Crentist wrote:
Just ordered a HED Jet 6/Disc Plus combo for my 2018 SC. Any thoughts on tires/tubes? I was thinking Conti GP5000 tires, 23 up front, and 23 or 25 on the rear. Theory with the 25 on the rear disc would be to get the benefit of lower pressure/resistance since the air is already less clean back there, and I've heard the GP5000s are "less wide" than older models in terms of ballooning out on the wide rims like the Jet Plus. Think this holds up, or should I just run 23/23?
I'm ignorant here but apparently tubes can make a significant difference. Latext is the fastest, but high maintenance and more prone to burst, is that roughly accurate? I'm 6'3" 180 lbs so not exactly featherweight. Would you go with latex, if so which brand/model, or would you go for a more traditional butyl tube? I also see that they offer a GP5000 TL tubeless which seems to have good reviews on bicyclerollingresistance.com, but it only comes in 25 width.
I spoke to the HED UK dealer about this. They tell me that GP5000TL on HED plus rims works very nicely indeed, though I haven't personally made that jump on my race bike (I will). I have 23mm tires on my Jet+ rims, and the width of the tire closely matches the width of the rim at the brake track, so the transition between tire and rim is smooth. I'd be concerned with 25mm tires that there's too much of a lightbulb profile, which is slow.
Re 'delicate' latex tubes etc, the only problem I ever have is if I forget to check that the tube hasn't been pinched between tire and rim before inflating fully. The 'extra maintenance' is trivial - they do leak faster than butyl, but you're checking tire pressures before each ride anyway, so in practice it's not material.