Challenge Strada Bianca

[rain dogs]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

It took me 30 minutes to get one tire on..there is NO WAY this young lady could change a flat on the road..

I'm not looking to start any argument, but I'm sure you of all people know those tires stretch out like crazy once mounted. First time.... for sure that young lady would be SOL, but roadside after use, it's no noticeable difference. I haven't had a flat, but I took one off to see if it would clear a fork and it almost feel off.

AND... if their are better tires out there, What's a better tire than a Strade Bianca? 700x30? Those grand bois tires (etc) at Compass sure are supple, but you wanna talk about flats? Everyone I know that uses those tires complains about flats. Do they even have flat protection?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by rain dogs

I'm not looking to start any argument, but I'm sure you of all people know those tires stretch out like crazy once mounted. First time.... for sure that young lady would be SOL, but roadside after use, it's no noticeable difference. I haven't had a flat, but I took one off to see if it would clear a fork and it almost feel off.

AND... if their are better tires out there, What's a better tire than a Strade Bianca? 700x30? Those grand bois tires (etc) at Compass sure are supple, but you wanna talk about flats? Everyone I know that uses those tires complains about flats. Do they even have flat protection?

My first experience with these tires and considering how much hassle it was to get them on in the first place, I wasn't going to smile at her and tell her she wouldn't have any problem if she had a flat on the road. If she had a flat on her first ride and couldn't fix it, my name would have been mud.

There is no reason to have a tire that is this hard to get on the first time, assuming it will 'stretch' with use. There are too many other tires out there that don't have to be 'broken in'...

This along with other issues with Challenge means I didn't want to sell them, support them...

[El Chaba]

I've said it before, and there seem to be plenty of data points here....I am only familiar with Challenge tubulars, but they range from fantastic to horrific, and inconsistent quality control is the culprit. It is a shame, too as the good ones are quite nice...and there are tires in the Challenge range that really don't have equivalents elsewhere..One of my favorites is the Triathlon....It uses the old fine file tread that was used on some of the Classic Clement "Extra" tires. I have some tires on the rack to use up, but I will have to see evidence of improved quality to buy more. As it is, the preferred wheels get Veloflex and the Challenge tires are left for where only heavy lifting is involved...

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by rain dogs

AND... if their are better tires out there, What's a better tire than a Strade Bianca? 700x30?

I'll take 70% of the ride quality with none of the hassles in the form of a Conti GP 4 Season, or a Schwalbe Ultremo. There's plenty of good options out there that it doesn't make sense to roll the dice and hope the Challenge employees were paying attention the day your tires were made.

Heck, I liked Kenda's Super Domestique tubular over their Strada tubular. Rode every bit as nice for a fraction of the cost.

[palincss]

Originally Posted by rain dogs

What's a better tire than a Strade Bianca? 700x30? Those grand bois tires (etc) at Compass sure are supple, but you wanna talk about flats? Everyone I know that uses those tires complains about flats. Do they even have flat protection?

I've used Grand Bois Cypres 30mm tires for probably 16,000 of the last 18,000 miles on my Velo Orange Randonneur. The tires last me something like 3,000 miles and I average something like 1,000 miles between flats. I've never complained once about that.

Challenge Parigi Roubaix, on the other hand - those I get maybe 300 miles between flats. Yes, they're not the SB, but the original SB is exactly like the PR only a few mm wider. Great ride, terrible to mount the first time, flat at the sight of a piece of glass, the operational definition of a "fragile tire."

[MaraudingWalrus]

Zombie thread revival.

I love the way one set of my challenge strada biancas ride...but one got a blowout and had those wheels out of commission for a while as a result. Just getting around to mounting the replacement.

Agreed that I can mount the old one easily now, much easier than the first time around.


But the new one that's replacing the blown out one...I've been fighting with it off and on for three or four hours. Raw hands, blisters, the whole deal just shy of blood. I'm a mechanic at a shop - meaning I'm the guy people bring their tires to when they can't get them on...and I can't get these ****ers on. There's no real person to go "upstream" with to get them mounted. I remember when I first put this set on, it took both us mechanics at the shop...but that's not an option at 10pm on a Saturday before a 7am ride. I mean, I guess it is...but the other guy's got kids and we already spent 20+ hours together this weekend.

Whole deal as described above- tire is so flat and tight to the rim that there is no room for to get the tube stuffed up inside.

Definitely won't be replacing these with the same thing once have a flat or issue.

Tire is cookin' in the dryer now. We'll see. Beeping any minute now

[jtbadge]

They're definitely easier to get mounted to the rim after the first time. The problem I had with mine is that they continued to get softer on the sidewalls until the cotton eventually delaminated, which I'm sure would have caused a blowout had I continued to ride them. Not sure I'd buy another set, even though I enjoyed the ride greatly.

[jamesdak]

My most flatting tire. I'll never get another set of these.

I bought this tool just because of how difficult there tires are to mount.

[FlashUNC]

Good to know the company name is still an accurate representation of dealing with these tires on a regular basis.

Talk about truth in advertising.

[MaraudingWalrus]

Cooked the damn thing in the dryer for several ten to fifteen minute spurts. No dice. And this wasn't even a tubeless rim - mounted a set of maybe Challenge Criteriums to some Boyd Altamonts for a friend a while back and that was hell.

Gave up and rode my Sworks Hell of the North tubies - I'd have been more likely to get those on and off repeatedly than the Challenges.


In unrelated topics?
Does anybody want to buy a pair of 30mm Challenge Strada Biancas? They're great riding tires, barely used (one of em not ever mounted). Really easy to mount once you get em on there and use em for a bit....

[gavingould]

mounted up a fresh set of these a few years back.
once i got both beads on the rim (sans tube) it had to sit on there a couple days totally flat to the rim before i could work up the strength to stuff in a tube.

i'd say it's impossible to get them on, inflated with a tube, and ready to roll in less than 24 hours.

[merlinmurph]

Been there, done that.

After getting a pair and wrestling for over an hour trying to get one mounted, I was reconsidering my purchase. I let them sit on the rim for a month, tried to mount them again, and gave up. I kept thinking about dealing with them when I flatted.

Glad to hear people love them, but I sold them to a forum member. Just not worth it to me.

[ERK55]

Mounted a set of these a few months back, on HED Belgium + rims. First tire took more than an hour (I think I wrecked a tube in the process). Second tire nearly the same. My hands weren’t the same for several days. The tires do ride nicely, bit I’ve only ridden them on smooth roads so far. Would not look forward to a flat in Timbuktu.

[earlfoss]

Are people still having problems with Challenge tires blowing off the rims? I have read about some experiences with this across the hall, and can't seem to find if the issue has been addressed. The Paris Roubaix and the Strada Bianca look really nice, but these issues have been the only thing keeping me from mounting on my DT460 rims.

[DaveS]

Originally Posted by earlfoss

Are people still having problems with Challenge tires blowing off the rims? I have read about some experiences with this across the hall, and can't seem to find if the issue has been addressed. The Paris Roubaix and the Strada Bianca look really nice, but these issues have been the only thing keeping me from mounting on my DT460 rims.

I've had good experience recently (mounting the first time was a pain, but no issues afterwards, and they stretched just enough that changing flats was easy).