Special Edition News And Views

Imagine that this actually says "Donnelly" and not Clement.

Donnelly MSO 50mm Tire:

When it has been possible, I have been riding this MSO tire. You might say, "big deal!", and I wouldn't blame you if it was a 40mm or smaller MSO. But it isn't a 40mm. This is a 50mm tire. It is a lot like the Terrene Honali, only with more tread. The MSO weighs a touch more, and is actually about the same size overall. The puncture protection belt is there as well. Not surprisingly then, they both ride quite similarly.

Now I cannot imagine many racers wanting to use this beast of a tire, (the term "beast" used in relative terms here), because for one thing, not many gravel bikes will actually have the clearance for this tire. But I can imagine this being a Tour Divide tire. I can imagine this as a Fagro-ish tire for those wanting to finish Dirty Kanza, or a like event. I can imagine it as the tire one puts on a 29"er for dry single track and as a gravel bike tire too.

I have this set mounted to my Pofahl single speed which I have been having fun riding of late. It is nice that I was able to integrate reviewing a set of tires with riding this old friend again. The fit is really good. I'd forgotten how it felt to ride. The weather is turning against me though, and the time I have to spend on it in 2017 is drawing to a close. Hopefully I'll get a few more rides in before the snows and cold come to stay so I can get this review wrapped up.

Vittoria Terreno Mix and Terreno Dry tires

Vittoria Gravel Treads:

These gravel/all-road/adventure tires keep coming. It is quite amazing to me yet that all these specific purpose tires are coming out. I still remember when people were using Schwalbe Marathon Extremes for everything gravel because that was one of the only reliable, bigger volume tires available for gravel travel.

In the past, just having a design specific to gravel travel seemed like a dream to me. Then tubeless designs came and I was floored. Now actual high end technologies are being employed which are simply just astounding. Take these Graphene infused samples from Vittoria that I have here. The claim is that these are going to have a stiffer tread in straight lines and softer in corners, in braking situations, and for climbing. Whoa! That's just weird.

So, I guess I'll put these on some wheels and give them a go. Who knows? Maybe all this science stuff will actually work. Then again, maybe it won't be such a big deal. However that works out in the end, the fact that the cycling industry is putting this kind of effort into tires for adventure/all-road/gravel bikes shows that this deal has come a long way and seems to be the focus in the industry now.

A frosty morning commute not long ago.

Brown Season:

Fall is over. Yeah........I know. The calendar still says it is Fall. Weather-wise it isn't Fall anymore. It is the Brown Season. That time when everything is dead and the snow isn't here to whiten things up yet.

The winds from the Northwest bite and they are strong. Like up to 40mph strong yesterday. My luck, the route to work is dead Northwest. Right into the teeth of it.

And while it may sound cliche', my commute to work is mostly uphill. Really. So with that wind, the cold, and everything brown and dead, my commutes have been rather cheerless of late. Well, true......going home has been fine. Fast even. That part is good at least.

We've had a brief coating of frost a few mornings, and even some fog to make things interesting, but this brown thing doesn't set well with me. That and the shorter days. It can get on me and make me feel grey. I know that a lot of folks feel that way this time of year. Getting outside helps. Riding a bicycle seems to do the trick for me.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'll be taking the day off here. I hope that you all have a wonderful day doing whatever it is that you have going on. I'll have a regular post going on Friday here.