Yeah, that shocked me when I heard him say they were only 21mm IW. For a guy who seems to really understand the benefits of wider tires, that seems like a poor choice.
I’m guessing he feels he is getting some aero benefit from using a road wheel…will be interesting to see his video from his time in the wind tunnel w/ Silca.
I wish I would pull the trigger on the 45mm deep 40mm wide 30mm ID wheels. I bet those are nice
I think if he ran their gravel wheels the Race Kings would blow out too large for the frame, I suspect even with Reynolds 23mm internal wheels the RKs would exceed 53mm and he wouldn’t have enough clearance. Felt Breed clears 50c officially so at 53mm he probably has 2-3mm of clearance max with the RKs on the 21mm internal.
My Race Kings are just about 54.5mm on 25mm IW rims.
Honestly, I wouldn’t get caught dead on that thing.
As I said in another thread:
So this isn’t a totally useless post: I have Tufo Thundero 40s mounted currently. Weather in New England recently hasn’t been conducive to doing much dirt riding, and I got these at the end of last season, so I don’t have many miles on them yet. Also have a set of Pathfinder Pros in 38 that I might use at Unbound.
Separately, I picked up a 650b wheelset and put 2.0 Race Kings on. Still waiting for a different freehub body, so I haven’t ridden it yet.
I think generally the official clearance is to leave 6mm clearance, so if the official is 50mm than maybe that would only leave him with 1.5mm of clearance at 54.5mm, would probably be hard on the frame.
Interesting result on BRR late last week too:
I was curious why DJ went from the Thunder Burt to Race King and figured it was either issues w/punctures or his personal testing showed the RK was faster. The BRR result is something to think about until he shares why.
I’ve rarely punctured in gravel events, this year I’ve had one on both TBs and RKs. Affecting my results enough to be irritating. I’m in a 5-week lull between events and evaluating if I want to try again or go back to Pathfinder Pros.
One interesting thing about the Thunder Burt is that the Super Ground measures faster than the Super Race, and the Super Race has marginally better sidewall puncture scores.
RK scores better than both in puncture protection when looking at the sidewall too.
You also can’t get the RK in anything less than 2.2, where the TB you can get narrower (2.1") for bikes that can’t support the RK’s extra width.
Hrm, I’m looking at BTD right now and saw these. Is this a different version? I see the RK Protection in there with a 2.0, also.
The 700x50c Ramblers I ran last year are on their last legs, and these are looking pretty tempting. Looks like a nice reduction in rolling resistance, potentially.
That’s not the top end Race King ProTection. Different tire.
The Protection only comes in 2.2 for a 29" unless something changed.
I think that the new super race is more durable than the old super ground so it meets the e25 requirements. I’ll bet that the super ground is more durable, though it is curious that other tests have had super ground faster as well
Man the Thundero and Hardpack are so close Tufo Gravel Thundero 48 Rolling Resistance Review would have to depend on feel. Looking at the specs I don’t see a strong reason to go one way or the other, would think it would depend on if you prefer the style with a small knob all over or smooth centre and bigger side knobs.
Interesting! Puncture resistance seems on par with the (narrower) HD version. I’ve only had a few mostly road rides with these so far but they’re comfy and fast. There’s less buzz on pavement too vs Race Kings which I like, since many gravel routes/events near me have a decent amount of pavement.
I’m going to give those Thundero 48s a try.
However, for my next race (BWR CA), I’m going to stick with my Swampero 40/Thundero 40 combination. Last year, I ran Pirelli H/M 35s, and it was really good for the way I want my bike to handle. I like the Tufo 40s better.
At this point they should just make gravel bikes with a 148 x 12 axle so you can throw on your mtb tires whenever you want.
I know this is tongue-in-cheek but there’s decent logic here. Pretty sure that would force a MTB Q-Factor on the cranks though, which probably starts to change the aero equation and compatible componentry again. I’d never thought about this but I guess even more than clearance and overall geometry, it must be those 3 spindle widths that separate a dropbar 29er from just a rowdy road-native gravel bike, right? (I just looked and Mason ISO and Salsa Cutthroat both use boost hubs and BB.)
Maybe better to have a ‘crossover’ wheelset with 100/142 hubs and spare 110/148 end caps so they’re ‘gravel native’ but can also fit MTB. Or are the rotor/cassette actually further outboard on boost spacing?
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What I’m really curious about though is where we’re headed in terms of rim width, and crucially what that means for sidewall exposure.
Just two years ago 3T were the only ones offering this and I ended up buying LightBicycle WR series at 25/32mm wide to save money, though both Nextie and LB have since joined the 30/40 club. But even by putting 40c tires on a 25mm internal rim I started to notice scrapes and scratches on my sidewalls that just weren’t even really a thing on my previous 21mm internal rims. Sidewall protection suddenly matters to me in a way it didn’t before. And the dings and paint scratches on the rims themselves are way more abundant too!
So now that it’s no longer wild and radical to go to 30/40 for rim width and fit a 35c tire that inflates to 39mm WAM to make an ideal aero setup, I keep looking at the photos and just thinking how much abuse those sidewalls are going to encounter. How reliable would my ‘really reliable’ tire choices still be then? (Also what does squaring off the tread pattern of something like a pathfinder really do to it’s RR/cornering qualities, but that’s a separate rant!)
And I can’t imagine we’ll stay in the 30/40 width rim realm for long if there are gains to be had by going even wider. A 35/45 width rim at 50+ depth must be just around the corner, right? So is that then a 40c tire inflating to 43-44mm? Potentially the same percentage of exposed sidewall compared to the overall tire size, but on a bigger tire that’s still more exposed surface area total, right?
Will we just have to keep defaulting to tougher and tougher sidewalls or are manufacturers eventually going to put wider treads on the same width casings to account for this? Could they even end up offering the same size tire in both wide and narrow tread width to suit different rim sizes?
I’m convinced that this is a major aspect of the MTB tire RR advantage that we’re not fully appreciating - even on a 30mm internal rim a 2.2" tire is lightbulb-shaped enough that the most delicate bits of the sidewall are shielded from most rock strikes by the tread. Is it possible that we’re just on a repeated cycle of choosing wider tires for lower rolling resistance, then choosing wider rims to suit the wider tires, then requiring tougher sidewalls to suit the additional exposure, then realising that even wider tires can be more supple (and still reliable) because we haven’t yet exposed their thin sidewalls to the same level of abuse, then beginning the whole process over again?
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And separate but related: if someone were to try to leap over incremental steps and go straight to the endgame, what does an ‘aero MTB’ wheel/tire setup look like? 55mm external width and 80mm depth? Even in a MTB race there will be enough time spent at aero-relevant speeds for there to be an advantage worth exploring (as long as weights are acceptable).
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OK I think I’ve calmed down now. Maybe next time I’ll spare you all and just start a podcast or something! 
The terra hardpack Shieldwall is same compound as Race King shieldwall 29x2.0 no? Has anyone compared terra Hardpack vs Race king 29x2.0
Has anyone tested a tan sidewall vs a black rubber side wall with more protection?
I really wanted to try the terra speed 45s but couldn’t find them. I have very little complaints about my S-works Pathfinders (only come in 42). Super fast rolling, did a 100km race on them this weekend with no punctures. Rolled across some thick chunk doing 35-40mph several times. They struggle a little in mud but what gravel race tire doesn’t?
