All-round clincher for Northeast/Midatlantic courses

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Permalink Reply by GeWilli on September 26, 2008 at 8:02am

easy answer Schwable Racing Ralph...

works well on the grass crits, does fine in loose dry dirt, rolls very well for a "knobbie" on pavement...
http://www.schwalbetires.com/racing_ralph_351_cx

pretty damn nice tires IMHO

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Permalink Reply by Ian Landau on September 26, 2008 at 8:34am

Thanks, GeWilli.

Hmmm, Andrew's review says the Ralph is similar to the old Michelin Mud 2. I actuall have a set of the green Muds. Maybe I should just run those? I'd always thought they were just for muddy courses though (I am so literal).

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Permalink Reply by erikv on September 26, 2008 at 9:10am

I've ridden with someone on the road who was riding those green muds. He was bombing down the road hitting the curves just as hard as we were with road tires. Afterwards, he said they rode on the pavement a lot better than he expected. Of course, they were inflated high, but I was impressed!

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Permalink Reply by Ian Landau on September 26, 2008 at 9:21am

And a thank you to you for that empirical evidence of the green muds prowess.

Anybody out there ridden the Kenda Kommandos? Andrew rated them highly and they seem to have the more traditional arrow/all-round tread?

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Permalink Reply by Mr. President on September 26, 2008 at 10:19am

I would also say the griffo clincher or the new fango clincher would be nice. Even in the clincher version the sidewalls are nicely supple.

I have an old pair that has very little life left, yet I seem to try and use these as much as possible.

The rubber is pretty soft for roots, rocks, and all the wonderfulness that cross brings us.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Mayhew on September 26, 2008 at 2:31pm

I second that. The Grifo will do well in all but the worst of mud (and I've even ridden it there, too). Once you're there you need real mud tires.

I'm telling my clients in the MABRA area to get the Grifos and run them all year. I suppose in the MAC you could run them till Nov or so.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on September 27, 2008 at 1:52pm

Last year I had great luck with the Vittoria EVO XG cross tire front and rear in the Midatlantic. It felt more versatile than the WTB Crosswolfs it replaced and probably a bit faster.

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Permalink Reply by GeWilli on September 29, 2008 at 9:08am

FWIW ralphs held great in the mud, no issue with traction this weekend... i sucked and the tires didn't...

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Permalink Reply by Surly Bastard on October 1, 2008 at 1:39pm

In clinchers: Michy Mud 2s. The best casing and tread for practically any surface cross can hand you.

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Permalink Reply by JMack on October 2, 2008 at 6:43am

Anyone have any thoughts on the Kenda Small Block 8?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Mayhew on October 2, 2008 at 7:14am

I haven't ridden it. The important thing is to look at how big the casing is compared to say a Michelin Mud. The tread doesn't look that great. Too many blocks to be a fast tire and spaced really closely so I don't think it would make a great mud tire. Let us know if you do end up riding them.

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