Tire review or maybe a warning?

[David Kirk]

I'm not sure if this is a tire review or a tire warning...I'll let you make of it what you will.

About two years ago I wanted to stuff as big a tire as I could in my everyday road bike with normal short reach brakes and I bought a set of Challenge Strada Bianca 30 mm tires. They are a bit stiff and not so light but the ride is good and you could bomb gravel hard with them and they worked very well in this environment. I used the tires long and hard and wore them very thin without issues.

As this years Cino Heroica was coming near I thought I was smart in buying another pair and setting them aside for the event. So I bought a pair and set them aside waiting for the Cino. A few days before the event I cleaned up the bike and swapped the old worn tires for the brand new ones and I thought all was good. I inflated them to about 50 psi and set the bike aside. About an hour later there was a very loud BANG and went to find that the rear tire had blown off the rim and the tube of course exploded. Hmmm?

I've mounted a few tires in my day and never had one blow off but I assumed I must not have had it seated properly so I popped in a new tube in, double checked the seating a few times and put the pressure up to 60 psi and it looked fine. It was two days before Cino and I took the bike out for a quick ride to be 100% sure all was fine before doing nearly 100 miles of gravel in the middle of nowhere. I left the house, rolled down the hill to the main road and at about 35 mph that same rear tire blew off the rim. I got stopped safely and popped on the spare tire I was carrying just in case and rode the one mile home.

I was mystified as to why one set of these tires worked great until they were worn out and the other set won't stay mounted. Upon close inspection I could see that the bead on the new blow-off set was less pronounced and sharp-edged than the old set and they must not have been hooking into the rim as it should. These tires are often called open tubulars and they are handmade and for whatever reason the second set was a bit different then the first set....same rims, same make/model/size tires but much different results. I would recommend avoiding these tires. The set I installed are dangerous. I was lucky to be going "only" 35 mph and straight and not faster around a curve.

In the end I mounted a set of used Compass 32mm tires from my dedicated gravel bike and had to do a bit of grinding on the underside of the brake to get the taller Compass 32 mm tire to just barely squeeze in there. It was too tight and when I hit just a bit of mud the bike nearly ground to a halt with build up under the caliper but I made it through both days with an occasional scraping noise and all was fine. The 30 mm Challenge would have been just right....if they stayed on.

My 2 cents.

dave

[tv_vt]

They are lovely looking tires, but yours is not the first horror story I've heard about these, Dave.

Not sure what is out there at 30mm, but these tires are definitely not the ones to choose.

Glad you survived to tell the tale. Could've ended badly with that rolling blowout.

[FlashUNC]

Challenge makes such garbage.

Vittoria does a 30mm tire fwiw.

[jtbadge]

Just say no to Challenge "Open Tubulars."

I rode those same tires as well until a similar unprompted, low pressure blowout.

[madsciencenow]

Thanks for the heads-up, Dave. There are too many tires available these days to hassle with this, imho.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blue Jays]

Wow. That is quite a report to read. Glad you are fine.
Hopefully they have a QC department to investigate it.

[Black Dog]

Those were the PRO series of tires can you imagine what the lower end series would be like...:eek: You should reach out to Challenge and see what they have to say.

[jtbadge]

Those were the PRO series of tires can you imagine what the lower end series would be like...:eek: You should reach out to Challenge and see what they have to say.

Their lower end tires are actually better as they are vulcanized rubber. Stronger sidewalls.

[fiamme red]

How are "open tubulars" different from regular clinchers? Should I avoid them, even if they're made by other companies?

[jtbadge]

How are "open tubulars" different from regular clinchers? Should I avoid them, even if they're made by other companies?

"Supple" cotton sidewall with a weak bead. Other brands like Vittoria do just fine with this style of tire.

[zambenini]

Clinchers are so good now the open tubular thing doesn't seem worth it.

[Spaghetti Legs]

How are "open tubulars" different from regular clinchers? Should I avoid them, even if they're made by other companies?

