Looking for D2R2 tire suggestions

[Joe B.]

I'm thinking about riding the D2R2 populaire August 23 in
Massachusettes of which 70 percent of the ride will take place on hard
pack dirt roads. Can anybody recommend a 700C tire?

I'll be riding a cyclocross type bicycle. Limiting the tire size will
not be the frame but rather the rim: Mavic Open pro.
Mavic states maximum width to be 28mm. My bike shop says that is
conservative so I'm thinking 32.

Is 32 wide enough to do the ride comfortably?

Anybody have any experience with this rim and a wider than 32 tire?

Would a smooth tread be OK or should I look for a knobby / smooth
combination tire?

Anyone have a specific brand / model they want to recommend?


Joe "I don't want to buy new rims" Brown

[Joe B.]

[Charles Coldwell]

On Fri, 8 Aug 2008, Joe B. wrote:

> Is 32 wide enough to do the ride comfortably?

I've done it on 28s. It was fine.

It's a great ride, BTW. If you like that, you should also try Don's
Great River Ride. GRR is all on paved roads, but similar scenery.

--
Charles M. Coldwell, W1CMC
"Turn on, log in, tune out"
Somerville, Massachusetts, New England (FN42kj)

GPG ID: 852E052F
GPG FPR: 77E5 2B51 4907 F08A 7E92 DE80 AFA9 9A8F 852E 052F

[DrCodfish]

Joe B said:

"Anybody have any experience with this rim and a wider than 32 tire?"

That would be me. I'm on OP rims, currently riding the Rivendell Jack
Brown tires which are apparently 33.3 mm. Before that I rode mostly
25 and 28 mm Conti 4 seasons Gatorskins, and Panaracer Paselas 28 and
32mm, and six months on the Gran Bois, I think they were 30 or 32mm.
I never had any problem with any of these tires matching up with OP
rims. I am particularly happy with the Jack Browns. I keep thinking
I don't have all that much mileage on them, but I put them on not long
after PBP last year (which I rode on the Gran Bois (had only one flat
there) and so I must have better than a couple thousand miles on them
by now. Zero problems, no flats in a time and location when I might
have expected at least one flat. I ride these at between 75 and 85
psi or so. Very comfy and as noted pretty much trouble free so far.

"Is 32 wide enough to do the ride comfortably?"

Definitely, if you are currently on 23's or 25's you will notice a
significant difference, you won't want to go back I bet. Especially
if you can resist the temptation to overinflate whatever tire you put
on. Recommendation here: Think of max pressure as MAXIMUM, not
recommended, or minimum. Inflate your tires between max and min, It's
hard to do at first, but you'll be glad you did.

"Would a smooth tread be OK or should I look for a knobby / smooth
combination tire?"

You said hard pack. If it truly is hard pack, and you are not going
to be doing too much steep climbing I don't think you need much
tread. If it is loose and if you will be going up some steep pitches
a little more tread is helpful. What's the weather predicted, any
precip? Wet can make traction a little harder to find. Unless you
are on serious rough loose stuff I don't think a 'knobby' will be
needed, But as I recall, the Pasella offers a little more tread on the
outside of the tire which could be helpful if you will be bombing
corners. I have these on the tandem and the single speed. Here
again, less pressure will help you on these surfaces.

"Anyone have a specific brand / model they want to recommend?"

Of the tires I mentioned earlier I would say:
The Conti's are least likely to give you flats, and probably afford
you the least gain in comfort
The Paselas are probably a little more flat prone but offer tread that
could help if your surface is loose - they are more comfy
The Gran Bois will likely be the most cofortable but in my experience,
the most likely to give to you flat problems, especially on unsurfaced
roads
JB's with almost no tread might be a little loosy goosy if your
surface is more gravel or your climbing steep, but they should be fine
on hard pack. They seem to offer good flat protection. We have a 300K
here called 3 Volcanos that has a short stretch of gravel and I was
planning to ride it with the JB's,but the roads closed due to snow and
winter storm damage so the ride is off (dang!) BTW they come in two
varieties, I'm currently on the ones that are more flat proof (blue).
If and when they ever wear out I'm going to get a pair of the more
supple version (green).

