u/Klumpegoej

After spending the last 6 months on Continental Terra Competition 45 mm I felt like joining the monster-tire-trend.

Started out by mounting a Conti Dubnital 2.0 up front. Since they test really fast my expectations were quite high…

However the first ride was not at all what I would have expected. The bike just felt draggy and steering was slow compared to the Comps.

Rough descents felt more secure and over all the ride was comfy. But all the agility I love when riding my bike had kind of disappeared.

Now I wonder if this is just me, or if others in here have also regretted going wider?

BTW: my local gravel courses are not super technical or rocky. Mostly bad pavement, cat 1 and a bit of single track.

So I'm medium happy with my relatively new Conti Terra Competition 45. Fine...but they lack some souplesse 💅

Time to move on...This time I feel like going slightly bigger and have a bit more tread too.

I ride on mixed terrain; broken pavement, cat 1, single track. No rocks or deep gravel involved.

Options are narrowed down to Thundero 48 mm or Dubnital 50 mm:

Thundero +
- Peoples favourite
- Cheap(est) option
- Swiss army knife of gravel tires

Dubnital +
- MTB vibes
- Testing fast
- Could be paired with my Conti Comp rear
tire (yeah aesthetics matter)

So Ladies and Gentlemen...what's it gonna be?

Knock yourself out in the comments💥

TL;DR California drivers of Reddit. Are extra mattresses worth It?

So me and my partner have rented a VW California this summer.

We are looking forward to three weeks on the road in Scandinavia. First time campers. Big adventure!

Our learning curve will be steep and probably and bit tough, since we are totally rookies. We both hope it will be part of the fun to find our way and shake off old habits for some time.

As a part of our prepping we went to the local VW dealership to check out the vehicle and all its fancy hacks.

One question stayed with us after the visit: Bed quality - the so-called comfort mattress downstairs felt quite harsh, while the space in the pop up cabin felt much nicer in comparison.

It seems like many California owners are using aftermarket mattress toppers or airbeds for better sleep comfort.

We are now ambivalent in terms of getting some kind of extra mattress? Could be either two single or a double airbed to fit in the pop up.

California drivers of Reddit, Please share your experiences with two clueless camper newbies. Are extra mattresses worth It?

First time visitors. Two adults and dog. Camper trip in July. Three weeks in total including travel from / back to Copenhagen.

Route goes like this: Turku archipelago trail - Helsinki (4 days in a rented place) - Lake Paijanne towards Jyväskyla - Kvarken Archipelago.

Notable mentions along the way: Hanko, Kelvenne Island, Pulkkilanharju.

We have decided to skip Saimaa and Koli in favour of doing a loop and drive back home along the Swedish east coast.

The route feels really nice. But being rookies to Finland we might have missed out on all the good stuff eg Saimaa?

We like to hang out, swim, walk some trails and drink coffee:)

Thanks in advance!

Yesterday I debuted my brandnew Terra Competitions, Trail grip 45 mm* that is.

Almost on the same day Hutchinson announced several new editions in 50 mm and our beloved u/gravykarrasch released his test results of the Dubnital 2.0. Which appear to be faster on pavement than the Competitions. Hello irony, my old friend.

Anyway, for those who still cares: Here comes my evaluation of the Competitions after one ride on mixed surfaces, mostly champagne and pavement.

They are fast, but not exceptional. Speed feels comparable to the Thunderos I had over the summer last year.

As part of my ride, I ran the Contis all out on a 7 km stretch of serpentine pavement and outlapped the kom (which was already mine 😉) by a few seconds. Could have been the tail wind, could have been whatever.

What annoyed me slightly was a kind of nervous feel especially in the more bumpy stuff. I stopped midway to let out some air and things got better . Returned home with 26 psi up front and 30 psi in the back. Might go lower next time.

Puncturewise I can’t say much. So far they hold air. If it stays like that, I will probably keep them over the summer.

Over and out🫡

* real life measurements are close to 45 mm on 25 mm (inner width) Campagnolo Levantes, and yes they were a pain in the ass to mount…