Open tubular usually means they are made (usually by hand) in the style of a tubular but not closed up and instead a clincher bead is installed. They come out of the package flat. I ride Veloflex open tubular style clinchers a lot (Corsa ad Master) and, even though a lot of folks don’t like them, they are my favorite tire.

I have a set of the Challenge vulcanized 120 tpi Strada Bianca in a 33 size and they held up nicely on 400 mile tour with 100+ miles of gravel. I just bought a set of the vulcanized Paris Roubaix (27 that everyone measures at 29) that I hope will just squeeze onto my Ciöcc. I’ll post back how those work out.

Glad the blowouts didn’t cause injury. I hope Challenge will make it right for you.

[Clean39T]

Glad you're okay...

What rims were they on?

I ran these on TB14s for a few rides, and didn't like them - but they held fine.

These are an absolute PITA to mount too.

They sure do look nice though:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190723/33b48775235a0c7128e0327d63302233.jpg

[merckx]

Dave, I've seen pics of your bicycle, and was surprised to see Challenge tires mounted. I thought that maybe you were spared what most of us have experienced when using Challenge tires. Thank you for another heads-up. And yes, the Vits are available in 30mm.

[Clancy]

Dave, I've seen pics of your bicycle, and was surprised to see Challenge tires mounted. I thought that maybe you were spared what most of us have experienced when using Challenge tires. Thank you for another heads-up. And yes, the Vits are available in 30mm.

Question - Aren’t the Vittoria tires also open tubular?

Comment - I had a similar experience with a Compass Barlow Pass tire, blew off the rim at 60 psi. Mounted on Reynolds ATRs and set-up tubeless.

I seem to remember something about Zipp coming out against open tubulars. Can’t remember if it was only specific brands or all open tubulars.

[572cv]

Thanks for the well considered 'heads up', Dave.

Really glad you weren't hurt!

[Hindmost]

Can one assume it's a bead shape issue? Or can it be a tire and rim bead seat diameter incompatibility?

[David Kirk]

Can one assume it's a bead shape issue? Or can it be a tire and rim bead seat diameter incompatibility?

I think it's a poorly shaped (and maybe sized) bead. It's almost as if the bead stands proud to the inside more than it does to the outside and it just didn't lock in the hook of the rim.

I don't know if the "open tubular" thing has anything to do with the issue or not. I've used lots of open tires over the years (including the previous pair of these same tires) and never had a problem before.

dave

[rwsaunders]

Perhaps the brand name Challenge is appropriate...you are being challenged to stay upright when you ride those tires.

[thwart]

Thanks for the heads up!

I've put a fair amount of miles on several models of Challenge tires: the Paris-Roubaix, the Strada Bianca (in both high tpi and low tpi variants), and also their predecessor, the Eroica.

Guess I've been lucky. From reading the other posts here maybe even an outlier... I've enjoyed very high performance and (knock on wood) no issues. Well, that is outside of the initial new tire mounting, which can be a PITA.

Unfortunately it seems that any somewhat hand-made stuff can vary in quality... moreso probably than from one of the big tire companies with more strict QC.

[dmurphey]

I have had issues mounting and running Challenge Strada Bianca's in the past. I agree with the niceness Compass as an alternative but they don't hold up well for me. I am running Conti 5000's in 700 x 30 over the past few month on my all round road bike and they are holding up well, they ride pretty well. I like em. They may be a more reliable and similar replacement.

[David Kirk]

I have had issues mounting and running Challenge Strada Bianca's in the past. I agree with the niceness Compass as an alternative but they don't hold up well for me. I am running Conti 5000's in 700 x 30 over the past few month on my all round road bike and they are holding up well, they ride pretty well. I like em. They may be a more reliable and similar replacement.