Sounds like a fun ride, wish I could be there with you.

Yr Pal Dr Codfish

[Randon Nerd]

Joe -

Not that I'd recommend them for the D2R2 I run the Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 700CX35mm tires on Mavic Open Pro rims from November through April on my commuter bike and on the "off season" I use 32MM 'dillos.  As mentioned in the "arts and Leisure section of the NYTimes - the 'dillos don't go on the rim all that easy (I don't use tire tools) but once they are on one doesn't ever need to take them off to repair flats ... which is also a benefit of the Nokians, as well until the studs break through the inner casing of the tire - around 5-6,000 miles.

RN

[pamela blalock]

-----Original Message-----
From: ran...@googlegroups.com [mailto:ran...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
DrCodfish
<<<
If it truly is hard pack, and you are not going
to be doing too much steep climbing I don't think you need much
tread
>>>

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

D2R2 - not much steep climbing...

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

D2R2 is all about steep climbing. The dirt roads in Vermont tend to be quite
smooth thanks to special treatment sprayed on dirt in that state, whereas on
the MA side, things can be a bit rougher. The first climb on the 100km route
is usually pretty washed out and a bit technical. The rest of the route and
most of the 100km route are on pretty good dirt roads with the MA roads
tending to be that bit more rutted and rocky. The final descent can be
dodgy. The first year, it was quite technical, but the last two, it's been
better.

However, given the t-storm season we have had of late, I would expect lots
of loose stuff throughout and probably some unsettled weather during the
ride.

That said, I agree that knobbies aren't necessary, but then I didn't think
gears were necessary on the 100km route, so my judgment may be suspect :-)

Having just ridden through yet another heavy t-storm on my way home from
work, I am quite happy using my 35mm Marathon Racers, on my commuter and for
D2R2. And I will have multiple cogs and chainrings on the 100 miler this
year!

pamela blalock pgb at blayleys.com
care-free in watertown, ma http://www.blayleys.com

[jimg]

I run 38mm (front) and 35mm (rear) 700C WTB All-Terrainasaurus tires
on my cyclocross bike for the "mixed-terrain" rides we regularly do
from San Francisco up through Marin and Mt. Tam. I'd use a 38mm in
the rear as well, but my frame doesn't have enough clearance. I
inflate them to ~65 PSI (I'm 145lbs) and **wholeheartedly** recommend
them for mixed pavement/fire-road riding: They grip pretty well off
road, but roll fairly well on pavement with no buzzing. And they're
fairly cheap, at $25 or so per tire.

http://www.wtb.com/products/tires/hybrid/allterrainasaurus/


I run them on Mavic CXP 22 rims, which are even narrower than an Open
Pro, without problems.

http://flickr.com/photos/jimg/2337361045/
http://flickr.com/photos/jimg/2338188990/
http://flickr.com/photos/jimg/213731753/
http://flickr.com/photos/jimg/530116479/
http://flickr.com/photos/cduque/174988930/

I would LOVE to do the D2R2 someday!!!

-Jim G

[Keith Cardoza]

Joe,

For last year's 100-mile edition of the D2R2 I rode 28mm Armadillo's
on 36-spoked OP rims. I too thought about going wider, but these were
the toughest tires and wheels I own, so I decided it best to use the
tough stuff for the long day on the dirt. The only time I wish I had
a wider or knobbier tire was on the fabled Archambo Rd. But then
again, I recall even those on mtn bikes with full knobbies were
walking this portion. That being said, I think you should be fine on
your current setup. At any rate, you won't be thinking much about
your tire selection on this ride, so much as the beautiful scenery
that most people will never get to experience unless riding the
D2R2. Hopefully the heat will make it bearable this year for what
should be another spectacular ride from Berkshire Brevet crew in
western MA.

I think the beauty of a retro-randonnee is that it tends to defy the
specialization of today's modern high-end bikes. Half the fun of this
ride for me was seeing all the different machines on the road. There
was no one "right" setup, though a 'cross bike would seem ideal in my
mind. So long as your body and mind can take the abuse of this ride,
I think your equipment selection will be secondary. See everyone in
Deerfield!

