Challenge Grifo Tread Direction

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mr. President on November 27, 2008 at 7:55pm

Front tire have the chevrons (arrows/V) pointing forward. So when you look at the tire from on the bike you see an upside down V.

On the back I have heard that if you run it like the front you will roll faster, but in really sloppy conditions if you run it backwards you get more bite.

hope that made sense.

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Permalink Reply by John Osgood on November 28, 2008 at 6:21am

I had the same question when I got mine. The Prez is right. But unlike most tires on the market, the forward direction usually puts the manufacturers logo on the drive side of the bike. When you set these tires up like the Prez mentioned, this puts the logo on the non-drive side. When I was installing these at my local bike shop, the shop actually e-mailed Challenge to ask them what the correct direction was. Challenge's answer was -- You can mount them in either direction. Thus, looking around at local races. Most folks have both tires with the Chevrons pointing forward (including me), but I have seen some put the tread pattern pointing the other way on their rear tire to try and gain even better traction. My opinion -- if you think you need more traction from these Kick a$$ tires, then you might want to invest in a pair of Challenge Fango also.

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Permalink Reply by Echappe Equipment on December 1, 2008 at 7:40am

I mount all the rears facing backwards.

<--tread--[bike]--tread-->

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Permalink Reply by Kiwimark on December 2, 2008 at 8:27am

There's only one direction for the Grifos
If you put them on backwards then expect to ride backwards.
Once you begin to lean the bike or corner your traction will decrease.
If you want to improve the traction of the Grifo's try sipping

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Permalink Reply by Steve on December 2, 2008 at 10:03am

So, Kiwimark, you run the chevrons pointing forward > on the front and back, right?

What's sipping???

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Permalink Reply by Echappe Equipment on December 2, 2008 at 8:16pm

I set up the tires as per the guidance of Don from Challenge. My buddies on the NineBall team also set their wheels up this way.

And what is "sipping"?

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Permalink Reply by Frank on December 2, 2008 at 2:22pm

I run both forward. You get better braking in the rear as it acts like a scoop.

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Permalink Reply by Echappe Equipment on December 2, 2008 at 8:18pm

but, you can carry more speed without braking through a turn set up like I show above.

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