Bought this tire as a direct replacement for the tires that came on my Cannondale CAAD X. Got two years of use out of the originals with no flats but the rear tire was slick so I changed it. I ride mostly gravel on town roads and Forest Service roads but this tire isn't too bad on pavement. Still running tubes in them.
No real trouble getting it on the rim but the tire was clearly out of round when I put it back on the bike inflated to 60 psi. Took off the rim and remounted a couple of times with same problem.
Then I read an earlier review that said they needed to get it up to over 100 psi to get it to seat and problem solved.
After I realized having a larger tire in the front was the way to go, this Riddler, in 45 mm turned out to be a deal. And this after prior use of a more traditional (motocross) style tread. Mounted well and casing so far appears to handle the sharp knocks.
These were the stock tires (700x37c) on my Caadx 105 SE and I'm on my second set of them now. I had about 1100 miles on the first set riding through the Portland winter on them. They were still in decent shape with lots of tread left, but I was getting a lot more flats on them than usual from all the garbage in the bike lanes. New pair is behaving properly.
These tires are intended for tubeless, but I've been running them with tubes because I'm a pigheaded neanderthal. I have about 100 meters of total gravel riding on my commute, but these tires are just so freaking comfortable and light and good looking in tan that I'm too paranoid to switch to something else and potentially compromise my ride feel. I have some marathons on an ebike which have been bulletproof in comparison, but they're just bleh to ride on.
Only one actual gravel race on these. I went through all of my spare tubes and finished second to last with a leaking rear tire. Later found there was a sneaky wire in my tire that I had brought to the race with me. This wouldn't have been a problem on tubeless.
It is an absolute battle to put these on your rims. Typically I have to soap them up with water and dish soap and inflate to 100 PSI to get the bead to set properly. (usually with a cracking pop). Then deflate to desired pressure. (I run about 65 PSI and am 190lbs).
All of the tan w the treadline should be above your rim. - If your tire is below the bead in one part you will be riding with a strange lumpthump.
It's an absolute battle to get these off of your rims. Grasp the tire on the side away from the valve stem with both hands and push until your eyelid twitches. It will probably separate from the inside of your rim. If you have weak programmer hands like me, you might get solicited by motel dwellers on the side of the road in the 30min struggle just to break the bead. Once you've broken the bead, it's pretty straight forward. When they're newer and more flexible, it's less of a problem.
But I think both of these battles are really a feature from these guys being more ideal for tubeless. IDK what I'm doing with my life.
TLDR - get them in tan. They look amazing on a grey or black bike. Run them tubeless and take them to a nice graveldirt road and enjoy them in their prime habitat. Don't take them out in the rotty Portland winter weather like I did. The tiny wires will find you if you do.
I use these tires for commuting in the city. At 37 mm they are supple and sprightly. I'm now running them tubeless. The front tire has far out lasted the rear. Sorry, I don't have a mileage count. I ride a steel frame, which offers a plusher ride.
Im revising my original review. Im changing Almost Great to Dang Good. My original complaint of them being fragile hasnt held up with a second set. Im at almost 500 miles of rough gravel onthe current set without any hint of weakness. Theyre wearing fine as well.
I picked these up when it was suggested a wider tire was recommended for the 2018 DAMn. Good advice as it turns out, and these tires performed flawlessly. Way to go WTB!
Ordered this tire to replace Challenge Gravel Grinder - Race for a Fondo event. Couldn't even begin to get them mounted on my wheels. They should come with a gorilla to mount them. Never had a problem with fitting those wheels through Challenge or Continental.
I do a lot of miles on my 'cross bike on mixed rides in New England. I've ridden everything from single track to gravel races on these in the 37s - run tubeless - and I'm completely sold on the tread pattern. It's pretty amazing what I've gotten up on these....real slick rooty climbs, not a problem. And they roll on pavement much more nicely than other gravel type tires. They mounted up on Stan's rims without any problems at all.
I swap between the 45mm Riddler's and 38mm Paselas regularly and while the Riddler doesn't roll on pavement as well as a smooth tread tire, it provides a ton of confidence in really loose stuff. I've run them as low as 25lbs (with tubes!) without any pinch flats. With 210lbs combined bikerider weight and running a good mix of loose gravel and pavement I usually get 1500 miles on the rear tire and 2500 miles on the front. I think that's pretty good for a tire this supple.
Mounting them sucks so much. The bead profile is made for WTB TCS rims which have a more square bead profile and it takes a ton of work to get them to mount cleanly unless you prep your rim. You WILL get wobble if you don't seat the bead uniformly and it takes a lot of pressure and effort. I've only been able to get these to mount cleanly by using soapy water on the rim and that is a supply that you usually don't have on you when you're on the side of trail trying to fix a puncture. Running tubeless with a tire repair kit (Dynaplug) hopefully means you can avoid all this pain because it sucks finishing a ride with a lumpy tire.
The tires have a good profile and track well in a variety of conditions. However, they dont fit my Alex CXD6 rims. Both of my wheels have a nasty wobble at a range of pressures, and I couldnt keep riding on them. I have never had this in 4 decades of riding and probably hundreds of tires mounted.
The 45mm width provided excellent handling on a route with sections deep gravel and lots of rough rocks. Did not roll as past on pavement as the 35mm tires I used before. I would feel comfortable using these on most of the single track we have around here. If you ride roads that are smooth and hard packed, you could find a faster tire.
I've had them on for a couple of months now and so far they seem solid. I mostly stay on the streets with an occasional spin down a gravel trail. No complaints here.
Just the tire I was looking for.
