Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Xfusion

Xfusion G.E.T. 30 Gravel Bike Suspension Fork:

A new choice in front suspension for a gravel bike is now offered by Xfusion, a company known maybe more for its value oriented MTB suspension fork offerings. The new fork, dubbed the G.E.T. 30, (Grand Epic Trail) is based on a 30mm diameter stanchion platform and is available in the aforementioned 30mm of travel but can be converted to have 40mm or 50mm of travel. 

The fork also features external rebound adjustment and a lock-out function. There is a "Qflip" lever, designed for drop bars, which can lock out the fork or be used as a dropper post lever which is available separately. 

The damper unit is based on an air spring design for lightweight. It also is adjustable. The damper is Xfusion's Finecut RL2 sealed cartridge design damper which offeres improved oil flow for better small bump sensitivity, according to Xfusion. 

Offsets are available in 45mm or 51mm. The fork with an uncut steer tube weighs a claimed 2.9lbs. Designed for 700c wheels and gravel tires in Matte Black or Gloss Sand.. The G.E.T. 30 starts at $659.00 USD.  

Comments: You all probably know I am not a fan of telescopic, short-travel forks for gravel riding. That aside, this seems like a good alternative to Fox and SRAM/Rock Shox if someone is convinced this is a good idea. (Having a gravel suspension fork.)  

Image courtesy of Stoll Bikes

The 32" Watch: Big Wheels Win, Are Faster:

In the new world in which we live now where 32"er bikes roll on this planet, we now can say one of these monster wheeled bikes has won something. 

The Cape Epic, a multi-stage MTB XC event saw rider Felix Stehli win Stage three with his partner rider. Stehli was riding a production Stoll Bikes 32"er FS bike. 

In other 32"er news, Trans Iowa veteran (v8) rider John Karrasch has an article up on "The Escape Collective" in which he shows his recent testing on the Maxxis Aspen 32"er versus the same model in 29".  

John does a lot of rolling resistance testing on MTB and gravel tires,. He also has a bike fitting business so check out his work  

English Cycles prototype 32'er. Image courtesy of English Cycles

English Cycles, a custom bike builder from Eugene , Oregon, has a new prototype 32"er built as a bike packing rig. 

When I interviewed Sam Alison for the Guitar Ted Podcast recently he mentioned bike packing as being one of the ways 32"ers would likely be used. 

Seems Rob English would agree. His proto is for his testing purposes. In a blog post on the English Cycles site, Rob said he tried to maintain the fit and proportions of his 29"er as much as possible. He goes into great detail about certain aspects of building around this wheel size which is interesting.  

Check out this bike in further detail on the English Cycles' site HERE. 

Heard From Mid-South: Teravail has two 32" tires coming out. They will be based on the Cannonball and Camrock models. 

Rumors: Salsa Cycles Fargo 32"er? Seems to be a rampant rumor and was heard on the Shiftless podcast a week ago. Also: Mavic is rumored to be looking into 32"ers. Stay tuned.... 

 Finally another small builder, BTCHN Bikes, has an Alpina 32"er hardtail available now which looks interesting. Available in Med, L, XL sizes only. Check out the details on their sire HERE.  

The USA Trail Coast to Coast News:

The Spinistry folks are letting their TUBA Trail supporters know that the recon of the route, mostly gravel and dirt, across the USA has been completed. 

We interviewed Kevin Lee of the Spinistry who is the main developer of this trail on our Guitar Ted Podcast earlier this year. (Listen to the episode HERE) Kevin was still in the final stages of the trail's development then, but you get a great idea from the talk we had as to what this trail will be like. 

The trail changed names from TUBA Trail, (Transcontinental Unpaved Bicycle Adventure) to the USA Trail Coast To Coast . The name change reflects this trails status as being the first coast to coast, mainly unpaved trail for bicycle travel/touring. Kevin Lee is quoted in a recent email to TUBA Trail founders which I was able to see as follows: "While there is plenty of room for unpaved riding, we need a name that eliminates confusion and immediately tells the world what we’ve built."

The next stage in this trail's development is a Fall 2026 "dress rehearsal" riding of the route to work out any bugs and then the trail will be formerly opened, barring any issues, afterward.  

For more details see the TUBA Trail Founders page HERE.  

Image courtesy of SRAM

Hammerhead Karoo Share: 

Now Hammerhead Karoo users can share ride routes between devices. SRAM announced the update to the Karoo yesterday in a press release. 

