Okay ...

Yes. Trek appears to use the tire in the crappy tire review the thread references in all the CheckPOINTS

Hes swapping for the tire used on the new CheckMATE


try to at least follow along

Thanks for the clarification.

And you still don't get it, it is not puttering around on a weighted bike, it is going out and experiencing new places, camping or not and having fun in the outdoors. Sometimes you meet really cool people or have memorable experiences that you cannot get on a normal ride to the store and back or race on the MUP. It is like backpacking by bike, in fact these days they have bikepacking. If you truly don't love camping and riding a bicycle and experiencing new things then yes touring is probably not for you but if you haven't tried it you could be missing out and it might make you a more rounded individual.

He gets it. He’s just trying to get to you. The more good points you make, the dumber he’ll play.

No puttering and no Cat 6 MUP racing here. Just lions and bull elk and bears. Oh my!

That's also covered by my statement.

I've never used Facebook, but I wonder: would these threads look more at home there than here?

lol. Another pic and irrelevant tour related anecdote. Where’s the cow pic?

The checkmate Girona tires come in a 42 and 38 and 42 is in stock. Can’t be much difference between 38 and 42 ?

The GR1 is not a bad tire, it just a little heavy and is not a very fast roller. Is it a race tire? No, but for the average Joe, or Josephine, it works out fine.

The only reason I mentioned the Girona's is I feel like you were definitely wanting to swap them out based on reviews from what I am going to assume, are bike review sites, which to me, get overly picky as they are used to having the finer things in life. When I built up my CheckPoint, I decided to go with a couple different tire variants based on the conditions of what I would be riding. The Girona's came along after I had built up the bike and I gave them a whirl as I decided to give Trek's 30 day return policy a spin. I liked them so much, I kept them and sold off the Schwalbe tires I had been using for the fast gravel routes. So far, knock on wood, no flats in roughly 800 miles give or take. I was actually surprised how nice they rolled and for the most part are pretty grippy unless you get into some loose sand in the corners, then you might slide a bit, but that should be expected with any tire having a fast gravel tire profile.

I’m glad I could return the favor by making you laugh.

Which cow pic do you want to see? I have several.

I’m going to give them a try. It’s a free swap and the stock don’t have anything over the Girona apparently. I’m guessing the GR1 will be phased out soon. That Rollingresistance review is possibly hindering sales of the numerous pricey bikes it’s used on.

I remember a quote from my days working in a shop, “parts is parts.” Based upon my experience, I would say fewer than half the buyers of high-end road bikes even know what brand tires they are fitted with, and fewer still would be able to tell the difference in ride quality between one tire and another. Trek and other makers realize this, so they are likely to fit the cheapest tire they can source. Tires are also the most perishable item on a bike, and those riders who actually put a lot of miles on their bikes will change out the tires soon enough.
For myself, if the original tires on a bike suck (as they did on my most recent new bike), I buy and install a new set.

Yup, if folks cared about stock tires, or they drove bike sales, most road bikes would come with GP 5000s, or whatever the InterWeb darling tire of the moment is.

I would guess the vast majority ride the tires that come with the bike and only the select hardcore swap.

These stock tires have such a dismal review on what appears to be an objective website that they may be the exception.

I highly doubt the tires are reducing sales. People pull saddles and tires on new bikes all the time, it pretty much a normal thing. A normie rider looking at that style of bike more than likely is not reviewing the Bike Tire Rolling Resistance site. They are generally the rider out with the family and not worried about how many watts a tire on their bike is costing them or if they are aero.

I suspect it is a factor in the decision making of a more casual rider shopping similarly equipped and priced bikes.

While I wasn’t looking at alternatives, knowing the Roubaix came with well reviewed tires, that I would not be tempted to swap, at least played a part in the purchase.

Yes, the idea that casual cyclists are poring over tire reviews, and are subsequently avoiding certain bike models because of the tires, is just silly.

No, casual riders aren't looking at tires, and the "enthusiasts" have already gone through every possible change or mod to the bike imaginable in their heads (cause they got no life), either way tires will have no effect on sales, except maybe by nutty newbies living in northern latitudes sans a clue...

Possibly but if there was a bike comparable to the FX6 and it had tires I didn’t need to swap I would at least consider if dealer charged for the swap.

As it stands, fast flat bar carbon fitness bikes with electronic shifting are scarce.

Not surprised about the tire choice, manufacturers usually skimp somewhere to hit a retail price. Ride 'em and replace or sell them as takeoffs.

If anything I'm surprised you haven't gotten lost in the weeds over the half-qr half-thruaxle thing Trek does on some of their bikes, including this one.

Oh I flipping hate that on my FX5.... why Trek, why. Just run with normal thru axles.

It's literally the only reason I'm not going to buy and FX6 and instead build up an equivalent Checkpoint, which is too bad because everything else is perfect!

Yea I had an extra set of Aeolus Pro 37's and luckily they use the DT Swiss shell body\internals, so I was able to get the quick release caps for the wheels from DT Swiss and I could use those wheels. My wife's FX 4 was the prior year and hers has standard thru axles...

I had a real Garry Larson/"The Far Side" moment when I saw that brown steer with the bullseye on it during the 2012 edition of D2R2. Quality tires a must for that ride. The metric route that year had well over 7,000' of climbing, and 80% of the route was unpaved and included wet cobblestones of bygone New England carriage roads.

Not really concerned about the thru-axle situation. I rarely remove a wheel. It's not as stiff Whats the big deal ?

I get they use a tire to hit a price point, but they also use the same tire on top-end SLR bikes running 7k+ USD. Those customers won't think twice about swapping tires on a new bike.

Regardless the FX6 Apex is great value and the dealer is doing a free swap so the point is moot