Unravel the scratchgravels XC race report

 Went to Helena and raced the scratchgravels this weekend. This was the first mountain bike race I ever did, back in 2014, on my Kona King Kahuna. I think I won the cat 3 2 lap race, and remember getting lapped by Landon Beckner, who was a pretty promising young junior at the time. My laps were about 27min long and my average speed according to strava was 12.9mph.

I've since improved a little at bike racing, despite now being 10 years older. It appears my fastest recorded lap on strava was 22:10 in 2022, on my hei hei. the last two years I've done it on my procaliber, but the start got moved forward a bit so the first laps aren't getting counted on the strava segment.

Anyway, yeah, been going to this race for awhile now. it's on low elevation trails and double track on the northwest side of Helena, and is a great first race of the season in montana. It's also great for younger racers and beginners and i try to do a little promotion in Missoula to get people to go out to it. This year we had 3 of the team stampede kids but not too many others. Kalispell brought the usuals of Matt, Joel, Stella, Alan was there from bozeman, and I think they were fairly happy with the total registration numbers.

The start is uphill on a double track so it's a little narrow and at best you might get 5 wide on the line. I was on the 2nd row and at the start slotted into about 4th wheel on the left tire track. It took me about a minute to get a little impatient plus I noticed the guys in the track next to me possibly creeping up, so instead of staying there and getting boxed in and being in the bunch for the first downhill corner I picked up the pace and hopped over into the other track, then led over the crest of the first hill and into the turn. going into it first means I got a nice clean wide line and immediately created a little gap, leaving the others to chase me on the generally uphill but rolling double track, then there's an really annoyingly steep short climb into the first singletrack section.

I kept on it and had Matt and one other guy chasing me, just a few seconds back but never on my wheel through most of the 1st lap. You reach the low point of the course and then climb back up on doubletrack to the start finish and that was where Matt got the closest. he was essentially on my wheel but I really wanted to make him work for it since we were uphill into a headwind and he never quite got there. From there it was pretty uneventful- the gap kept creeping up and then I just kept up a steady pace and kept drinking my drink mix, and held on for the win. very cool to get that one and a nice start to the mtb season. Thanks Helena united cycling for putting it on.

Going to the strava data my overall time was over 4min faster than 2022 when I set that "fastest lap." but by selecting first lap it appears i was at least a few seconds faster. Was also about a minute and a half faster than last year on the same bike in similar conditions (cool, cloudy, some very light rain, a little wind). Average speed this time was 15.2, for 4 laps. 

Tire review - Schwalbe Thunder Burt

 Last summer before butte, I found myself with two sets of mtb tires that were getting a little worn down and wanted something that was fast, light, and had fresh tread for the race. The racing ray/ralph combo was been pretty good all around on the hei hei but is a little on the heavy side (770g/tire for 29x2.35 super ground). Pirelli XC/RCs are light at 700g in a 2.4 but never really felt super fast and after a spring of use the grip had fallen off significantly despite the tread wear still looking fairly ok (this is common with XC tires though- the fresh, sharp edges on the little knobs do a lot of work). It also turned out the pirellis test slow on bicycle rolling resistance. They looked cool I guess but yeah no sorry won't be buying those again.

So, deferring to the bicycle rolling resistance charts I went with the fastest tire they've tested- the schwalbe thunder burt

I'd always been curious about riding tires like this full time but was a little cautious. The kenda sabers are super light and fast and flimsy but only come out on special occasions, where these I was going to ride all the time on the hardtail plus at butte on the hei hei.

In 29x.2.25, super ground casing (there's also a lighter super race, which according to brr is slower) they came in at about 630g and measured a little on the small side with my 29mm internal width rims. I want to say 2.2 or so. Skinny and not much to them but the larger size was out of stock. With these on that loose sandy butte course, especially in the first half, I was a little all over the place but on a more normal trail and hardpack dirt they're fine. And they went fast and made it through the race. I didn't weigh my bike but with 630g tires and 1200g wheels, I'm guessing well into the 24s.

With that first set getting pretty worn I recently bought another set because I couldn't come up with a better option. This time n 2.35. They measure true to size on the same wheels and came in at 700g each. Been riding them at 19/20 psi f/r and they give a nice good cushy feel.

Mainly though, these tires roll really, really, really fast. They feel as fast as a good road tire going across town on the pavement and the bike just flies uphill out on the trails. Plus, for conditions where these would be a challenge I have the hei hei with more aggressive tires. My best description of traction on these is "better than you'd expect."

Is this a good all around tire for general mtb riding? no. But if you want to go fast, this is the one. The main downside is that they are expensive for a pretty limited condition, flimsy tire, but all the tires are getting fairly expensive these days.