SRAM claims routes and profiles can now be shared "immediately" between Karoo devices. Last minute adds at start lines are now totally possible with Karoo. 

You can learn more about this update and Karoo devices at Hammerhead's site HERE. 

Comments: I tried a Hammerhead Karoo 2 several years ago now and was really disappointed in it. Hopefully SRAM's purchase of Hammerhead has upped the experience quality for users. If you have a Hammerhead, how has it been for you? Let me know in the comments. 

Iowa Wind and Rock Announces Virtual Challenge Opportunity: 

The annual Iowa Wind and Rock event had to be cancelled due to health concerns for the event director. (Fortunately we are expecting a full recovery) 

Instead of the actual event, IWAR is putting out the #NotIWAR challenge. where riders are asked to do a long ride on the weekend of April 17th -  19th. From their Facebook post:

"Although we had to cancel this year's event, there's no reason for your training and fitness to go unused. We'd like to see you, and some friends, challenge yourself with a long ride sometime during the weekend of April 17 - 19. Ideally 100 miles or more, but if the conditions are right, a shorter distance will do. Gravel, bikepacking, singletrack, or mixed surface - it's all good. Just get out and push your limits for a few, or many, hours.

While we're not able to get our community together this year, we think it would be great to have everyone share photos and be able to read stories about their rides! Email works, or better post to IG or FB and use the hashtag #NotIWAR. No promises, but we might try and send something for each one that's submitted as well as gather the submissions and post them on the website as a bit of race history."

So, if you are reading this and think it is a great excuse for a bicycle ride, please consider supporting this idea. Ride a long ride, submit some images and words with the #NotIWAR hashtag, and show some support for this longstanding ultra-gravel ride, and more so for the RD who is recovering from medical procedures which prevented this year's event from happening. 
 

That's a wrap on this week. Happy Spring! get out and ride those bicycles!

More Tire Talk

The most recent Guitar Ted Podcast was about tires.

About a week ago, I wrote up a mini-series about tires and the questions folks have about them which end up, generally speaking, in a discussion that looks a whole lot like a discussion about religion. 

The tire theme is a VERY popular subject on the podcast I do, on Riding Gravel, and almost anywhere that there are more than two people in a forum online. I guess tires matter to y'all, and so I keep talking about them and writing about them here and elsewhere. 

In the latest "Guitar Ted Podcast" episode, I mention in the podcast that "air pressure is the most misunderstood thing about tires." I mentioned this in my mini-series briefly by saying the following:

"Tire pressures are another easy to understand difference here. But these settings should always change with weight, terrain concerns, and with regard to the weather conditions. Tire pressures are "set and forget' for many riders, but this is an oversimplification and those folks are cheating themselves of the best results that they could have. But then again, if you don't care......"

I made a mistake in that quote by saying simply that "Tire pressures are another easy to understand difference here." when I should have said "....easy to understand once you examine the reasons why." The thing is, most riders don't think about this, so they misunderstand, or maybe more accurately, are ignorant to, the differences tire pressure can make for a rider. 

In other words, you should carry a gauge and a pump for reasons of changing tire pressures more than you should for flat repairs. I said it on the podcast, but think about any motorsport: They make micro-adjustments to tire pressures all the time to effect various performance outcomes. We cyclists even practice this with our 'more sensitive to air pressure changes' tires such as fat bike tires or "plus sized" tires. (If you aren't doing pressures adjustments with fat bike tires, YOU NEED TO!) 

A tire's construction should inform tire pressure choices.

Not only should you be experimenting with tire pressures, you should also understand that how a tire is made should inform which tire pressures you should use. 

For instance, a tire that is simply a folding bead tire with no extra puncture protection belts or that is not tubeless can be run at a higher pressure and have a certain performance outcome. Now, switch that tire out for a puncture protected tire that is tubeless ready. What should you do? 

If you understand that puncture protection belts and that tubeless construction techniques make a tire sidewall stiffer, then you might understand why a lower pressure than you used with the first tire will help you reach the same/similar performance outcomes of that first tire. 

This can be illustrated by a tire I used when testing 29"er products from GEAX, (now Vittoria). I had run one of these tires which was not puncture protected and was used at about 28psi. When I got a hold of the armored tire in the same size and model, I had to lower my tire pressure into the upper teens to realize similar riding characteristics to the previous tire. 

Now, that is obviously an extreme example, but it illustrates that choosing an air pressure to run tires at arbitrarily and loosely based on the flawed maxim that "higher pressures roll better", is bad thinking. It is a mistake that many riders still make. 