Can you give me an accurate outside diameter or radius of that Conti 30mm tire? If you can that would be awesome.

dave

[dem]

The new Pirelli looks like a solid choice for a larger slick that is pretty tough for mixed use. Really good rolling resistance but with full bead and thick tread:

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/pirelli-cinturato-velo-2018 - they also seem to run a bit larger than spec, so the 700-28 might hit exactly the size you want.

I just warrantied my 4th challenge gravel grinder when it also failed.. so I've been basically renting Challenge tires for the past year.

Compass was a bust for me too - blew off a rim and one was a weeping mess of goo. Pretty much worn out at 1500 miles too.

[charliedid]

Glad you're okay

I had the same (sort of) issue with my set and only ever got to ride them 4 miles to work one day. The rear blew off twice after mounting it at home the first day. The day I rode to work (4 miles) the rear tire blew in the middle of the day and a customer thought someone fired a gun.

I took them off, called them bad names and threw them in the garbage after slicing them apart.

Never again.

[jamesdak]

Well as another data point on these. I've had one pair for a few years and have moved them around to at least 3 bikes and 3 different sets of rims. No problems with them staying on the rims for me. They were a totally beast to mount the first time though. For me though, they flat too much. That's why my pair is just hanging around unused now.

[tjg]

A pair of Challenge Paris Roubaix was my first venture into open tubulars/clinchers after a lifetime of only riding tubulars.
I’ve experienced frequent flats, and the tires fit so tightly on my rims that roadside repairs were long and frustrating.
I suffered through until I wore them out and recently replaced them with some extra light Compass. A couple of weeks ago I had one blow off my rim. I’m pretty sure it was user error (I really hope it was user error), because I was in a hurry and pumped them from completely flat. It was a low speed blowout less than 1/2 mile from home, but now I have that in the back of my mind every time I ride. I’m seriously considering going back to tubulars.

[rustychisel]

A pair of Challenge Paris Roubaix was my first venture into open tubulars/clinchers after a lifetime of only riding tubulars.
I’ve experienced frequent flats, and the tires fit so tightly on my rims that roadside repairs were long and frustrating.
I suffered through until I wore them out and recently replaced them with some extra light Compass. A couple of weeks ago I had one blow off my rim. I’m pretty sure it was user error (I really hope it was user error), because I was in a hurry and pumped them from completely flat. It was a low speed blowout less than 1/2 mile from home, but now I have that in the back of my mind every time I ride. I’m seriously considering going back to tubulars.

I suspect the answer you need to hear is 'Veloflex'

[R3awak3n]

I wish the only bad challenge tires were the open tubular ones. I have a thread about one of the new tubeless ones and how I spend countless hours trying to mount it, the bead would just not sit straight no matter what Id do. Luckily bike tires direct let me return them. Not sure what is going on at challenge, bad design? Bad qc? So many stories of desatisfied customers

[oldpotatoe]

A pair of Challenge Paris Roubaix was my first venture into open tubulars/clinchers after a lifetime of only riding tubulars.
I’ve experienced frequent flats, and the tires fit so tightly on my rims that roadside repairs were long and frustrating.
I suffered through until I wore them out and recently replaced them with some extra light Compass. A couple of weeks ago I had one blow off my rim. I’m pretty sure it was user error (I really hope it was user error), because I was in a hurry and pumped them from completely flat. It was a low speed blowout less than 1/2 mile from home, but now I have that in the back of my mind every time I ride. I’m seriously considering going back to tubulars.

Yes, yes, tubies need to be glued on properly but 'safety' is one of the many advantages of tubular design..as compared to clinchers that flat(come off, maybe) or some crappy designs do what yours and Kirk's were doing..

[livingminimal]

I wish the only bad challenge tires were the open tubular ones. I have a thread about one of the new tubeless ones and how I spend countless hours trying to mount it, the bead would just not sit straight no matter what Id do. Luckily bike tires direct let me return them. Not sure what is going on at challenge, bad design? Bad qc? So many stories of desatisfied customers


Same!!!!!!

