Like those times where nothing seems to go as planned and it’s down to kickin it with buddies and cheap beer. Yet somehow they are the best memories and turn out better than you could have expected! Well this is one of those bad beer moments hypothetically speaking!
---Now the Dirty Dan review---
Made plans with my buddy Mike to ride the 5k trail and test the Schwalbe Dirty Dans a few days ago, the snow was up above the tree line so it was prime for mud with the fast snow melt and the super steep chutes with rocks and rocky creeks would add the extra OSF (Oh $h!t factor). Figured if we are going to have spikes rolling on us this was it.
We gather our gear up the night before, Mike calls and asks if I have the other set of Dans for him to slap on and a “THE” fender to keep it out of his face. So I gather the extra stuff needed and pack it in the truck Monday night. Wake up Tuesday to snow flurries here at the house; well we are substantially lower than the 5k by a few thousand feet so I know they are getting dropped on. Well it’s the cheap beer moment, usually followed by watch this and looked back on with a smile with thoughts of what the hell were we thinking!
Well this turned out to be a great idea, with the exception of blowing up the rear drive mechanism in my hub it was way better day than we could have planned.
To give a layout of the trail it’s up towards the ski resort, right at the 5k marker you park and have to grab the bike and gear run across the road and jump over one of those road barriers that keep you from flying off the cliffs and hillside a thousand or so feet down. It’s an animal track so it’s tight, skinny and takes some extremely steep lines and exposed areas. It runs down and then along a rim to another super steep and long chute to the creek down below. It winds along exposed areas that are off camber, over rocks and through several creek crossings etc. This trail is not a beginner or intermediate trail even in the best of conditions so this made it that much more inviting!
Here’s what we headed to!
OK so to the performance of the tires!
Snow/Steep hills and mud:
6” of snow wet and muddy underneath on long super steep chutes between bushes and rocks off camber on a hill that at best braking acts like rudders and steers the bike but won’t stop it. You literally keep gaining speed with front and rear locked.
Mike and I were literally flying down the chutes with fingers lightly holding the levers but letting the traction hold the line and the brakes for an occasional rudder check for snap turns or pitching the bike for change in direction.
They performed flawless, complete grip all the way down with no loss of traction, there were a few spots I felt the back end get out (deeper skinny ruts) but only for a split second and the side lugs grabbed immediately getting it back in check.
Mud:
They hook up really well, totally predictable on cornering and the side shoulder lugs on them help the cornering and off camber spots amazing. I did note that Mike in front was using the outer side of the tire on an off camber section in mud and it held a line without issue. I hopped off the bike to take a look and slipped off the trail turns out its A LOT safer on the bike than off!!!
Rocks and creek:
Just that, I did not notice any shoulder roll on these over the rocks or sliding out, the guey gluey was a huge help in this department. I did notice that in the creek crossings that the spiked dug in and allowed me to keep my feet on the pedals and moving forward in deeper water vs. the wash out and foot off. The rock had snow, mud, wet and were jagged as well as off camber so we got a good amount of trail hazard that puts a tire through its paces.
Pedaling:
They tires have a lot less rolling resistance than expected especially for being a Guey Gluey compound (soft), they do like any spike tire dig and have a little but they brake in control as well as you can easily pedal up snow hills with very little spinning. I had to crank HARD a time or 2 to get the rear to slip while climbing and this along with a variety of things led to the demise of the rear drive in my hub. 235lbs and hammering on it intentionally didn’t go well together! Like all spike tires they have some lug vibration on pavement but its minimal with the softer compound.
The GUEY GLUEY compound worked out best with the terrain and conditions we had, these grabbed slick rocks and held a line.
So overall I’m impressed, I’ve had these to the jump lines, freeride line, hard pack, dry chutes at hells gate, ROCK solid frozen ground (that sucked), ladders and more and aside of a small amount of slip on wet wood ladders and ICE they performed a lot better than I could have planned. I have had these pinned and railing corners and have yet to get the white feeling of blood and fear as I lose control on a corner.
