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Am I looking for the holy grail here? I commute daily on my cx bike - mixture of roads and tarmac footpaths. Every other week or so I alos like to ride out from home and mix up a 60-70 miler of road, and off road - mainly woodland paths/fireroads, with a fair amount of mud, roots and loose rocks over the surrey hills.
Can't help feeling that a decent commuting tyre like a marathon plus would give me no grip off road. I currently have specialized tracer pros which grip-wise I absolutely love, but they offer me about as much puncture resistance as a paper towel.
So I'd like something with similar grip and profile to that, but a lot tougher.
Anyone got any recommendations? How do the maxxis raze hold up under punctures?
My commute takes me past 3 large building sites at the moment which I think are not helping.
Have to say I'm struggling with the Raze puncture wise, otherwise it's great
Landcruisers would probably be your best bet
I'm not hugely experienced on the CX tyre front, but just gone from Tracer and Terra Pros to 35mm Rapid Robs that came on new bike.
No flats yet, despite riding faster over bumpy stuff at lower PSI.
The extra few milimetres volume wise seems to make a big difference to puncture protection. And they roll quick enough for me on road.
Just put a pair of Halo Twin Rails on my new cx build. They look good for firm trails and have 'Puncture Protection System' written on them in red.
Something in a tubeless flavour?
I'm in a similar boat (or bike...) and have been experimenting with a touring tyre on the rear (currently a Conti Top Touring), where outright grip is less crucial than rolling resistance and puncture proofing, and a semi-slick on the front (currently a old Hutchinson CX tyre but I have a Sammy Slick to go on next) where offroad grip is more important.
I'm still not sure how to balance the road/offroad mix. Running touring tyres offroad isn't very grippy, as you say, but tbh I quite like that, and they roll okay on road. Whereas knobbly tyres are clearly better offroad but a pain on road.
is there a good list of tubeless CX tyres anywhere?
when I was looking I only found a few.
land cruisers probably
The OE Sammy Slicks that came on my X'er got 3 punctures in a week. Now riding off the shelf Rapid Robs and puncture free so far.
Have been poring over the supplier catalogues in search of grip plus puncture protection and there just doesn't appear to be that much out there in a 1.35 width.
I bought some 32c small block 8's for similar. Not fitted them though
yep +1 landcruisers. been using them for years good enough on the road and good enough off road.
I had a similar dilemma when building up my CX bike a few weeks ago.
I was using Smart Sams on the previous CX and they're good tyres but not tubeless and also quite weighty (although fast rolling)
Was looking all over for lightweight, tubeless, reasonably puncture resistant tyres for all-round use.
In the end I went with Kenda Slant 6 Pro (although I'm currently running them tubed). I've always like Schwalbe tyres but they're definitely towards the heavier end of the spectrum.
I've been riding some CX 32c Racing Ralphs on CX bike run tubeless, I find that if you keep them at a higher pressure whilst on the road, they have been puncture free (or Stans has sealed hole), then let a bit of air out if you are going off road for a decent amount of time
I used Smart Sams for on and offroad and found that I only maybe lost between 1mph-1.5mph in average speed over racing slicks. Not as much as I expected
My commute can comprise of woods, towpaths and roads.
I've been using Marathon or Marathon Plus for a few years now, though they've never had to deal with roots ( though brick bridges on the towpath can be a bit dicey )
I use tracer pros, which are excellent IMO, for the same sort of thing as you. I've put Kevlar tyre liners in them, and haven't punctured yet. It's an expensive option, and like any tyre that's great off road, I doubt they'll last all that long on the tarmac commute. Works for me though.
I have 35mm Small Block 8s on my CX commuter - great tyres but seem to pick up a puncture every couple of months/500 miles. Not sure if that is good or bad.
And the back tyre needs replacing soon, done 1500 miles or so.
Land cruisers for me too...Rode during 3 Peaks and had no issues with punctures and that was over some tough terrain, only downside for me was the drag on the road but guess you can't have everything...
Another land cruisers vote. I've ridden them everywhere including riding the three peaks on them (Snowdon to Nevis not the easy Yorkshire version)
Thanks guys. How much grip off road do land cruisers have?
Pushed the button on landcruisers. Less than the price of one of my tracer pros so not much of a risk really 🙂
You will be fine with the Landcruisers but make sure you inflate to around 55/60psi even when off road to make sure you don't puncture and like you said they are a very good price, but i would say keep an eye on the tread as they don't last that great IMO
It's this conundrum that's making me thing twice about a cross bike. Currently run durano+ on my winter bike. Looks to me like Marathons are the only similar 35 or 40c tyre but presume not exactly grippy off road plus I'm wondering how well guards work off road. The idea of pfaffing around taking guards off and changing wheels or tyres at the weekend really doesn't appeal. So is there a puncture proof wide tyre that doesn't weigh 1kg and do guards work off road?
You asking about mud guards? Race blades are easy to take on and off the bike - seconds. They work pretty well IME - obv a bit less stable (in that they can move around over time) than a proper road-style guard but that's the compromise. MTB style rear guard on the seatpost is likewise easy to fit on / off.
Guards work to an extent off-road. If it's bad out they're pretty useless at keeping mud off you at the back - just get overwhelmed. They generally make a difference at the front in keeping mud out of yr face. They're also good if there's a lot of cold water on the trails that would otherwise be hosing your aris.
Sry if that is all obvious and you were asking about something else.