Now, you may be thinking, "Okay Ted, but your examples are all for MTB and fat bike tires which you say are more sensitive to air pressures. What about gravel tires?" 

Even gravel tires, like this 40mm IRC Boken, are sensitive to air pressure changes.

Gravel tires respond to changes in air pressures also. The difference is that the amount of change is more to effect a change than it is with high air volume tires. 

So, for instance, my 'plus sized' Teravail 29" X 2.8" Coronado tires can be noticeably different in ride feel when changing from 18psi to 20psi. You can feel a BIG difference. Now, changing a gravel tire's pressure by 2 psi makes no discernible difference, but it makes a difference. If you want a discernible difference, you'll likely have to change the pressure by at least 5psi. So, I like to say that your "window" of hitting it right for what you are looking for is wider with a gravel tire than it is with a fatter, plus sized tire, or even a fat bike tire, where going 1psi either way is noticeable in terms of ride performance in snow or mud. 

Okay, so tire construction will help you choose tire pressures, and making changes in air pressures experimentally will help me dial in a "right" pressure for me and my riding style. But when you arrive at :The Pressure", you're done, right? 

Wrong!

 Conditions also will dictate what pressures you should be running. Are the roads you are going to be riding fairly clear of loose gravel and hard, or are these roads littered with fresh gravel? You need to adjust pressures accordingly. I mean, obviously, if you don't care, you can ride whatever pressures you want. This advice is for anyone wanting to arrive at the best performing tire and best ride feel that they can get. 

So, think about all that and see if it makes sense to you to try different air pressures or not. The bottom line? Just ride. You are better off riding your bike, no matter what the air pressures are, than not riding and over-thinking the minutiae of tire pressures. 

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

More Tire Talk

The most recent Guitar Ted Podcast was about tires.

About a week ago, I wrote up a mini-series about tires and the questions folks have about them which end up, generally speaking, in a discussion that looks a whole lot like a discussion about religion. 

The tire theme is a VERY popular subject on the podcast I do, on Riding Gravel, and almost anywhere that there are more than two people in a forum online. I guess tires matter to y'all, and so I keep talking about them and writing about them here and elsewhere. 

In the latest "Guitar Ted Podcast" episode, I mention in the podcast that "air pressure is the most misunderstood thing about tires." I mentioned this in my mini-series briefly by saying the following:

"Tire pressures are another easy to understand difference here. But these settings should always change with weight, terrain concerns, and with regard to the weather conditions. Tire pressures are "set and forget' for many riders, but this is an oversimplification and those folks are cheating themselves of the best results that they could have. But then again, if you don't care......"

I made a mistake in that quote by saying simply that "Tire pressures are another easy to understand difference here." when I should have said "....easy to understand once you examine the reasons why." The thing is, most riders don't think about this, so they misunderstand, or maybe more accurately, are ignorant to, the differences tire pressure can make for a rider. 

In other words, you should carry a gauge and a pump for reasons of changing tire pressures more than you should for flat repairs. I said it on the podcast, but think about any motorsport: They make micro-adjustments to tire pressures all the time to effect various performance outcomes. We cyclists even practice this with our 'more sensitive to air pressure changes' tires such as fat bike tires or "plus sized" tires. (If you aren't doing pressures adjustments with fat bike tires, YOU NEED TO!) 

A tire's construction should inform tire pressure choices.

Not only should you be experimenting with tire pressures, you should also understand that how a tire is made should inform which tire pressures you should use. 

For instance, a tire that is simply a folding bead tire with no extra puncture protection belts or that is not tubeless can be run at a higher pressure and have a certain performance outcome. Now, switch that tire out for a puncture protected tire that is tubeless ready. What should you do? 

If you understand that puncture protection belts and that tubeless construction techniques make a tire sidewall stiffer, then you might understand why a lower pressure than you used with the first tire will help you reach the same/similar performance outcomes of that first tire. 

This can be illustrated by a tire I used when testing 29"er products from GEAX, (now Vittoria). I had run one of these tires which was not puncture protected and was used at about 28psi. When I got a hold of the armored tire in the same size and model, I had to lower my tire pressure into the upper teens to realize similar riding characteristics to the previous tire. 

Now, that is obviously an extreme example, but it illustrates that choosing an air pressure to run tires at arbitrarily and loosely based on the flawed maxim that "higher pressures roll better", is bad thinking. It is a mistake that many riders still make. 

