This evening I got out of the house somewhat late and only had about two more hours of daylight available. I left for a quick loop to the Twannberg and Magglingen. It was a test for two things - the creaky Bio-Centric BB and a Bontrager XR3 29x2.1 tire I mounted in the rear. Well, the clean BB with a fresh application of CarboGrip continued to creak badly in the steep stuff. I’ll be testing gasket paper next to try to quieten down the horribly loud bottom bracket. If that fails I don’t think there’s another fix other than ear plugs or another bike. Neither of those solutions being appealing.
Now to the Bonti tire. This tire isn’t a true 2.1. It’s as skinny as a 1.9. The tire is amazingly grippy, though. At the same time it flies across the trail with little rolling resistance. It’s a fast, very versatile tire that can handle the variety of surfaces my local trails offer. Whether gravel, rocks or roots, the XR3 put my pedal stroke into immediate forward motion. It’d be a perfect rear tire with a bit more volume. At its current size, it’s unfortunately prone to occasional snake bites, much like tonight, unless pumped up above 40 PSI.
| Distance: | 27.8km (17.3 miles) |
| Total Climb: | 1’680m (5’512 feet) |
| Time: | 01:47:54 |
| Speed (avg/max): | 15.4/52.1 kph (9.6/32.4 mph) |
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