Open Tubulars have been garbage for me no matter who makes them. Vittoria or Challenge! Oh well. Im only riding 35c+ hybrid gravel/road tubeless these days anyway.

[El Chaba]

Challenge...The struggle is real....

[sparky33]

About two years ago I wanted to stuff as big a tire as I could in my everyday road bike with normal short reach brakes and I bought a set of Challenge Strada Bianca 30 mm tires.
In the end I mounted a set of used Compass 32mm tires from my dedicated gravel bike and had to do a bit of grinding on the underside of the brake to get the taller Compass 32 mm tire to just barely squeeze in there. It was too tight and when I hit just a bit of mud the bike nearly ground to a halt with build up under the caliper but I made it through both days with an occasional scraping noise and all was fine. The 30 mm Challenge would have been just right....if they stayed on.


Some years ago, a Challenge Grifo XS blew off (bang!) twice, thankfully not riding. Supple but scary. The second time happened in a hotel room, and I think the staff suspected a murder - funny looks all weekend.

The Schwalbe S-One Speed 30 is a plump short reach brake tire, it plumps to 31 or so with use. Rolls well. For a road bike, it's just the right amount smaller than a Compass 32 (which is a wonderful tire).

[R3awak3n]

I had a vittoria tire come off one time, I am not sure what I did but the tube came out from under the tire. Tube was still inflated and out of the rim. It was very strange. I was lucky this happened when I was climbing and not going down on the other side of the hill.

[sparky33]

Vittoria does a 30mm tire fwiw.

Do they measure close to 30?
I also see a 30mm tubular (https://www.vittoria.com/us/corsa-control-competition-race.html) which sounds kind of fun.

[NHAero]

So should I be worried about the Vittoria Corsa G+ 28s that came on my used Firefly? Mounted on HED Belgiums. Awfully nice riding tire. I didn't have any difficulty mounting them.

[sparky33]

So should I be worried about the Vittoria Corsa G+ 28s that came on my used Firefly? Mounted on HED Belgiums. Awfully nice riding tire. I didn't have any difficulty mounting them.

Challenge tires are in a league of their own when it comes to blow-off and mounting difficulty. I've not had this same kind of trouble with Vittoria, Compass, etc.

[FlashUNC]

Do they measure close to 30?
I also see a 30mm tubular (https://www.vittoria.com/us/corsa-control-competition-race.html) which sounds kind of fun.

Yup. I've got the tubular and it's bang on 30. Great tire.

[slambers3]

Ok just to play the devil's advocate;
It is entirely possible when the OP installed the tire, there may have been an issue with the installation, not necessarily the tire. I've seen this happen with experienced hands, not just the novice changing an occasional flat by the side of the road. A pinched tube or bad fit of the tire to rim simply could result in a blowout, especially with a loose fitting tire/rim combination. Additionally, anyone who has spent any time working in a shop changing tires/tubes knows that if a tire blows off a rim for whatever reason, there's a good chance it won't say on the rim again. Whether that's from a stretched bead, damaged sidewall/bead, or initial manufacturing defect, it becomes hard to say.
Cotton casing "open tubular" tires are simply not as user friendly as conventional molded rubber tires. They have substantial performance benefits (lower rolling resistance, good cornering traction etc) but that comes at the cost of ease of use and long term durability. These tires aren't for everyone-Some folks just can't help but ride in the gutter and attract all of the broken glass in the road, and in that case your paper thin "ultra supple" casing can only protect your tube so much.

[fa63]

Ok just to play the devil's advocate;

It is entirely possible when the OP installed the tire, there may have been an issue with the installation, not necessarily the tire. I've seen this happen with experienced hands, not just the novice changing an occasional flat by the side of the road. A pinched tube or bad fit of the tire to rim simply could result in a blowout, especially with a loose fitting tire/rim combination. Additionally, anyone who has spent any time working in a shop changing tires/tubes knows that if a tire blows off a rim for whatever reason, there's a good chance it won't say on the rim again. Whether that's from a stretched bead, damaged sidewall/bead, or initial manufacturing defect, it becomes hard to say.