Now, you may be thinking, "Okay Ted, but your examples are all for MTB and fat bike tires which you say are more sensitive to air pressures. What about gravel tires?" 

Even gravel tires, like this 40mm IRC Boken, are sensitive to air pressure changes.

Gravel tires respond to changes in air pressures also. The difference is that the amount of change is more to effect a change than it is with high air volume tires. 

So, for instance, my 'plus sized' Teravail 29" X 2.8" Coronado tires can be noticeably different in ride feel when changing from 18psi to 20psi. You can feel a BIG difference. Now, changing a gravel tire's pressure by 2 psi makes no discernible difference, but it makes a difference. If you want a discernible difference, you'll likely have to change the pressure by at least 5psi. So, I like to say that your "window" of hitting it right for what you are looking for is wider with a gravel tire than it is with a fatter, plus sized tire, or even a fat bike tire, where going 1psi either way is noticeable in terms of ride performance in snow or mud. 

Okay, so tire construction will help you choose tire pressures, and making changes in air pressures experimentally will help me dial in a "right" pressure for me and my riding style. But when you arrive at :The Pressure", you're done, right? 

Wrong!

 Conditions also will dictate what pressures you should be running. Are the roads you are going to be riding fairly clear of loose gravel and hard, or are these roads littered with fresh gravel? You need to adjust pressures accordingly. I mean, obviously, if you don't care, you can ride whatever pressures you want. This advice is for anyone wanting to arrive at the best performing tire and best ride feel that they can get. 

So, think about all that and see if it makes sense to you to try different air pressures or not. The bottom line? Just ride. You are better off riding your bike, no matter what the air pressures are, than not riding and over-thinking the minutiae of tire pressures. 

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Friday News And Views

A map of the Butterfield Stage gravel route

Butterfield Stage Experience Route Announced:

People that ride bicycles LOVE point to point routes and having them drawn up for them ahead of time. I don't typically roll that way, liking to do my own research, but from time to time, I see something that piques my interest that is a pre-planned route. This new route announcement coming out of Missouri is just such a thing.

Here is the lowdown from the Butterfield Stage Experience site:

In 1858, John Butterfield personally carried the first bag of mail, boarding the Pacific Railroad in St. Louis. Butterfield's journey took him through Jefferson City, California, Tipton, Syracuse, Florence, Cole Camp, Warsaw, Bolivar, and Springfield--a journey you can live again by bicycling the Butterfield Stage Experience route in Missouri.

 Your ride on the Butterfield Stage Experience will bring you to all of these historic routes and places--and more.

In the 1920s the Dry Wood Threshers Association of Sheldon, Missouri, erected stone monuments at the location of every known Butterfield Stage Station in Missouri.

In the 1950s, to commemorate the centennial of the Butterfield Stage, the Missouri State Historical Society erected metal signs at towns along the Butterfield route in Missouri. Most signs direct you to the actual Butterfield Stage Station location (and corresponding stone monument) a few miles outside of town.

Tracking down those markers and monuments--as well as dozens more historically significant buildings and places across Missouri--is a big part of what makes the Butterfield Stage Experience a real adventure--and a real experience.

So, this ticks all the boxes for me. Self-supported touring, history, and gravel, all combined in a route you can do all of, or parts of. I think I need to make time on my calendar to experience this. 

 Controversy Over Almanzo Changes:

The chain of events started with the original founder of the Almanzo 100, Chris Skogen, announcing in August of 2018, that he was taking over the reins as the organizer of the Almanzo events. This after three years of being "retired" from organizing the events which traditionally have been held the weekend after Mother's Day in Spring Valley. Then, in a bombshell announcement in November of 2018, Skogen announced that the event was leaving Spring Valley due to some communications and requirements from officials in Spring Valley that seemed to be untenable to Mr. Skogen. The Almanzo events (100, 165, and 380 mile events) were moved from Spring Valley, Minnesota to Northfield, Minnesota, requiring all new courses for the three traditional event distances plus the addition of a 50 mile event which was added as well. 