---Now the Dirty Dan review---
Made plans with my buddy Mike to ride the 5k trail and test the Schwalbe Dirty Dans a few days ago, the snow was up above the tree line so it was prime for mud with the fast snow melt and the super steep chutes with rocks and rocky creeks would add the extra OSF (Oh $h!t factor). Figured if we are going to have spikes rolling on us this was it.
We gather our gear up the night before, Mike calls and asks if I have the other set of Dans for him to slap on and a “THE” fender to keep it out of his face. So I gather the extra stuff needed and pack it in the truck Monday night. Wake up Tuesday to snow flurries here at the house; well we are substantially lower than the 5k by a few thousand feet so I know they are getting dropped on. Well it’s the cheap beer moment, usually followed by watch this and looked back on with a smile with thoughts of what the hell were we thinking!
Well this turned out to be a great idea, with the exception of blowing up the rear drive mechanism in my hub it was way better day than we could have planned.
To give a layout of the trail it’s up towards the ski resort, right at the 5k marker you park and have to grab the bike and gear run across the road and jump over one of those road barriers that keep you from flying off the cliffs and hillside a thousand or so feet down. It’s an animal track so it’s tight, skinny and takes some extremely steep lines and exposed areas. It runs down and then along a rim to another super steep and long chute to the creek down below. It winds along exposed areas that are off camber, over rocks and through several creek crossings etc. This trail is not a beginner or intermediate trail even in the best of conditions so this made it that much more inviting!
Here’s what we headed to!
OK so to the performance of the tires!
Snow/Steep hills and mud:
6” of snow wet and muddy underneath on long super steep chutes between bushes and rocks off camber on a hill that at best braking acts like rudders and steers the bike but won’t stop it. You literally keep gaining speed with front and rear locked.
Mike and I were literally flying down the chutes with fingers lightly holding the levers but letting the traction hold the line and the brakes for an occasional rudder check for snap turns or pitching the bike for change in direction.
They performed flawless, complete grip all the way down with no loss of traction, there were a few spots I felt the back end get out (deeper skinny ruts) but only for a split second and the side lugs grabbed immediately getting it back in check.
Mud:
They hook up really well, totally predictable on cornering and the side shoulder lugs on them help the cornering and off camber spots amazing. I did note that Mike in front was using the outer side of the tire on an off camber section in mud and it held a line without issue. I hopped off the bike to take a look and slipped off the trail turns out its A LOT safer on the bike than off!!!
Rocks and creek:
Just that, I did not notice any shoulder roll on these over the rocks or sliding out, the guey gluey was a huge help in this department. I did notice that in the creek crossings that the spiked dug in and allowed me to keep my feet on the pedals and moving forward in deeper water vs. the wash out and foot off. The rock had snow, mud, wet and were jagged as well as off camber so we got a good amount of trail hazard that puts a tire through its paces.
Pedaling:
They tires have a lot less rolling resistance than expected especially for being a Guey Gluey compound (soft), they do like any spike tire dig and have a little but they brake in control as well as you can easily pedal up snow hills with very little spinning. I had to crank HARD a time or 2 to get the rear to slip while climbing and this along with a variety of things led to the demise of the rear drive in my hub. 235lbs and hammering on it intentionally didn’t go well together! Like all spike tires they have some lug vibration on pavement but its minimal with the softer compound.
The GUEY GLUEY compound worked out best with the terrain and conditions we had, these grabbed slick rocks and held a line.
So overall I’m impressed, I’ve had these to the jump lines, freeride line, hard pack, dry chutes at hells gate, ROCK solid frozen ground (that sucked), ladders and more and aside of a small amount of slip on wet wood ladders and ICE they performed a lot better than I could have planned. I have had these pinned and railing corners and have yet to get the white feeling of blood and fear as I lose control on a corner.
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. how much longer till your back in socal ?