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In June I'm cycling "The Badger Divide" from Glasgow to Inverness. This is the second time doing this route and there is a LOT of climbing, I'm trying to get my hardtail (Ragley Big Al 2) as light as possible this time. I'm looking to put a Racing Ralph 2.25 on the front with a 2.1 Thunder Burt of the rear. I have never used a Thunder Burt but they seem to be very light and efficient. Is this a good combo ? and will the Thunder Burt hold up well to 3 long days of off off road trails ?
Is it worth getting the 2.25 Thunder Burt (over the 2.1) for a bit more comfort ? or is it just added weight and slightly slower ?
Can't answer your question as have never used a thunderburt but have a brand new 29 x 2.1 in box that I bought for my gravel bike and never used so drop me a message if it's of any interest.
Also done most of the badger divide on slick 47mm tyres so thunderburt should be well capable. The roughest bit is on great Glen way and decent of corriarick pass.
Also considering these for a long distance 'gravel' route using my rigid 29er.
I run this combination for gravel and XC rides (admittedly on a 160mm travel ebike) and highly rate them. I have both 2.25 and 2.1 and cannot tell the difference. Only problem I have had is I did terminally tear a liteskin sidewall.
I ran a 27.5 Thunderburt front and back last summer on my gravel bike. I ride a lot on the Purbeck in Dorset and finally took them off as I found they where slipping badly on gravel/rocky climbs and had very little grip on the downhills. They where fine in loamy/fine gravel tracks in Wareham and New Forest but then neither are that technical.
They sure are quick though.
Now using Rene Herse Hurricane Ridge (endurance casing) which are just as quick and grip much better on rougher ground. The RH tyres are expensive though.
Mrs slowbloke has them on her Frontier. They seemed very reluctant to stay up tubeless initially and now they do they puncture on a rather too regular basis for my liking even when I’m not puncturing cycle cross tyres on the same ride. They are incredibly light though - might be better when everything dries out a bit.
Worth noting that there are half a dozen versions of every Schwalbe tyre floating around the market which makes it hard to comment on anything other than tread pattern.
Are they noticebly faster than a Racing Ralph ?
I haven't tried the latest rear specific Racing Ralph, but the Thunder Burt is definitely faster than the old version.
I know it's not the answer to the question you've asked, but I've been rolling round on Continental Race King for the last 9 months. I got it on the basis of this which measured it as equal rolling resistance to the Thunder Burt, but with a tread obvs:
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/mtb-reviews
Seems equivalent to the Racing Ralph it replaced off road, and it really has lived up to my hopes on the road. I've been riding lanes on my XC MTB with it all winter (no winter road bike this year) - my avg. speed is similar to the winter road bike. I'd take it out on a club run when they get going again were it not for the fact that a rear Mudhugger with 2.2 inch MTB tyre might not be too popular in group.
How did you find the Badger Divide? We've got it planned for mid June, fingers crossed we get some nice weather. Just found a restaurant in Inverness where we can get ash-restaurant-at-the-royal-highland-hotel-inverness" 2 for 1 meals, lovely little restaurant at the Highland Hotel, so that's given us some extra motivation to get to the end 😀 How long did it take you out of interest? We're planning on getting it done over 3-4 days. Do you think this is doable?
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