Breck Epic veterans, I need your help. The Specialized Camber that I plan to ride for Breck Epic next month has a 2.4 Ardent on the front and a 2.2 Ikon in the rear, both tubeless with carbon rims. I’m thinking the Ardent might be a bit much for the trails there, especially with 40,000 feet of climbing over six days. What has worked for you? Would an Ikon in the front be durable enough for the week?
I also have a pair of Mezcal 2.35s on my singlespeed that I could swap over. I’ve read at least one post online where a rider said the Mezcals were the best he’s tried for those conditions. Both the Maxxis and Vittoria’s claim to have extra puncture protection.
Big thing is to have plugs on you and extra plugs in your bags for the aid stations. EXO is a must. I’d take durability over a less aggressive/lighter tire. This race destroys tires. I race xc and live in Breck and my setup right now is an Ardent up front an Ikon rear.
2 Likes
Wow, great. Thank you. So maybe I have just what I need already. Thanks.
By the way, DMC, should I bring a bike cleaning kit, or are there supplies available there each day?
I’d bring an extra tire if you have it. Also, bring cleaning supplies. There is nothing at the end of the stage. I can’t remember what’s at Beaver Run. SRAM will probably be there again and I can’t recall Mike having a bike wash area. Then again, I live here so I just ride home after the stage.
People have ran Ikons front and rear, but they’re much better handlers than I. There is a lot of climbing, but the descents are fast, rowdy, and you can lose a lot of spots on some of them because they are long.
I would run Ikons before Aspens.
What is your opinion on the Vittoria Barzo’s in a 2.35 (F&R)? They are a little heavier than the mezcals but a little more aggressive tread. Also tire inserts? worth the weight? Being that there is so much climbing i’m starting to get weight weenish.
Reviving old thread, any updated recommendations over the past few years? I know a lot of people do Breck Epic on 120mm XC / downcountry bikes and I’d guess that tire choice would be aligned to that, on the more aggressive XC spectrum but not full blown trail tires?
1 Like
How’d it go?
I only ended up doing 2nd half because my 2 year old gave everyone stomach flu at the start so I spent the first 3 days incapacitated. Great event though, I’ll be back next year.
I asked for tire advice int he main XC tire thread and got some recommendations, no issues with tires at least.
1 Like