Getting off-road on a cross bike

[hozn]

@mikoglaces 124191 wrote:

Thanks. Very helpful. I might plan a loop where I ride north on the trail and back on roads so back won’t be a problem anyway.

Those roads out there are kinda terrifying for cycling. Avoid Hunter Mill if at all possible, anyway.

You’ll be fine on 32mm tires, just don’t scream “no brakes” and bomb down the hills. And bring 2 tubes (and patches) to ward off the evil spirits. I’ve ridden it tubed and tubeless with 32mm tires.

If I had tubes in a 32mm tire I’d probably run it 50psi for my ~175lb weight. I would expect to bottom out (and pinch flat) at 40psi. I used to run 40-45psi when running Kenda tubeless 32mm tires on those trails. I’m running tubeless now with 38mm (measure a little smaller, I think?) Triggers and running somewhere a little north of 35psi. The more feature-rich trails are to the south/west of the CCT once you hit 7, but the CCT does have some roots and rocky sections too.

Definitely do the ride, though; it’s a lot of fun. And riding through Lake Fairfax to reconnect with the W&OD is highly recommended.

[mikoglaces]

@hozn 124209 wrote:

Those roads out there are kinda terrifying for cycling. Avoid Hunter Mill if at all possible, anyway.

You’ll be fine on 32mm tires, just don’t scream “no brakes” and bomb down the hills. And bring 2 tubes (and patches) to ward off the evil spirits. I’ve ridden it tubed and tubeless with 32mm tires.

If I had tubes in a 32mm tire I’d probably run it 50psi for my ~175lb weight. I would expect to bottom out (and pinch flat) at 40psi. I used to run 40-45psi when running Kenda tubeless 32mm tires on those trails. I’m running tubeless now with 38mm (measure a little smaller, I think?) Triggers and running somewhere a little north of 35psi. The more feature-rich trails are to the south/west of the CCT once you hit 7, but the CCT does have some roots and rocky sections too.

Definitely do the ride, though; it’s a lot of fun. And riding through Lake Fairfax to reconnect with the W&OD is highly recommended.

“NO brakes.” I love it.

I do ride Hunter Mill Road. Not the best. I’ll have to look on a map to find that lake fairfax route. Thanks.

[vvill]

So I finally set up my first tubeless wheelset today. What a chore!

I put some Kenda Kommando 32mms on Crest rims. They first one seated surprisingly easily, but the second one made up for that. Had to put in a tube and inflate and then remove it to seat one side first. I’m using a regular floor pump, actually a basic Serfas one – which could be part of the issue.

Not sure how I feel about tubeless right now. These tires are thicker and seem harder than the 33mm Clement PDX/MXPs I’ve been using, presumably to prevent burping/etc, and they’re narrower and lower volume – so the way I’m running them, they feel about the same (or maybe even worse) in terms of handling. Having to re-add sealant every 3-6 months (and also having to re-inflate/seat them each time doesn’t sound like fun. I’ve had almost no flats on tubes on my Stans rims (2 across wheelsets), outside of low pressure testing on practice CX runs. I will drop the pressure once I’m sure these are holding though, and maybe there’ll be a revelation.

I hope Clement’s tubeless tires come out soon, but it seems like it won’t be ’til the end of this CX season at best.

[hozn]

That is too bad! I also had Kommandos on those rims; I didn’t have trouble seating them, but I do have a high-volume Lezyne floor pump that makes seating things pretty easy. I really like running lower pressure (but probably still 40psi for me with those tires in LFP) and tubeless makes that possible.

GB and I rode LFP this AM from 6-7 and I felt my rim bottom out a couple times on the rocks, so I would likely have flatted with tubes. But the control is so much better when the tires are softer (~35psi, 38mm in this case). So try dropping the pressure down a bit. Especially on a CX course where you don’t have to deal with rock gardens, etc.

[gtmandsager]

I hit up the MoCo trails yesterday, rode up and back on the towpath, it was awesome! Three of us on cross bikes, one on a mtb. We went up seneca creek, over seneca ridge, ducked into the HT on Darnestown rd, and then took turkey foot to the muddy branch trail to get us back to the towpath. Couldn’t have scripted better weather for fall riding (shorts and short sleeves?!?).

The trails were fantastic, and even though a cross bike may not have been ideal, I certainly felt comfortable enough and managed to keep up reasonably well with the guy on a 29er. I ran my tubeless setup (Vittoria XL Pro TNT), which made all the difference. I ran cross race pressure (because that was the point), 25/27psi front/rear and everything held up great. I bottomed out a few times but the rims don’t seem worse for the wear. I lost count, though, of the number of likely pinch flats, at least a dozen. There were plenty of big tree roots and rocks that would have done me in for sure. So I highly recommend, but not with tubes and only if you’re confident in your setup.

Next up (I think), Lake Fairfax.

[dasgeh]

BTW, I found a gravel road in Arlington. (Ok, it has a sign that calls it an alley, but googlemaps calls it a road.) Anyone care to guess?

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