Originally Posted by
Bad Lag
At over $70 per tire, at the very least, I am going to mount them and see how they look.
What a DUMB mistake I made.
I went searching for replacements last night and it turns out Challenge has changed something. The Paris-Roubaix is now 30 mm wide and rated for only 50-75 psi. My existing Parigi-Roubaix rear tire is listed as 28 mm (measures 29mm) and I regularly pump it to 110-120 psi. The Strada tire is listed at higher pressure but still a bit lower than before. Your Parigi-Roubaix 28mm rear tire would be fine at about 70ish psi depending on your body weight. If you are not running these Challenge tires with latex tubes - you’re missing out on a plush ride.
The rear has a light grey stripe, the front is a Schwalbe One with a white stripe. I wore out the rear Schwalbe and this Michelin Pro 4 Endurance with the grey stripe was a close match. But for my next set I would like to spec some full on whitewalls!
Is this just a marketing ploy to cater to the low pressure fad that's so prevalent now or is the tire different?
Not a fad! Nice, wide “open tubular” high thread count tires like that give a much better ride at lower pressures in my opinion. Especially recommended is pairing these with latex tubes. I weigh ~190 to 195# and I run 25’s with latex tubes at about 72-79 front and 74-85 rear. Perfectly fast at this pressure and a much less punishing ride.
I will repeat the request for a link or a picture of the “whitewalls”. I personally think white walls look great in the right application such as polished rims which I run on my aluminum Flyte SRS-2.