Then, on Tuesday of this week, a mere four days before the inaugural Northfield events, Skogen announced that all the Almanzo events were not going to be timed and scored, and that there would be no number plates issued to riders. This announcement produced a flurry of both supportive and negative reactions. Skogen then, according to my contacts that saw it, posted a Facebook video claiming that the negative comments were inflicting too much stress and that this year would be the last Alamnzo. That video was pulled down within an hour of its posting. Then the following day, (Wednesday), Skogen posted on Facebook saying that he stood by his decision to eliminate timing and scoring and to not issue bib numbers since it was "a barrier to participation". Skogen then went on to cite failing bicycle businesses and falling participation in events as a reason for this decision to stand. The question of whether or not this will actually be the last Almanzo has been left unanswered by the latest post I've seen.

Almanzo's "Alexander" distance, 380-ish miles, was to have started by the time you've probably read this. The remainder of the Almanzo events, the traditional 100, the Royal 165-ish, and the new Malanzo 50, are to be held tomorrow. 

Okay, so I've recounted the facts here. Make of that what you may. My personal take is that I find this very odd. Whether or not Almanzo should or should not be a timed, scored, and otherwise "traditionally marked" race is up for debate. To me, that is all secondary to the timing of the announcements. This strikes me as being unnecessary. Why not run this year's events as they have in the past, and make your changes next week for 2020? (Unless this truly is the last Almanzo) What happens to the number plates and work done to time and score the event, which, one would think,  surely must have been in place a week before the event?  Odd. Seems a waste and ill-timed to me, unless....well. I don't know the particulars. So, my questions stem from having run events. Again- you are welcome to have your opinions, these are my thoughts as a race/event director. 

Good luck to those riding from Northfield tomorrow.  

The Bubblegum Princess with IRC Boken Plus tires.

 Records Were Made To Be Broken:

The record I have in my tire roll down test I conduct with tires I am reviewing was set several years ago when I ran a set of Gravel King SK 40mm tires. There were tires that came close, but none that exceeded the lower rolling resistance of that set of tires.

I used to use the Tamland for all those tests, as much as I could. The Tamland has disc wheels and QR attachment for those. Most every wheel I had was in that standard, so it made sense to make the Tamland the "control" bike and keep things as similar as possible. 

But as standards changed, (and I use that term loosely), I decided to switch from using the Tamland to using the Black Mountain Cycles MCD. It has through axles, disc brakes, and otherwise is very "Tamland-ish" in that it is steel, with a steel fork. Anyway, it is what it is. A change was necessary since almost every wheel I'll test now, or own, will be 12mm through axle until such time that some knuckle headed enginerd decides we need to change that.  

So, anyway- the record. Well, I use a big, steep downhill that is paved in town, (surface remains consistent), that spills out into a double tracked gravel/dirt thing. The Gravel King was one of the only set of tires that rolled without pedaling into this double track. Now I have a set of IRC Boken Plus 650B X 47mm tires set up tubeless on the BMC MCD and I took it over to the "test track". 

Result? Record blown away! I not only made it into this double track, but I went about an eighth of a mile up it. So, I broke the record not by a little- by a LOT.  By more than the changes in bike would seem to affect things. If anything, I would have pegged the BMC as slower since the body position is a bit more upright. Anyway..... 

It is clear to me that the IRC Boken Plus is the fastest tire I have yet tested on that course. Scary fast! I suspect that record will stand for some time, but..... Records were made to be broken.  

Have a great weekend! 

Friday News And Views

A map of the Butterfield Stage gravel route

Butterfield Stage Experience Route Announced:

People that ride bicycles LOVE point to point routes and having them drawn up for them ahead of time. I don't typically roll that way, liking to do my own research, but from time to time, I see something that piques my interest that is a pre-planned route. This new route announcement coming out of Missouri is just such a thing.

Here is the lowdown from the Butterfield Stage Experience site:

In 1858, John Butterfield personally carried the first bag of mail, boarding the Pacific Railroad in St. Louis. Butterfield's journey took him through Jefferson City, California, Tipton, Syracuse, Florence, Cole Camp, Warsaw, Bolivar, and Springfield--a journey you can live again by bicycling the Butterfield Stage Experience route in Missouri.

 Your ride on the Butterfield Stage Experience will bring you to all of these historic routes and places--and more.

In the 1920s the Dry Wood Threshers Association of Sheldon, Missouri, erected stone monuments at the location of every known Butterfield Stage Station in Missouri.

In the 1950s, to commemorate the centennial of the Butterfield Stage, the Missouri State Historical Society erected metal signs at towns along the Butterfield route in Missouri. Most signs direct you to the actual Butterfield Stage Station location (and corresponding stone monument) a few miles outside of town.