Cotton casing "open tubular" tires are simply not as user friendly as conventional molded rubber tires. They have substantial performance benefits (lower rolling resistance, good cornering traction etc) but that comes at the cost of ease of use and long term durability. These tires aren't for everyone-Some folks just can't help but ride in the gutter and attract all of the broken glass in the road, and in that case your paper thin "ultra supple" casing can only protect your tube so much.I would suggest looking up the OP (David Kirk) and see if it changes any of your opinions.

[slambers3]

I would suggest looking up the OP (David Kirk) and see if it changes any of your opinions.

I'm well aware of who he is. It's possible for experienced people to make a mistake. Have you ever overlooked an error you made and blamed some other factor? We all have blind spots.
I'm not saying necessarily that's what happened because it's impossible from behind my desk, but as I said, just playing devils advocate and trying to advance the discussion.

[Jaybee]

I'm well aware of who he is. It's possible for experienced people to make a mistake. Have you ever overlooked an error you made and blamed some other factor? We all have blind spots.
I'm not saying necessarily that's what happened because it's impossible from behind my desk, but as I said, just playing devils advocate and trying to advance the discussion.

It is possible, though unlikely, that Mr. Kirk made a mistake installing the tire. Expertise and experience doesn't immunize you against error. Devil's advocacy is important to test our assumptions.

Can you square your installation error hypothesis with the many many other reports, in this thread and elsewhere, of Challenge tire failure- most of which have nothing to do with Dave Kirk? I wouldn't expect that there would be meaningfully different rates of installation error across tire models/brands*, but it seems that Challenge is always correlated with blowouts, tread delamination, etc. Admittedly we are working with anecdata here.

There are too many other good tires out there to gamble on these, IMO.


*and if there is a model of tire that has a higher rate of installation error, that seems like a design flaw of the tire

[jtbadge]

No need to advocate for the devil here, the history of Challenge tires threads on this and other forums speak for themselves. The tires repeatedly fail catastrophically after difficulty mounting, frequent flats, and tread delamination.

[oldpotatoe]

No need to advocate for the devil here, the history of Challenge tires threads on this and other forums speak for themselves. The tires repeatedly fail catastrophically after difficulty mounting, frequent flats, and tread delamination.

YUP...
It is possible, though unlikely, that Mr. Kirk made a mistake installing the tire.

More than once..he had the thing blow off.
but it seems that Challenge is always correlated with blowouts, tread delamination, etc.

Yup, called 'devil's' advocate for a reason...the tires are junque..no operator error...

[kingpin75s]

Yep. Kind of a love-hate relationship with Challenge, but fortunately the ritual I have to go through because of the difficulty mounting them gives me some comfort once seated on their final destination.

I keep a cheap wheel set around that has looser rim tolerances than my good sets, so it is easier to mount up front (yes, still very much a Challenge ;)) I mount them on my cheap rims and pump them up to a really high pressure and let them marinate for a couple days before moving them to a good set of wheels. If they seat fine at high pressure on a sloppy rim, I have confidence that the batch is good.

My old PRs at an actual 30c width were the nicest tires I have probably ridden. That said, I have a lot more Grand Bois/Compass tires in rotation than Challenge because, you know.

[David Kirk]

Ok just to play the devil's advocate;
It is entirely possible when the OP installed the tire, there may have been an issue with the installation, not necessarily the tire. I've seen this happen with experienced hands, not just the novice changing an occasional flat by the side of the road. A pinched tube or bad fit of the tire to rim simply could result in a blowout, especially with a loose fitting tire/rim combination. Additionally, anyone who has spent any time working in a shop changing tires/tubes knows that if a tire blows off a rim for whatever reason, there's a good chance it won't say on the rim again. Whether that's from a stretched bead, damaged sidewall/bead, or initial manufacturing defect, it becomes hard to say.
Cotton casing "open tubular" tires are simply not as user friendly as conventional molded rubber tires. They have substantial performance benefits (lower rolling resistance, good cornering traction etc) but that comes at the cost of ease of use and long term durability. These tires aren't for everyone-Some folks just can't help but ride in the gutter and attract all of the broken glass in the road, and in that case your paper thin "ultra supple" casing can only protect your tube so much.

