Product Review: Challenge Criterium Road Tires—They Make it a Challenge to Finish

I have reviewed Challenge tires before, Grifo cyclocross tires to be specific. Aside from the tread delamination issues that plagues their cross tires, they are mostly functional and economical.

Since that review, I have had considerable experience Challenge Criterium Road tires, both the tubular and the clincher versions. I have found both tires to be attractive, fast and grippy, but entirely unsatisfactory nonetheless. The tires are just too fragile. I have found that I flat almost half the time that I use them.

My first time racing on the tubular version of the Criterium was at Turtle Pond in 2009. I mounted the tires, rode them on clean roads once to make sure they were mounted properly and to dial in the air pressure. I re-inspected the tires before the race. In the first 25 miles I slashed the tire and flatted out of the race. The tire was unsalvageable. It was the biggest slash I have ever seen in a tire. To the best of my knowledge, few people flatted out of this race.

A few weeks later, I flatted out of Wells Ave when the other tire mysteriously lost air. I never figured out what went wrong. There was no visible puncture on the tire casing or tread.

I was happy to be done with this set of tubular tires. $160 of folly.

As time marched on, I forgot about my negative experiences with these road tires. I was drawn back to their attractive all white tread. Mostly my positive associations with Challenge Grifos started to overshadow my terrible experiences with the Criterium Tubular.

So I bought a set of Criterium Clinchers along with Challenge latex tubes. WHAT A STUPID THING TO DO! I should have known better.

I used the latex tubes in my Michelin Pro3’s at Battenkill without incident. I assumed that the Challenge tubes would mate well with the Clallenge clincher. After carefully mounting the Criteriums with Challenge Latex tubes, I had both tubes blow out the side of the tire before I got 2 blocks from home on a “shake out the bugs ride” before 2011 Blue Hills Classic. I put standard Michelin tubes in the tires and did the ride without incident.

I was taking Blue Hills very seriously, so I deflated and inspected my tires before going to the race.

Short story: I flatted my rear tire within the first 3 miles of the race. No glass in the tire, didn’t hit anything that hard. Just flat.

My race was over.

After the race, I fixed the flat and I rode my bicycle for a few miles, the front flatted. Again, no glass, no incident.

These tires are exceedingly fragile. One of my friends said “Challenge Tires=challenge to finish”

I want to like these tires. They are attractive and grippy, but they are the most fragile tires that I have ever ridden (including the 19mm Vittoria Pista Track specific tires I ruined on run down go cart track in NH).

Overall I have bought 2 sets of tires, and one set of tubes that all failed, at a retail value of over $250.

You’d be a fool to buy these tires, much less depend on them in a race. You’ve been warned.

New Developments--White Tires, PowerTap, and Saddle Auditions

Data Averse Cyclist Folds and Get a Powertap.

I have long groused about data junkies and their SRM's and Powertaps. There is nothing that I hate more than when some hopped up racer starts bragging about his power output. It is even more irritating when the braggart has never had better than a mid pack result.

I have resisted using any power measuring devices until this past summer when a TT bike I borrowed had a SRM. Initially I thought, "nice toy". Later I grudgingly acknowledged the utility of this toy after having used it for a few days.

Anyway, I folded. While I was complaining about people and thier power files, I was offer a post-accident PowerTap wheel and set up for short money (less than I care to publish lest my readers get upset). I ate crow on the spot and bought the whole setup. I am excited and a little intimidated by the prospect of having all of this information at my finger tips.








As you can see, my dashboard is a little cluttered with computing items. For a data adverse person, I am a loaded up. I have the Polar still on there because I can't get the Powertap heart rate monitor to work yet. Suggestions?

So far it is just a toy. I have no idea what the data means yet. But I have ordered another harness and wiring system for my PowerCranks bike so that I can cross reference the power data and heart rates from the two different bikes. See, I am becoming a geek already. Soon enough I will be posting my power files up here on the blog.



White Challenge Criterium Tubular Tires!!




I have been looking for white tubular tires ever since I got my Zipp 404's. I become convinced that they didn't exist. I have long been partial to Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp clinchers because they handle well and they come in white. I will have to lay in some Bleachy White to keep all of my whiteness clean.
Currently, I am stretching them one at a time in expectation of mounting them on Edge 1-38 rims laced to DT 240 Hubs.




Review to follow.

If you must have a set, Cambridge can order them.



Saddle Shuffle

I busted my white Fizik Arione saddle when remounting during a cyclocross race I am taking the opportunity to audition some other saddles for my main race bike instead of just ordering another of the same.

I have been trying out a Specialized Toupe 143mm. It doesn't work for me. Thankfully, I was able to borrow this saddle from Drew instead of buying it.




Drew also loaned me this hot looking Selle Italia. Apparently, 3 others have auditioned and rejected this very saddle. Aside from the possiblity that the saddle has been tainted by all this use, after I sanitize it, I hope that it works out.






If this one doesn't work, I will drop the experiment and order another Arione. What I would really like is a white Regal saddle that weighs less than my front fork. Perhaps a carbon fiber shell, Ti rails, some synthetic leather...

