Very easy to mount, I was able to mount them by hand and seat them with a foot pump. Pretty fast rolling and very quiet for a treaded tire. I have ridden 370 miles on them, and have had 3 punctures so far. All punctures sealed when I stopped, rotated the tire and let the hole sit in the sealant pool for a minute, no need to use plugs. Still, this is riding on city streets with very very light gravel. I haven't had a puncture in 6 months and now 3 on this set of tires.
Holy Baby Hey-Sooos these are massively, ridiculously hard to mount. You better have Popeye forearms and farm boy grip strength. Also helps to do it in the sun over 70 degrees. Work it really hard pushing from the valve stem while losing your fingernails getting that last bead over the rim. After they are ridden and pumped up they loosen up a bit in case you ever flat and need to put a tube in. Just because Challenge doesn't want you to feel any accomplishment upon getting the tire on the rim, it is a nagging process of getting them to seal and stay inflated. Use about 9oz of sealant to basically make an aquarium inside the tire of anti-flat juice. If, and only then, these tires ride great and are fast. Just accept the fact you will fear the day you have to put a tube in them on the side of the road in 40 degree F weather.
Bought these tires and mounted them up for the BCBR 7 day stage race in Canada. 156 miles and 24+feet of vertical and these tires did it all. gravel,tech,climbing, wet, muddy , dry , rocky , rooty' you name it we had it and these tires upped my game. I rode Ground controls for the last race and felt over tired, Barzo, Mezcal combo and felt under tired in sections. and racing ray, ralph combos as well. Nothing comes close to the cornering and rock solid feel of these Syerra's . i have never descended so well and confident across all conditions. if there is any downside id say they're not super durable from a tread wear perspective. but they withstood a lot of abuse with no flats. easy to mount . held air great, I ran 21 psi at 215lb rider weight. so they got fairly punished. highly recommend.
I run this tire as a front tire on my Aspero Gravel Bike. I initially bought the 40 mm as most of the riding I do has a good deal of asphalt. The G-one R is has just enough bite on most gravel to keep control and also maintain efficient rolling on asphalt. As a front tire the ware is very acceptable. I am not sure I would run as a rear tire but I imagine it rolls equally well and but likely faster ware. This tire will work well for category 1-3 trails. On looser terrain, some care is needed and lower air pressure. Once my 40 wares out, I already have a 45 to replace it.. I feel its a great tire for most of my needed. If more of my routes had looser terrain I would lean more towards the G-one X or consider something else.