You are of course correct....despite my 40 years of working in the industry and mounting countless thousands of tires without incident there's always a first time. I fully admit that I may have not properly seated the tire the first time when it blew up just leaning against the wall despite the fact that they only had 50 psi in them.

And I suppose it's even possible that the second time I mounted the tire that I messed up again despite being super careful due to the first issue. Possible? Sure. Likely? No.

What I can say for sure is that I used a pair of these tires for two seasons (with multiple mount dismount cycles to fix flats or mess with wheels) without a single issue.....on these very same wheels mounted by the same guy, pumped up with the same pump/gauge. So when the one tire blew off twice (different sides of the tire FWIW) it was very out of character.

On top of that the testimonials on this thread have shown me that either no one here knows how to mount a tire or that the tires vary enough that many have had serious safety issues with this tire.

And....on top of that if I looked closely I could see and feel the difference in the actual bead of the tire between my old successful pair and the new scary pair. There was a design change or a very wide tolerance in how they were made.

In the end I threw the new ones out to be sure I never mistakenly mounted them again forgetting that they like to blow off the rim without cause or warning. Life is too short to ride wondering if the tires will stay on the rims.

Thanks as always for reading.

dave

[Kirk007]

You are of course correct....despite my 40 years of working in the industry and mounting countless thousands of tires without incident there's always a first time. I fully admit that I may have not properly seated the tire the first time when it blew up just leaning against the wall despite the fact that they only had 50 psi in them.

And I suppose it's even possible that the second time I mounted the tire that I messed up again despite being super careful due to the first issue. Possible? Sure. Likely? No.

What I can say for sure is that I used a pair of these tires for two seasons (with multiple mount dismount cycles to fix flats or mess with wheels) without a single issue.....on these very same wheels mounted by the same guy, pumped up with the same pump/gauge. So when the one tire blew off twice (different sides of the tire FWIW) it was very out of character.

On top of that the testimonials on this thread have shown me that either no one here knows how to mount a tire or that the tires vary enough that many have had serious safety issues with this tire.

And....on top of that if I looked closely I could see and feel the difference in the actual bead of the tire between my old successful pair and the new scary pair. There was a design change or a very wide tolerance in how they were made.

In the end I threw the new ones out to be sure I never mistakenly mounted them again forgetting that they like to blow off the rim without cause or warning. Life is too short to ride wondering if the tires will stay on the rims.

Thanks as always for reading.

dave

Dear Dave,

I think it was probably a problem with the bike. You should send it to me to save yourself from further risk of injury. I promise to sign whatever release form you require.

[K3RRY]

Thanks for sharing! I’ll be more careful when I inspect tires before installing

[thwart]

Having scanned through this thread again, it appears one tire was defective, having blown off the rim on both sides.

Take home message for me: If I elect to continue riding Challenge tires (which I will) I need to very carefully check the bead of any new tire I mount.

What's interesting is just this past weekend I decided to change wheelsets on my Riv Romulus. Took off a wheel set with Soma Supple Vitesse SL 32c tires (certainly a nice tire, no doubt, and these had latex tubes too) and put on a similar wheelset but with Challenge Eroica 30c (blackwall) tires mounted. Butyl tubes. Will be traveling with the bike, may be riding in some rain and didn't want to hassle with cleaning the gumwalls or dealing with the slow leak of latex tubes. I installed a new rear Eroica tire (hoarded NOS in an airtight container ;)) since the rear was fairly worn... then went out for a vigorous ride.