Review: Challenge Grifo Tubular Tires 32c

I bought these tires from the Echappe Equipment people at Gloucester after I flatted one of my Tufo's in the last lap of the Sunday race. Turns out that the Tufo took tire sealant moderately well and after a full bottle of Tufo sealant (twice the recommended amount) the tire is still rolling 2 months later.
I stretched the Grifos for one week each, re inflating them to 60 psi every 48 hours, since the Grifos loose air quickly due to their latex tubes. Both tires were keep in clean, dry conditions throughout my pre-mounting ownership. They appeared to be clean and free of dirt when I purchased them.
I dry mounted the tires twice on their intended homes, Edge Composites 2-68 rims (review to follow) so that I would be able to foresee difficulty and minimize mess when I was mounting them with glue on them. They were a tight fit. But the tires were supple enough that they were able to rolled over so that you could "flip" the base tape into place on the final section.
On initial application, the basetape absorbed lots of glue. The exposed cloth basetape has no coating on it, which eliminates an annoying and time consuming step in tubular mounting, scraping the protective coating off. But this lack of coating means that the tires must be stored and transported in dry, clean conditions before mounting. the tires do not arrive wrapped in any covering at all, which maximizes opportunities for contamination before the tires are mounted.
I found it necessary to apply a second layer of glue to the basetape, which I normally do not have to do, but thought prudent considering the low intended tire pressure and the forces involved in cyclocross.
Mounting the tires was certainly not easy, but if one used a hand over hand method of pulling away from the stem on one side then the other, the final section had enough slack to allow the mounter to use the afore mentioned roll and flip method of finishing the mount. The tire sat fairly well even before adjustment. The tight fit makes me feel that the chances of rolling a tubular while cornering is low.
Since the tire is supple, it was easy to adjust the lateral alignment of the tire. Furthermore, the basetape is symmetrical, so that one can sight line the tire; there should be an even amount of basetape showing on either side of the tire.
After adjustment, rolling around with low pressure and a rider on a bike and then inflating to high pressure, the tire was very evenly round.
The ride quality of the tire is hard to get used to for someone coming from a road background. I have ridden tubulars in cross before, but the Challenge is a different experience. At low pressure (under 30psi) the tire feels unstable, squishy. It moves laterally when out of the saddle on a straightaway. On my first ride, I had to stop and check my quick releases three times, as I thought that my wheels were loose. At this low pressure the tire deformation in a corner was disconcerting. The tread would roll up onto the braking surface. I did not loose grip in the corner, but this was a true test of my gluing job. No failures.
I found that I am more comfortable running these tires at a higher pressure than I normally run my cross tubulars. Normally I run about 32psi in back, 28-29 up front. With the Challenge Grifo's I found that my 175 pounds feels perfect with 38 psi in back, 34 up front. Obviously these numbers are tweaked to reflect course conditions. At the aforementioned pressure, I bottom out the tire infrequently, which is desirable when you are riding wildly expensive carbon tubulars.
The tread pattern is a good balance between high grip and low rolling resistance. I have the chevrons pattern on the tire pointing forward on both the front and the rear. Reportedly, you can run the chevrons pointing backwards in the rear if you want more traction, but in doing so you will increase rolling resistance. The open tread pattern sheds mud well, while the sidewalls tend to collect a thin layer of grime in their fabric. The only tire that I have ridden with better grip is the Michelin Mud 2.

There are problems with these tires:

First, the thread began separating from the casing almost immediately after being ridden for the first time. This ride was in dry conditions, on a buffed out course, with high tire pressure (50 psi). A friend of mine has multiple sets of Challenge Grifo's and Fango's where the tread was seperating from the casing when he removed them from the box that they were shipped in. Clearly this is a manufacturing defect that Challenge should be ashamed of. I was able to address the problem with a tube of vulcanizing glue and some patience. I felt that my fix was less trouble than trying to warranty a tire that had already been mounted. After I ruined one of these tires in a race, I was easily able to remove the tread from the base tape with my bare hands. As I have stated, the problem can be fixed, but should you really have to fix a $100 MSRP tire before riding it?

Second, the supple casing is thin and vulnerable to puncture. In my second race with these tires, I sliced the sidewall of my rear tire in a corner. The tire was unable to be repaired. I am convinced that if I had been riding my Tufo Elite30's I would have ridden away without a puncture. Obviously, suppleness is a function of this sidewall thinness; its a tradeoff. Some vendors recommend using Aquaseal sidewall sealant to make the sidewall more robust. I find this option unpalatable for a number of reasons:

1. Should I really be required to fix a $100 tire before riding it?
2. If Challenge wants the sealant on there, can't they just do it in the factory and save me the trouble?
3. Aquaseal adds significant weight. I just spent $1000's to shave precious few grams off of my rotating rims, why am I going those grams back in the form of latex?
4. The Aquaseal often peels and looks horrible. Peeling latex on your sidewalls is the opposite of PRO
5. Since you can't really create a true seal with this stuff (are you really going to paint it up onto you rims to seal it for real?), this Aquaseal works to seal in the water instead of sealing it out. Go take a look at a set of Dugasts that have been sealed, don't they look rotten near the rim where the water has gotten in and caused the cotton sidewall to decompose?

Third, latex tubes don't take standard tubular tire sealant well. Obvious, they are lighter and they may offer lower rolling resistance, so this is a tradeoff. If you flat them, you are probably out of luck. Some reviewers have suggested trying Stan's Sealant on these tubes or even Vittoria's PitStop, I can not comment on the effectiveness of either remedy.

The short story is: If Challenge could deal with the issue of the tread separation, they would have a world class set of tires. The tires offer great ride quality, good deformation and grip in corners, low rolling resistance and good mud shedding, but the quality issue would prevent me from choosing Challenge tires in the future.