Back at it

I am feeling quite a bit better. And since I was feeling better I wanted to burn off some stress. There is no better way to do that than to ride my bike. I finally got picked up my wheels and actually loaded my bike up on Friday morning. After a productive morning I headed to lunch with my manager. Once we got back the department was told we could leave after 8 hours. That meant I was able to bail out of work at 2:30. Since it was so early Mike was able to ride with me. 

Photo credit: stolen from internet.

Mike and I made the trek to Luton Park. I was shocked at the amount of traffic on the streets at 2:30 in the afternoon. Because we were riding Luton we took the East Beltline all the way to Rockford. Why not the highway? Well, there were 3 accidents between 28th street and the s-curve. We chose the lesser of 2 evils. Knowing that Nate and Karl were heading up we planned to ride a loop and then meet up with them for a second loop.

Mike and I headed out to find a very dry and dusty Luton. We need rain. We hit the yellow and the orange and the black before I got a text that the other guys were getting close. We skipped the red and then took the short green back to the lot. I was feeling ok, but lacking any semblance of power. The climbs were sluggish and I was simply trying to survive them. Yes, survive the climbs at Luton....did I mention I am heavy. lol.

We picked up the other guys and headed out again. To my surprise they took off like bats out of hell on the first section. Riding new tires I was trying to get comfortable on them. Add the new tires to the lack of shape and I was dumped pretty quick. They would ride ahead and wait for me then ride ahead and wait for me. That is fine, I was riding.  We did all the loops and it was a solid ride. Not super fast, but any type of mileage is good mileage right now.

Now, about the new tires. Rocket Rons have been my tire choice for nearly for years. I like them, but I wondered if there was a better option. I poked around and looked at some other brands like Kenda, Maxxis, Specialized, and ended up looking at 45Nrth tires for my fatbike (got sidetracked). What I found was the Maxxis Ardent Race tires. These tires, much like other brands, offer a thicker more durable sidewall. Schwable has the snake skin, Maxxis calls their version EXO.

As you can see from the pic above the tread pattern is interesting. Having ridden Specialized fast tracks before making the Schwable switch I immediately loved the tread pattern. This was the first ride on them so I was interested to see how they worked. They sounded different. As odd as that sounds these tires sound different than the Rocket Rons did in the corners. Here are my initial thoughts on these tires:

Straights

I didn't notice any difference. 

Climbing

The traction seemed more reliable on the Ardents than I had with the Rons. I noticed when standing and mashing that I didn't have as much chatter on the loose areas. Not as much slipping. Pretty good and constant grip over rocks, roots, sand and gravel (all the Luton surfaces)

Cornering

Here is where I cannot give an opinion yet. My thoughts are that they will be just as good, if not better, than the Rons. My issue is that I didn't trust them and was fairly tentative in pushing the corners hard. Once I get a few rides on them I will elaborate a bit more.

Overall

The tires roll pretty good. The traction is solid climbing and in the corners. They are easy to get up to speed. I had a few times where I pushed pretty hard and the tires were the least of my concerns. They responded how I thought they would. So far, I like them.