I marveled how smooth the ride was, and how sticky the tires felt while climbing on fine gravel and in corners as well.

Sure hope that the folks at Challenge do something about their QC. Soon.

https://jazamin.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/mg_0164.jpg?w=603

[benb]

I had not one but 2 Vredstein tires (Fortezza tri-comp about 10 years ago) both do this. It scared the daylights out of me. The tires had been on sale and I bought about 4 of them. I had trouble with the first one I put on the front rim blowing off. It blew off after I got off the bike at the end of the ride, I thought it was weird. Put a new tube in. It did it again, right after I got off the bike at the end of the ride. Put another tire on, it again blew off. At that point all of them went in the trash, including the one on the rear tire that had not shown any signs of issues.

I think it is more just QC around the diameter of the tire having variance than anything else. Still scary though.

I also much more recently went through a set of Challenge Gravel Grinders and never had any trouble running them right till they were worn through. Those were not cotton sidewall/open tubular style though.

Between companies like Enve coming out against Open Tubulars/Cotton sidewalls and repeated mentions of issues like this with Open Tubulars I have no interest... they are more expensive, are often more likely to tear/flat, might have safety issues, and buy you a little bit of suppleness and usually < 10w improved rolling resistance over the same tire with vulcanized sidewalls.

I view them as the same thing as Tubulars.. if you're in a race with a follow vehicle/support staff it's worth it, the rest of the time nope. Any performance benefit is not worth the cost/hassle/wear/safety/whatever issues... conservative tires are fine for me.

[dmurphey]

Can you give me an accurate outside diameter or radius of that Conti 30mm tire? If you can that would be awesome.

dave

Conti 5000's in 700 x 30 size mounted on DT swiss alloy rim measure 30 mm wide and 30 mm tall above the rim edge.

[David Kirk]

Conti 5000's in 700 x 30 size mounted on DT swiss alloy rim measure 30 mm wide and 30 mm tall above the rim edge.

Cool - thanks for the info.

dave

[merckx]

Conti 5000's in 700 x 30 size mounted on DT swiss alloy rim measure 30 mm wide and 30 mm tall above the rim edge.

The GP 5000 is available in 622-28, and 622-32. Among those two sizes which one measures 30mm x 30mm? What is the inner rim width?

[PacNW2Ford]

Donnelly CDG in 700x30c at 65 psi on HED Belgium Plus rims:
radius = ~346mm
width = 31.4 mm
height from rim = ~30mm

[dmurphey]

The GP 5000 is available in 622-28, and 622-32. Among those two sizes which one measures 30mm x 30mm? What is the inner rim width?

merckx is correct! Conti 5000's don't come in 700 x 30. They come in 28 or 32. I ran 28's for the last few years and tried a little fatter. I can't resist trying a little fatter tires. I am now running Conti 5000 in 700 x 32 and they ride very well. They measure 29-30 mm wide on normal DT swiss alloy rims.

[David Kirk]

Conti 5000's in 700 x 30 size mounted on DT swiss alloy rim measure 30 mm wide and 30 mm tall above the rim edge.

Hey DM - I wonder if I can impose on you in the name of science? Would you mind measuring the tire the way shown in the photo?

I put a piece of tape on the vertical surface so that I can make marks and not worry about it. The wheel is placed up against the wall so that it is vertical and then a square is placed against the tire and the wall. The wheel needs to be as vertical as possible. Then I make a mark on the underside of the square on the tape....and then of course measure from the mark to the floor.

It's just like proud parents measure the growth of their kid on a door jamb.

This method should give quick and accurate results.

I measured a few tires I have here -

Compass 700 x 28 - 684mm OD
Challenge 700 x 30 - 688mm OD
Compass 700 x 32 - 692mm OD

I hope that makes sense. It would rock of you could try it this way and let me know what you get.


dave

[Heisenberg]

have had awful luck with 4-5 sets of Challenge since their re-emergence as a brand a 5-10 years back. clinchers delaminating and blowing off rims. tubulars lumpier than arenberg. they're ****in' garbage.

friends don't let friends ride Challenge, unless you want them dead/missing teeth.