- Keith Cardoza -
card...@gmail.com
508.558.9109

[cris.co...@gmail.com]

On Aug 8, 8:23 pm, "pamela blalock" <el...@blayleys.com> wrote:

> However, given the t-storm season we have had of late, I would expect lots
> of loose stuff throughout and probably some unsettled weather during the
> ride.

As part of a warmup for d2r2, I did a quick 5 mile circuit of the fire
roads in the southern section of the Middlesex Fells and Lawrence
Woods on my Club Racer with 28mm Marathon Plus's and found them to be
fine, though there isn't anything in the Fells that's as steep as
Patten Hill. As Pamela indicated, the near tropical downpours that
we're have had lately does make for some sloppy conditions, but the
surfaces of roads on D2R2 are gravelly enough that if you will be able
to attain some purchase if your tire isn't perfectly smooth and has a
bit of tread

On the ride, I found myself pining less for wide tires and more for
front suspension on some of those fast gravel descents.

-- cris

[Abe Hendin]

On Aug 10, 11:47 am, "cris.concepc...@gmail.com"

<cris.concepc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On the ride, I found myself pining less for wide tires and more for
> front suspension on some of those fast gravel descents.

Having just finished cycling some beautiful roads around Sharon, MA
and Poultney, VT the past two weeks, a couple of which turned out to
be nicely packed but sometimes rather loose pebbly gravel with
occasional ruts from runoff and other rough stuff, I can't imagine a
fast descent on gravel. Mind you, I'm recently back on the bike after
two months off due to a fractured hip (my own stupidity, not terrain
or other mishap!), so maybe I have a renewed appreciation for my own
susceptibility to damage in what seem like relatively ordinary spills,
but I found that controlled braking was pretty iffy on the looser
stuff. Result was that I kept it rather slow on the descents. And I'm
on pretty fat Marathon Racer 20" (40mm) tires! I was wishing for
knobs.

Any thoughts on controlled braking on gravel without knobby tires,
apart from careful balancing of front/rear braking, and not turning
the wheel while braking on the front? I found that the rear wheel
purchase while braking was pretty minimal, but the front wheel
skittered around under pressure, too.

[Ingle, Bruce]

I've had no problems with using wide tires on Mavic Open-style rims as well; I'm planning on using the Bichain on D2R2 with a 38mm inverted tread tire and an Open 4 CD on the back, 35mm inverted tread on the front.

The bike worked well on a 113-mile shakedown ride on Saturday; my main concern at this point is keeping the front end down on climbs. The bike uses an `80s "sport touring" frame with relatively short stays; I tried a 10° (~17-1/2%) climb locally and had my hands full keeping the front end down while seated. I was accelerating on the climb to simulate a steeper grade (D2R2 advertises 25%), so I may be okay if I can keep my cadence smooth. If not, walking will always work.

I've supported the ride but not ridden it yet. There were a lot of eye-candy multi-K$ `cross bikes at the start, but the first rider into the first control in `06 was riding a stock `70s Raleigh road bike with centerpull brakes and diamond-tread street tires.

- Bruce

[John McMurry]

On Aug 8, 2:16 pm, "Joe B." <moesagood...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I'm thinking about riding the D2R2 populaire August 23 in
> Massachusettes of which 70 percent of the ride will take place on hard
> pack dirt roads. Can anybody recommend a 700C tire?

Last year I used 32mm Panaracer Pasela's and felt they were optimal
tires for the 100K.

John McMurry
Burlington, VT

[Steady As She Goes]

I rode 30mm Ritchey Speedmax Cross Pro tires and liked them.
Not so good on corners, a little crawling, but I'm not going to push
hard on downhills.

Pamela was right about the weather and the description of the last two
years.
I didn't need the knobs except for the first damp climb, as a lot of
the sand and loose gravel was not present last year.

I hope to see you there, Pamela, I'll be trailing at the back.
I'm sure I'll make the 100K, it'll just take a while longer.

I'll have mongrel tires this year (32mm Pasela front, 30mm knobbly
rear), because I've got a cut sidewall I don't trust and can't be
bothered.

I weigh about 200 and I think I had them at about 75-80.

Ray - my collarbone will hurt more than my legs this year, I bet -