Tracking down those markers and monuments--as well as dozens more historically significant buildings and places across Missouri--is a big part of what makes the Butterfield Stage Experience a real adventure--and a real experience.

So, this ticks all the boxes for me. Self-supported touring, history, and gravel, all combined in a route you can do all of, or parts of. I think I need to make time on my calendar to experience this. 

 Controversy Over Almanzo Changes:

The chain of events started with the original founder of the Almanzo 100, Chris Skogen, announcing in August of 2018, that he was taking over the reins as the organizer of the Almanzo events. This after three years of being "retired" from organizing the events which traditionally have been held the weekend after Mother's Day in Spring Valley. Then, in a bombshell announcement in November of 2018, Skogen announced that the event was leaving Spring Valley due to some communications and requirements from officials in Spring Valley that seemed to be untenable to Mr. Skogen. The Almanzo events (100, 165, and 380 mile events) were moved from Spring Valley, Minnesota to Northfield, Minnesota, requiring all new courses for the three traditional event distances plus the addition of a 50 mile event which was added as well. 

Then, on Tuesday of this week, a mere four days before the inaugural Northfield events, Skogen announced that all the Almanzo events were not going to be timed and scored, and that there would be no number plates issued to riders. This announcement produced a flurry of both supportive and negative reactions. Skogen then, according to my contacts that saw it, posted a Facebook video claiming that the negative comments were inflicting too much stress and that this year would be the last Alamnzo. That video was pulled down within an hour of its posting. Then the following day, (Wednesday), Skogen posted on Facebook saying that he stood by his decision to eliminate timing and scoring and to not issue bib numbers since it was "a barrier to participation". Skogen then went on to cite failing bicycle businesses and falling participation in events as a reason for this decision to stand. The question of whether or not this will actually be the last Almanzo has been left unanswered by the latest post I've seen.

Almanzo's "Alexander" distance, 380-ish miles, was to have started by the time you've probably read this. The remainder of the Almanzo events, the traditional 100, the Royal 165-ish, and the new Malanzo 50, are to be held tomorrow. 

Okay, so I've recounted the facts here. Make of that what you may. My personal take is that I find this very odd. Whether or not Almanzo should or should not be a timed, scored, and otherwise "traditionally marked" race is up for debate. To me, that is all secondary to the timing of the announcements. This strikes me as being unnecessary. Why not run this year's events as they have in the past, and make your changes next week for 2020? (Unless this truly is the last Almanzo) What happens to the number plates and work done to time and score the event, which, one would think,  surely must have been in place a week before the event?  Odd. Seems a waste and ill-timed to me, unless....well. I don't know the particulars. So, my questions stem from having run events. Again- you are welcome to have your opinions, these are my thoughts as a race/event director. 

Good luck to those riding from Northfield tomorrow.  

The Bubblegum Princess with IRC Boken Plus tires.

 Records Were Made To Be Broken:

The record I have in my tire roll down test I conduct with tires I am reviewing was set several years ago when I ran a set of Gravel King SK 40mm tires. There were tires that came close, but none that exceeded the lower rolling resistance of that set of tires.

I used to use the Tamland for all those tests, as much as I could. The Tamland has disc wheels and QR attachment for those. Most every wheel I had was in that standard, so it made sense to make the Tamland the "control" bike and keep things as similar as possible. 

But as standards changed, (and I use that term loosely), I decided to switch from using the Tamland to using the Black Mountain Cycles MCD. It has through axles, disc brakes, and otherwise is very "Tamland-ish" in that it is steel, with a steel fork. Anyway, it is what it is. A change was necessary since almost every wheel I'll test now, or own, will be 12mm through axle until such time that some knuckle headed enginerd decides we need to change that.  

So, anyway- the record. Well, I use a big, steep downhill that is paved in town, (surface remains consistent), that spills out into a double tracked gravel/dirt thing. The Gravel King was one of the only set of tires that rolled without pedaling into this double track. Now I have a set of IRC Boken Plus 650B X 47mm tires set up tubeless on the BMC MCD and I took it over to the "test track". 

Result? Record blown away! I not only made it into this double track, but I went about an eighth of a mile up it. So, I broke the record not by a little- by a LOT.  By more than the changes in bike would seem to affect things. If anything, I would have pegged the BMC as slower since the body position is a bit more upright. Anyway..... 

It is clear to me that the IRC Boken Plus is the fastest tire I have yet tested on that course. Scary fast! I suspect that record will stand for some time, but..... Records were made to be broken.  

Have a great weekend!