[dmurphey]

Hey DM - I wonder if I can impose on you in the name of science? Would you mind measuring the tire the way shown in the photo?

I put a piece of tape on the vertical surface so that I can make marks and not worry about it. The wheel is placed up against the wall so that it is vertical and then a square is placed against the tire and the wall. The wheel needs to be as vertical as possible. Then I make a mark on the underside of the square on the tape....and then of course measure from the mark to the floor.

It's just like proud parents measure the growth of their kid on a door jamb.

This method should give quick and accurate results.

I measured a few tires I have here -

Compass 700 x 28 - 684mm OD
Challenge 700 x 30 - 688mm OD
Compass 700 x 32 - 692mm OD

I hope that makes sense. It would rock of you could try it this way and let me know what you get.


dave

Happy to oblige. These measure 690 mm tall overall on DT Swiss RR440 rims. Same method of measurement as above.

[David Kirk]

Happy to oblige. These measure 690 mm tall overall on DT Swiss RR440 rims. Same method of measurement as above.


Very cool - that's a solid usable number.

Thank you.

dave

[Spdntrxi]

enve came out against them

[Spaghetti Legs]

[QUOTE=Spaghetti Legs;2592637

I have a set of the Challenge vulcanized 120 tpi Strada Bianca in a 33 size and they held up nicely on 400 mile tour with 100+ miles of gravel. I just bought a set of the vulcanized Paris Roubaix (27 that everyone measures at 29) that I hope will just squeeze onto my Ciöcc. I’ll post back how those work out.

Glad the blowouts didn’t cause injury. I hope Challenge will make it right for you.[/QUOTE]

So here’s the report on the Paris Roubaix. I mounted the rear and pumped up to 40 or 50 psi, anticipating that it would be a squeeze to get in the bike. Mounted the front one and pop!, blew out at about 85 psi. I did notice that the bead is flimsier and although they weren’t hard to mount, the bead would fall out as I was moving around the tire.

Anyway, I tried again, paying super close attention to the seat of the bead and got both tires pumped up to about 85 psi. Rode 32 miles, including 14 miles gravel today with no problems.

[bironi]

To those recommending 700x30 Vittoria tires, which model for gravel use?
Thanks much.
I did get by with 3 rides of Cino on the Challenge 30s, but they are sketchy.
I believe one blew off my front open pro while riding on the road. That may have been my end, but a big buddy was riding on the traffic side of the road shoulder and his big body prevented my small one falling into the traffic lane.
Dumb luck.
I rode Cino this year on some older Schwalbe One 28 clinchers.
Not as cushy but held up well.
Byron

[Spaghetti Legs]

To those recommending 700x30 Vittoria tires, which model for gravel use?
Thanks much.
I did get by with 3 rides of Cino on the Challenge 30s, but they are sketchy.
I believe one blew off my front open pro while riding on the road. That may have been my end, but a big buddy was riding on the traffic side of the road shoulder and his big body prevented my small one falling into the traffic lane.
Dumb luck.
I rode Cino this year on some older Schwalbe One 28 clinchers.
Not as cushy but held up well.
Byron

The Tirreno Dry comes in a 31. They were too big to use on the bike I got them for, but they have good reviews. I'm going to use them on my cross bike. I'll use Open Pave in a 25 for mix paved/gravel rides but I don't think I would use them for Cino. I don't think come bigger than 25, maybe 27.

[FlashUNC]

Corsa Control I've used in the 30. Sure it'd be fine for gravel of the lighter variety. Anything that needs more tire you'll probably be headed to 650b something or others anyways.

[merckx]

If one is reaching for a definition for the word irony, look no further than Challenge tires that require herculean strength to mount, yet indiscriminately separate from the rim while JRA.