The first generation of these Strada PRO TLR tires delivered a perfect ride, but living with them was miserable. Mounting was extremely difficult, they didn't hold air, they drank sealant, and raised your blood pressure.
I am thrilled to report that the folks at Challenge have preserved the perfect ride quality and excellent looks of the first generation and packaged it in a tire that behaves like.....a tire!! They now do incredible things like:
' Go over a rim edge with only one's thumbs
' Seat with a floor pump
' Hold air overnight
' Hold air for many days after that
' Require only a normal amount of sealant to continue holding air
' Keep the owner's blood pressure at healthy levels
I purchased the 28mm variety which inflate just shy of 30mm wide on 21mm internal rims. I now strongly recommend these tires.
The previous review that mentions the stem mounting area marked on the bar is incorrect. The stem clamp needs to be located inside the indicated area, it does not need to cover the entire indicated area. So you can use your preferred stem!
This bar ended my quest for a shallow drop bar with minimal flare. The drop section with reminds me of the FSA Omega with a large radius that opens to flat... Super comfy. The flat tops that extend toward the brake lever hoods are a comfortable platform for your hands. I did notice the aforementioned gap between the flat portion and the clamp (under the hood). I just cut a small piece of bar tape to fill it in and let the hood cover it up. Now there's a seamless, comfortable transition for riding on the hoods.
The shallow drops provide an extremely secure position for gravel descents without putting you in an overly aggressive position.
These are the most comfortable bars I've ever used, and allow for great positioning in the hoods and in the drops. Tempted to put them on my road bike as well--it's a pretty similar shape to my vision metron bars, but much more comfortable.
This is my second set of the Zipp Service Course SL-70 XPLR handlebars. The first was given to me by JOM of gravelcyclist.com for review. I loved them back in 2019, and I love them now.
The shape is so perfectly designed for off-road drop bar bike use. I feel like Zipp hired a team of kinesiologists to figure out exactly how people move from the hoods to the drops and back when designing the shape of the bend, the depth of the drop, the angle of flare, and clamping area for the levers. Moving between positions is so natural. The kinesiologists then stuck around to figure out the back sweep angle on the tops. Every position on the bars is perfect and I never feel any discomfort when on them for long periods of time. The terrain in my area is made up of steady river roads punctuated by steep ramps up and down. Being able to naturally move from tops/hoods when climbing one of the steep ramps to the drops when descending gives you a lot of confidence.
Another great feature of these bars is the channel for routing brake hoses and shift outers (should you have them). Internal routing is cool too, but I don't want it on a bike that is primarily used on unpaved roads. With these bars, I don't have to hear hoses rattle in the bars or frame, and I can easily replace headset bearings that see all sorts of dirt. The channel hides the hoses, prevents rattling, and eliminates the need for colorful language when servicing the headset.
These bars are great. Get them and enjoy your dirt road drop bar bike even more than you already do.
I picked up my CX bike back in 2000 ' a Gunnar Crosshairs built by Waterford with Reynolds 853 tubing. My first cyclocross tires were the original Michelin Muds, and believe it or not, I'm still running that same set today. After 20+ years the knobs are finally starting to peel off from age.
I ride this bike everywhere ' from mellow singletrack to the same technical trails I take my S-Works Stumpjumper EVO on. The old Michelins have held up surprisingly well, but since they're not tubeless, I do deal with the occasional pinch flat.
I'm hoping the new Michelin Power CX Mud tires will give me the same grip and character as the classic Michelin Muds I've been used to since 2000.
