Boerd

Jofu

Dean V

If you are riding up and down Mt Diablo a lot (several times a week), wet and dry, and not much else I would get the Heds. If you are riding all over the place and up and down Mt Diablo less frequently get the Mavics.

Boerd

f4rrest

Me too, so I got the hed 24/28 tubulars. Safer in a blowout.

Boerd

Cyclist0108

I have no experience with your carbon option, but I have the Chris King/Hed wheels (disc version, with 28/28). They are outstanding wheels, and Chris King really stands behind their builds. (I broke a spoke when my wife's bike fell on it, and they re-built and shipped the wheel for me, free, even out of the warranty period). I would not hesitate to buy from them again. The hubs and rims are both of outstanding quality, and very good value.

f4rrest

Vittoria mastik one.

There's a Univ of Kentucky PhD who published research a number if years ago showing the tape vs. glue result, what's the best glue process, how heat affects bond strength, etc. You can find the PDFs using Google.

I won't be dragging the brakes.

MattyMurdah

Carbon brake tracks are thicker w/ tubular rims because they don't need to build hooks for the bead which can greatly reduce the risk of a blowout. Or so I hear. Haven't ever heard of the heat affecting glue.

Isn't the Diablo climb super boring? (No tree cover and basically up and then just back down). You should get over to Mt. Tam more often .

Jofu

LOL... Tough crowd I personally like it a lot, as I do Mt Hamilton, Mt Tam and many other local climbs! I usually do Mt Hamilton due to proximity, but I wouldn't complain if I was "stuck" with Mt Diablo


Geoff

Seattle Forrest

Tree cover = limited visibility. ("The view is the trees.") No tree cover = view of surrounding mountains, cities, etc. ("I can see for miles and miles...") I tend to think of being in the trees as boring and the real fun begins when you get above them. But then I live in Seattle, it's a rainforest around here, they say "you've seen 100,000 Doug firs, you've seen them all."

Boerd

Dean V

Tubulars melting glue. Blowing out clinchers. Melting carbon rims. I have never ridden Mt Diablo but in the weekend the roadside must be littered with broken wheels/ bikes, and riders.
I suggest you change the spec of the bike you have ordered to disc brakes and fit 203mm vented rotors with 4 piston callipers.

Boerd

It's like that every day (not only weekend)! People wear bomb-squad type suits and before descending from the top you have to show your signed (and legalized) will to the guy at the kiosk (clearly state who gets the front wheel, rear wheel, the frame, etc.)

Seattle Forrest

The worst kinds of anxieties - the hardest ones to shake - are the ones that start with a grain of truth. No one ever goes hiking and worries about being mauled by a cow. Everybody is worried about bears. People ride bikes up and down mountains all the time, but people do blow tires out occasionally and whatnot.

f4rrest

What surprised me was a recent thread that got onto the topic of high speed flats and resulting crashes. A number of high mileage riders experienced it firsthand.

If you do a lot of riding, it's something to consider.

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Noctilux.95

Why not tubeless clinchers?

Boerd

Well worded! Just for kicks - another thing that can happen on Mt Diablo is to run over a snake in the spring! Twice I was inch close to it while descending . I imagine you can sleep on it and fall - maybe even get bitten if it is a poisonous one. TBH - the only ones I saw were the garden type snakes.

Seattle Forrest

@Boerd

I saw a snake yesterday morning, in the dock at a floating cabin. Probably looking for frogs. I "ran into" a rattler on a ride a few years ago, the road went gravel and sort of vanished in this wet grassland, I was doing ok on 28 mm tires until it got too muddy to roll. Stepped off the bike, started pushing, just as it dries up, I heard a rattle. It's amazing how you can react before you have any idea what you're reacting to, I leapt back away from it immediately. It wasn't interested in biting though, just working on its tan and being left alone.

Couple weeks ago I took my gravel bike up a gated double track road and a yearling bear ambled across the road ~25 feet in front of me. It looked happy and lumbering until it saw me, then obviously startled and ran from me.

Seattle Forrest

I'm riding tubeless clinchers, nominal 28 mm on wide rims that stretch them out to 33 mm. So I'm running them at low pressure, like 60 psi, a little higher if I'm not going to leave the pavement. My last tire went 1,200 miles without a flat, until a cut literally destroyed the tire. I've ridden over plenty of broken glass. At low pressure, the sealant protects you from small punctures.

But I think we're talking about skinny 23 or 25 mm tires here. At higher pressure, the sealant is going to get pushed out until the tire is too soft to ride.

There's some drawback to tubeless, like a really limited selection of (mostly more expensive) tires, which are a ***** to seat. The skinnier your tires get, the less you get back in exchange.

Boerd

That IS an option. At 90 PSI the boiling temperature for water is around 160C which is around 320F - that is pretty high. This means the solution inside will do just fine up to the most extreme, and at that point you're in trouble anyway. The water / latex based liquid will also increase volume a lot less than the air it displaces - another good thing.
If I get the Mavics I think I'll run them tubeless.
As @Seattle Forrest pointed out you trade tire selection and possible tire quality - no more Conti 4000 II s in that case.

Seattle Forrest

If you go tubeless, get Pro Ones, or IRC RBCC. (Tires.)

Boerd

While those tires seem very good, I heard horror stories about the degree of difficulty to mount them on this specific Mavic wheel. I might be tempted to stick with Mavic Yksion Pro as they now make them in France (no more Taiwan) and the compound got very good reviews. The only drawback I heard of is short lifespan - they wear out easily. I'm willing to replace them at a higher frequency (and obviously higher cost).

Seattle Forrest

Yeah, they're a pain. But that guarantees a tight seal, no air leaking out during aggressive corners, etc.

Munk69

I have the Pro Carbon UST. The brake track is one of the best parts about the wheel. The braking is very strong and predicable. I would wager they brake as good as alloy in both wet and dry conditions.