The Future of Cyclocross is Disc?

After spending an entire summer longing for cyclocross season to come, I'm finally getting close.  This has been an interesting year too, with all of the new technology coming and the UCI now allowing disc wheels.

But this got me thinking, what's really the benefit of discs?  They aren't light, in fact they weigh quite a bit more.  I'd guess a disc wheel could resist sand buildup that a shallow rim could accumulate, but does that make up for the weight?

Let's get past the weight issue and move on to durability.  If a disc wheel can get a hole punched into it in a wheel bag, how is it supposed to stand up to a mass-start race where crashes are inevitable?  This one already has a hole in it, and the season hasn't even started!

And what's this about improved braking?  I don't claim to be a plastics expert, but this braking seems like it'll be the same as any other carbon wheel.  I've heard claims of better braking in adverse conditions, but I'm just not buying.

This particular disc does have dimples, but aerodynamics don't really matter in cyclocross.  The braking isn't going to be better on a disc wheel than any other carbon wheel.  Disc wheels are heavy.

After much thought I think I'm going to skip disc wheels for cyclocross.  I don't get all of the hype....

First Rides: Schwalbe Rocket Ron 29 x 2.25 EVO Pacestar Tires

This year I've made it a point to try as many new 29er tires as reasonably possible.  When I started with 29ers, I loved the Maxxis CrossMark.  The tread is still really nicely designed, but weights of tires has come down a lot in the last 5 years.  At well over 600g per tire, that weight no longer constitutes a race tire in my opinion.

My search stayed with Maxxis originally, and I fell in love with the Aspen.  It's a fast-rolling tire with more cornering grip than the CrossMark with a weight that's almost 70g lighter than the CrossMark, the Aspen was a big hit.

Of course, since I'm on a roll, there's no need to stop with "good enough".  Being a fan of Schwalbe treads on CX tires, namely my FMB Grippo XL sporting the old Racing Ralph tread, I decided Schwalbe was the company to turn to next.  Their tires aren't cheap, which is why I carefully selected the first Schwalbe tread to try.  The Racing Ralph is ever-popular, but with rain predicted when I was placing the order, I decided on the Rocket Ron.

The Rocket Ron 29 x 2.25 EVO with Pacestar tire is much higher volume than I am used to, measuring 2.22" at the casing and 2.32" at the tread.  Being used to a 2.1" tire, this was a change for me.  The height of the knobs was way out of my normal comfort zone having spent so much time on super-fast-rolling XC race tires, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Claimed weight is 520g per tire, actual weights were 525g and 531g.

When mounting the Rocket Ron on my NoTubes Crest rims, the tires popped immediately into place, formed a great seal, and didn't have any sidewall air leaks.

I don't toss this out there very often, if ever, but this is a "hero" tire.  You may or may not have heard of "hero dirt", the kind of tacky soil that makes anyone corner like a pro.  Well, this tire allows a guy like me to have that connected-to-the-trail feeling I assume XC pros feel every day.  The tire also rolls unnaturally fast, with very little resistance.  I was absolutely stunned at how quickly this tire gets you down a nice trail.

On the flip side, the size and spacing of the knobs made me believe this would make for a good mud tire.  Their first ride was in an XC race that probably shouldn't have even happened because of the trail conditions, but it did.  I assume any tire would have been a disaster, but this tire did disappoint that day.  Since then I've found myself on the trail in a couple of muddy spots and the tire has performed respectably but not incredibly.

The Rocket Ron tread is an aggressive all-conditions XC tire.  In my opinion it's not a mud tire, and it's not the absolute fastest XC race tire.  If you need to choose one tire for all conditions, this one will be tough to beat.

As an aside, I have had a few issues with glass on this tire.  I firmly believe the glass that cut these tires would have cut anything, and I believe I just found myself in some bad conditions, but it should be noted that I did get a few cuts very early on.  The tires did eventually seal  with Stan's NoTubes sealant, but it makes me nervous to be riding a tire with a few big cuts and would really irritate me to have these cuts on a $95 tire (EACH!!) if it were my only set.  Again, I think the glass would have cut any tire, but not every tire is $95.