with a tube at 60 psi for 1 hr. Reinstalled with Stan’s all good. Blister almost invisible. This was all in the first 500 miles I guess.
Over the next 1500 miles put two more holes in the tread. Patched. Reinstalled.
All in all the tires were mounted and unmounted 6 times between checking sealant, patching holes, and dithering over putting new (slightly undersized) tire on.
After a tad over 2000m things are getting rough. Tread is worn. Sidewalls are weeping more and pressure drop is going from <5psi overnight to >10psi overnight. Last time installing the tire put it to 60 to seat… tire blew off. Was a moron and didn’t take that as a warning. Reinstalled and commenced yolo trip to FBM headquarters.
Blew tire of the rim at somewhere around 50psi going downhill in a turn. Luckily not going ham. Hitting my ass on the pavement at 12mph from a slide out sucked but could have been far worse.
Takeway:
Lifespan: <2000 miles rear. Probs twice that for a front. I don’t know who is getting much more than 2000 miles on a rear. Maybe with a tube? But at 2000 this tire was donzeo and should have been replaced.
Pros: sosu pple. Not that expensive compared to fancy pants racing tires. Rolls fast. Works tubeless well with AC101 rim and WTB KOM (KOM requires more tape though. 3-4 plies seems to be the norm for easy setup with any Panaracer made stuff, including SBH and BJP and their “tubeless” bead). At 155lbs naked I I found arond 50psi seemed to be the ideal pressure for mostly paved rides. Under 40 feelsbadman. Seems to be the sweet spot weight wise for a 650bx42 that is a legit fast tire without being flimsy like Grando green or the sl pacenti.
Cons: dreaded sidewall cuts are to be feared. Expect patch it at least once if getting wild on anything more gnar than fine crushed gravel/dirt. Every time you take the tire off it’s like burning a match if tubeless. That bead is stretching.
Would I use them again? Yes. But not as daily driver/yolo rubbers. The heavier (and slower) WTB “regular ass tires” are proving to be a much better option if durability and reliability is trumping speed/feel. If I’m going to do a fast 200k with fast bros and some gravel these will go back on for sure. They also absolutely shined on the C&O. Did a fastish solo ride from DC to great falls and back and they positively ripped on that surface. If I end up doing this crazy no stop Pittsburg to DC thing in the fall will run these for sure.
Also… as for WTB Horizon and Exposure…
I have had the Horizons on for a fe weeks now.
Initial thoughts… well they aint fast. But I’m not really going to worry about them. Tubeless set up was easy af. Used orange seal this time. Pressure drop seems a little fast. Not sure if tires or sealant. Need to flush out one and run with stans to compare head to head.
Tread is THICK. Fully expect to get a ton more miles out of these than Compass jawns. Running around 40 psi seems good to me. When they drop under 30 they feel way to bouncy and I don’t feel any improvement in corner grip for the hassle. Speaking of grip… rubber compound seems good. Rain or shine they feel predictable at speed on pavement. Off road… well they are a slick but at 47mm they do pretty OK as long as its not Richmond’s dreaded greasy mud.
Pros: “regular ass tires” easy to set up. durable so far. “better enough” efficiency.
Cons: Heavy. Not “fast”. Pressure drop a little high… tbd if this is the tire or sealant though.
WTB Exposure 700x30. Just finally rode these for the first time home tonight on new 700c wheels with the dynamo light turned off. Feels real good. Started at around 70 psi. Rolls fast. A little squishy without feeling bouncy. No hard cornering or off road riding yet but felt good in the turns so far. Far better than the Hutchinson Sector 28s they replaced.
Pros so far: Fast. Comfortable. Compound so far so good… Tubeless setup was easy. At MSRP price is VERY low compared to Hutchinson. Not quite in Specialized turf but these seem like a better made tire than the Roubaix so meh…whatevs.
Cons: Only beef so far is that if completely deflated the bead eventually unlocks from the rim. These are on the newer DT Swiss tubeless road rims though so I think the rim is more to blame than the tire. Still… would be nice if they stayed locked. Probably makes zero difference in safety when inflated… but its one of those back of the mind issues that will bug me. Also… set up fine with 2 plies of tape. Went to 4 to see if the fit was any tighter… didnt seem to make difference. They probably work perfect on a i21 or i23 TCS rim though so the joke is on me for using the DT rims in all probability.
Durability and performance in the wet are complete unknowns for now.
Doing a night time 200k this Thursday and we might get some rain so testing rubber in the wet may happen soon.
Thanks for that
I got some of them horizons to put on a dailybike
Braden, what’s your take on horizon vs blue label? feels odd comparing the two but tubeless “road plus” is still pretty fresh. I snagged some horizons when q had them and until I have a bike to put them on I just wanna hear about em.
Jan is a legit nut and weighs 10lbs more and you’re up in his ballpark
I just did a big 3.5 day ride with lots of alpine singletrack / scree field rockgardens / hucking my bike / ribbons of loam / floating over root-heaved pavement on twisty one-lane roads at 45mph in the dark. I weigh 10lbs less than you but my bike was over 40lbs for much of it.
I just measured both my Horizons at 14.5psi, my rear started with more in it but I had let some out
I did hit my rims landing on rocks a few times, but there is a LOT MORE grip there if you halved your pressure and learned how to take advantage
What tubless 700x~40mm slicks should I put on the new wheelset I’m building for my Shawver?
I don’t doubt pressure well under 40 feels good off road. The vast majority of riding I have done on the horizons so far has been pavement or mixed rides with largely hardpack groomed dirt/gravel. The minimal single track was for sure not ideal at 40. That being said we’re just not going to see eye to eye on pressures where smacking a rim is happening. I just don’t like the way any bike tracks at that level. On 2.25 trail tires I’m not going under 20. All that squirm sux imo. To each their own.
Rusty… Maxxis refuse TLR. Hands down current best in class if you favor durability over being so supple.
Thanks Braden. That’s what I was thinking.
The Refuse rides like shit with tubes, but feels much better tubeless.
I’ve only ridden it tubeless. No complaints with the 45s on my Soma.
The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it
Jan still believes knobs are an industry conspiracy outside of mud conditions, goes and makes a historical reenactment cyclocross tire but with broad untapered knobs, a tightly-spaced center tread, and corner tread that’s fucking sideways