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Wider Tires?

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Old 11-15-08, 08:13 PM
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Wider Tires?

I have a question about the potential benefit of running wide tires for cross. I currently use Grifo 32mm and they are great for most courses and conditions. However, I happen to be weak on very technical courses (ie lots of tight turns) and I wonder if a wider tire (something like the IRC Mythos 42mm) could help me out as I work on my skills. I am strong on the straights so I am not that worried about giving up speed there.
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Old 11-15-08, 08:54 PM
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How about practicing tight turns? What a radical idea, working on your weaknesses!
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Old 11-15-08, 08:56 PM
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P.S. Strong on the straights? I'll be the judge of that.
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Old 11-15-08, 09:01 PM
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Originally Posted by flargle
How about practicing tight turns? What a radical idea, working on your weaknesses!
very helpful - thx

as I said in my post "I wonder if a wider tire could help me out as I work on my skills"
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Old 11-15-08, 10:55 PM
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I have an IRC Mythos on the front of my singletrack wheelset. I think it corners through grass much better than 32mm tires. I'm not sure if that will make you (or me) a better rider though.
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Old 11-16-08, 07:57 PM
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Well, they might help you on bumpy sections purely because of the extra air volume. It might be worth a shot. Also, what kind of tyre pressure are you running in those Grifos? I used to run 50psi in mine, but when I finally got ok at missing pinch flat type obstacles I took them down to the 25-35 range and my cornering grip improved.

Also, how old are those Grifos? Older ones don't have side knobs, and those knobs really help with traction on corners and off-camber sections.
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Old 11-17-08, 04:37 PM
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I run the grifo's at 40psi in races - still a bit cautious about nailing obstacles. They are older so they don't have the side knobs. I've been looking at the new fangos and might go that route next year. I was toying with the idea of putting some wider tires on my spare clincher wheels and when pre-riding a course trying out both just to see which give me more confidence before a race.
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Old 11-17-08, 05:26 PM
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I use the Mythos 42c for my singletrack tires as well. The one time they found their way on to a spare race wheelset, I found them so draggy in the grass as to make any cornering advantage moot; obviously this is course-dependent, and you should test yourself to see if you think the tradeoffs are worth it.
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Old 11-20-08, 01:29 AM
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I am currently looking at some tires and i need some advice.... I am intending to use this to commtue arround and cyclocros trails... With tire woud be good? Since i want to used it on pavemnt too. I was looking that are some that are more that are flatter without that much pattern and there are some that have a lot of pattern... With ones are good? ALSO HOW WIDE?
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