Adventure Races - tire choice & width

Granite Head

I plan to do some adventure races this year which incorporate various degrees and lengths of "Off road" cycling eg. GF West. I am thinking of getting gatorskins ot gator hardshells for the purpose. I am currently running x23s on my bike but was was thinking of getting x25s in the gators for ride quality and puncture resistance (am I mistaken?). Out and out speed is not a priority for me but avoiding punctures is.

Advice on tires & widths?

Q7

Did GF last year on a road bike with gatorskins (x23s). No punctures - touch wood!. Just take is handy on the off-road sections and you'll be fine and dodge the potholes. Part after CP you'll have to walk with the bike - can't even imagine you'd do it with a mountain bike without killing yourself. Make sure you tire pressure is correct - this is the reason why most people get punctures on adventure races.
GF has by far the most off-road for the adventure races, unless your go for the adventure races that are true off-road, in which case you'll need a mountain bike. So if it can handle GF you should be fine for others. Good luck.

Enduro

Granite Head wrote: »

I plan to do some adventure races this year which incorporate various degrees and lengths of "Off road" cycling eg. GF West. I am thinking of getting gatorskins ot gator hardshells for the purpose. I am currently running x23s on my bike but was was thinking of getting x25s in the gators for ride quality and puncture resistance (am I mistaken?). Out and out speed is not a priority for me but avoiding punctures is.

Advice on tires & widths?

If avoiding punctures is an absolute priority then I'd recommend a proper set of tubeless tyres and wheels on a MTB.

What tyres, and indeed what bike, you need depends on whether your thinking of entering psuedo-adventure races like GF, WAR, ROAR etc or proper adventure races like the Beast, the Cooley raid etc. For real adventure races you'll need a good lightweight XC MTB. For the multisport challenges a road bike is more optimal (If you're on a road bike then you're not doing an adventure race)

for any of the road bike adventure challenges I've gone with continental GP4000s as a preference. I rode the entire GF route with them last year and didn't have a problem. But ironically enough got a puncture on a smooth road section in the Achill ROAR (first puncture in about 2 years road biking with them)

forgot to say... they were 23mm.

2 Wheels Good

Depends what your bike can take, and how much offroad/scree is in the race. Went with touring 28s in '09 on my racer for GF, went with Schwalbe Marathon Plus 1.35s on my mtb last year.
Can't complain about either choice, both had advantages/disadvantages. Saw a good few
Cyclocross bikes last year so they would probably be a good compromise.
Didn't get a puncture either year (touch wood!) and enjoyed last year a lot more, low gears helped in a few spots and was able to go flat out down where most people walked
on the last section, saying that I wasn't far off that pace on my racer.
If you're on a road bike, decent 28s should cover all angles. And preparation before, make sure tires/tubes are ok before and at right psi!!

J Madone

Did gaelforce twice on a racing bike with bontrager all weather race tyres( hard case) 23c
No punctures and fairly quick rolling

slotts

Having the same problem myself. Did gael force last year on road bike with 23's. Want to get gator shell but not sure either 23 or 25s? Want to roll well but certainly dont want a puncture.

dancecatz2000

Done Gf twice first time on my road bike with 25c gator tyres the next on my cyclo x bike with 28cc gators, cyclo x with 28cc rolled great and didn`t have to take it handy over rough stuff, you could also get Paneracer ribmo pt in 23cc which look like a 25c have great grip and are great for puncture protection.

deiseblues

Planning on doing Connemara adventure challange and GFW and planning on using a cyclocross with conti plus reflex tyres, Hope this helps

http://www.tredz.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?productcode=35548

Don't be worried about the knobbly tyres, I did a 24mile cycle as part of a 36mile session today, and avg speed was 27.2km/h

kumate_champ07

dancecatz2000 wrote: »

Done Gf twice first time on my road bike with 25c gator tyres the next on my cyclo x bike with 28cc gators, cyclo x with 28cc rolled great and didn`t have to take it handy over rough stuff, you could also get Paneracer ribmo pt in 23cc which look like a 25c have great grip and are great for puncture protection.

do you find that the rough stuff with the GF generally leads to puncturing the protection