Gravel with mud
#1
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Gravel with mud
Added a portion to my (5.3 miles to 5.9 mile)s short ride today. On the addition, there is a very steep (about 14% grade) but very short section (about one fifth of a mile). It is usually just heavy gravel which made me think it would be a very hard accent. Well, I was not only correct but apparently the city laid a bunch of dirt on top of it and we got rain, making this section a gravely, muddy, and very slippery section. As I saw it approaching I almost turned back but thought what the heck...if I have to dismount so be it! It has been 9 years off the bike and I finally getting back on it so what does it matter, I gave it a go! I was begging for another gear but I had none! I was begging for the short climb to end, but it seemed an eternity,. I decided to come out of saddle and power up it and I made it! Huge success for my moral! As I topped the mud and gravel my smiles and joy were extinguished when I looked and saw the screw for my mount for my light had shaken lose and was somewhere in the mud.....I could have went back down but I thought better to go on rather than risk having to walk up after I managed to ride up climb!!!! Very pleased with new bike so far and the tires did great
All in all it was a great ride and now I have the baseline for that climb!!!!
Thanks for reading
rdf37
All in all it was a great ride and now I have the baseline for that climb!!!!
Thanks for reading
rdf37
Last edited by rdf37; 04-10-24 at 02:00 PM.
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What tires are you using?
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'
What makes one tire better than an other varies widely with how they are being used, and the preferences of the rider. For me, I want tires that roll pretty efficiently on pavement and hard dirt, and also handle well on singletrack and fast downhills when things are a little loose. I have stayed away from the Vittoria Terreno because they do not test very well for rolling resistance (even the smooth-center "Dry" model) compared with many other tires. I've tried a few different tire setups, and I found that a combination of a fast-rolling tire on the rear, and a grippier tire up front gives me the performance I'm looking for. Currently, I'm running Tufo Thundero 40 in the rear, and Tufo Swampero 40 on the front, and I love them for the kind of riding I do. I have also used a combination of the Pirelli Gravel H and M, and liked it a lot, too. I did not care for the Challenge Getaway Pro (light and fast, but vague handling and fragile) or the IRC Doublecross (good handling and durable, but heavy and slow). For a recent muddy event, I used Pirelli Ms on both ends, and it was really good when rear traction was slippery, at the cost of a little bit of rolling efficiency on the paved segments. All that said, my preferences, reasons, and the way I want my bike to perform might be totally different than yours.
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I'm one of those weirdos who tries lots of different options, mostly because I like expanding my personal knowledge base, but also in the hunt for improved performance for the kind of riding and racing I like to do. I've been running 40s, but there has been a lot of noise about the advantages of wider tires for gravel racing that has grabbed my curiosity, so I have a pair of Tufo Thundero 48s on the way to me to give it a try and see if it makes sense for me.
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