Tan sidewall tyres (Grifo, Almanzo)

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HillRPete
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by HillRPete

I'm planning to ride in the woods a bit this fall, to stay off the road when visibility is bad. To finish off my budget build I need tyres, preferrably with tan sidewalls. Challenge Grifos are getting good reviews, but is there anything out there that's more of a crossover tyre, and also handles urban utility duties nicely?

In case there's no beefy tan tyre I'll probably go with the Conti Cyclocross Plus.
Last edited by HillRPete on Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

by Weenie


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Stolichnaya
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by Stolichnaya

Rivendell Jack Brown tires are 33.3 mm and have tan sidewalls. Not exactly light, but pretty much go anywhere if your frame can manage the bulk (which I assume it can as you mention the Grifos). Hampsten likes them...


HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Yeah Grifo XS could be great, but I'm wondering how it handles the urban transit from/to the gravel roads.
Last edited by HillRPete on Wed Jan 29, 2014 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Frans
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by Frans

Grifo XS are amazing tyres. They're great on the road and on all sorts of off-road surfaces. They're quite wide as well, and they're skinwall.

Comparing them to the Vittoria XN (they're almost identical but the Vit isn't skinwall) the Grifo XS has a slightly more aggressive diamond patter - they'll actually become better on-road the more you wear the center of them down to a smooth contact patch. They also have a bigger overall volume than the Vittoria which is what you're looking for when you're as heavy as me!

Go for them. They come in a more expesive Open Tubular design and a chaper 60 or 90 tpi version. Both are fine.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... haltyrf280

not to pick on this shop but it's one place that offers them...

TuscanySwe
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by TuscanySwe

I Find grifo xs to be punture prone on asphalt. Both in clincher and tubular versions. Then again, everyone seem to have different luck with different tires.

vcnz
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by vcnz

Grifo XS worked very well for me. I used them mostly for commuting (3 times a week, 70 km each) for months. No problem so far

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Been using the Grifo XS for some time now, thumbs up. Not much glass where I ride, and it beautifully copes with everything else. Rolls very well on tarmac too.

challenge
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by challenge

Grifo XS is a good choice and now we also have 2 new tires designed for Gravel racing.
They are the Eroica and Almanzo tires and these are equipped with PPS 2.
PPS 2 (Puncture Protection System) is a double protection that is placed on the inside of the tire
and visible to the eye. An extra layer of our puncture proof material protects the tubes from penetrating
objects.
Under the tread there is also another strip of puncture protection.

They are slightly smaller than Grifo XS but still a good volume. Section of Eroica and Almanzo are 30.

http://www.challengetech.it/products/ro ... 0/00521/en

The Erocia has the same tread pattern as the Paris Roubaix.

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Had some (good) time on the Grifo XS Open last year, on a CX frame build viewtopic.php?f=10&t=11009&start=345#p929523

This year I moved to a road frame based gravel/beater bike, and was keen to try out the new Challenge Almanzo. I was very relieved to find they (tightly) fit my frame and clear the SRAM Apex brakes. My concern however was, that they might not ride as smoothly as the Grifos, because of the doubled puncture protection layer. Glad to find out that's not the case though, they roll very very nicely. Only some road riding at this point, although with loads of grit, at 3bar front / 4 rear, looking forward to taking them to the rough stuff.

Interestingly the Almanzos weren't super difficult to mount on Open Pro rims, despite the thick Velox rim tape.

Also really interested in the updated Challenge Paris Roubaix now, they also got the double PPS this year. Might have to give the tubular version a spin.
Last edited by HillRPete on Wed Jan 29, 2014 5:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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the_marsbar
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by the_marsbar

This is a very old thread. A new alternative for a bit of everything could be the Challenge Chicane (http://www.challengetech.it/products/cy ... ane-044/en).

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Agreed, but I mostly have road and gravel. If there were more dirt roads, the Chicane would be very tempting. The lugs look very confidence inspiring, particularly in less dry conditions.

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Some road time on the Almanzos now, they are great. Had a real eye opener the other day, there's a short steep pitch at the end of a longer gradual climb, in one of my regular rides. That last few hundred metres up (quite broken up road surface) are usually ridden with spirited effort, before heading down the backside. My usual 22mm Conti Comps bounce quite a bit on the broken road, but this time, with the Almanzos at 3bar front / 4 rear, I didn't feel the irregularieties, and actually looked down to check whether the surface was still the same.

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

After a bit over 300km the Almanzos most pointy bits in the centre of the file tread have started to slowly go away in the rear. Will wear it down a bit more, and then swap with the front tyre, to wear the centre down too, for even better rolling resistance on paved roads. This tyre really has changed my riding, I'm now trying to take the gravel/dirt option whenever I can.

Here's what it looks like on my bike.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/r0b5t4/13089310503/
Last edited by HillRPete on Mon Mar 17, 2014 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

challenge
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by challenge

wassertreter wrote:After a bit over 300km the Almanzos most pointy bits in the centre the file tread have started to slowly go away in the rear. Will wear it down a bit more, and then swap with the front tyre, to wear the centre down too, for even better rolling resistance on paved roads. This tyre really has changed my riding, I'm now trying to take the gravel/dirt option whenever I can.

Here's what it looks like on my bike.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/r0b5t4/13089310503/



Nice bike :thumbup:

by Weenie


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