STOOGE SPEEDBOMB REVIEW PART 2…

I’ve put ~300kms on the Stooge Speedbomb since I got it about a month and a half a go so I figured it was time for an update. For the TLdr crowd I did a lot of tire experimentation since my Part 1 review dropped. A lot. I was going to call this review “A Tale of Ten Tires!” I suppose it’s not a surprise that on a bike that doesn’t have any suspension or gears the setup changes you can make become more important. As I tried different tires I ended tweaking the SS cog I was using as well. Jump to the bottom of the review to find out what tires and gearing I settled on.

Other than tires and SS cogs the Speedbomb is running the same parts it started with. I don’t recall even adjusting anything minor like bar position. I’ve been really enjoying riding this bike. My trail riding split is ~75% Stooge and 25% Pipedream Sirius [w/ gears]. As you might expect the more SS riding I do the easier/more fun it is to ride singlespeed. While I am not ready to commit to SS 24/7/365 I’m feeling pretty set on riding the Speedbomb SS. Every time my I think about putting gears on it my brain just says Nope! It’s just made to be run without gears.

Bontrager XR2 + XR2 – 29 x 3.0″ [No Inserts]

My initial setup was dual Bontrager XR2 tires. I’ve run these on my Surly Krampus for years so I knew I would love them. Well at least in the dry. XR2s have a very subtle small block tread pattern. On a 29 x 3.0″ tire this tread pattern exceeds expectations for trail riding. For wet winter Coastal BC conditions they do start to slip and slide enough I want something else [at least up front], but even as they are letting me down I can’t get mad because they did so well up until that point. The flip side of the small knobs is this is a very light and very fast rolling tire. Riding a 100kms of gravel/pavement is not a chore at all. Riding SS they spin up really easily and are a pleasure to be on.

My goal with the Speedbomb is to be able to ride the full range of trails I have locally, which includes some more challenging black and double black diamond rated trails. We also have a lot of wooden features that can be quite treacherous in the winter. So while I have lots of love for the XR2 it’s not enough tire to keep me smiling through all the riding I want to do with this bike.

Maxxis DHF + DHRII – 29 x 3.0″ [Cushcore Plus x 2]

The next 29+ tires that fell to hand were some Maxxis DHF/DHRs in MAXXterra/EXO. As you would expect from their less chubby siblings these are heavy knobby tires. I decided to try some Cushcore in them as that should give me a super robust setup to prevent any rim damage when I was getting overly zesty on rocky trails. Installing CC Plus and these tires was an ordeal. Perhaps not quite as bad as some readers may be imagining, but not easy. If you are going to tackle this yourself watch a few CC install videos. Get the CC tire lever/sex toy. Get a plastic garbage can to work on. Take your time. Walk away if you get frustrated and then come back when you are feeling less angry. It does get easier. Unfortunately unless you install CC for a living you aren’t going to get enough repeated experience to enjoy that benefit too much.

I run DHF/DHRs in 29 x 2.6″ Tannus insert in rear only] on my hardtails and love them. So I was hopeful this would be a decent tire option for me. Well I didn’t make it 1km from the trailhead before I realized I hated how these tires + inserts worked for me. I kept wanting to turn the bike back to the start and end the ride, but I kept going for a full loop and a couple hours in the name of Bike Science! Starting with the positives the traction was great. Okay. That’s the good stuff done! Unfortunately these tires/inserts were so heavy/slow rolling that trying to spin them up to speed was painful. The snappy fun ride of the XR2s was gone and any motivation to hammer with it. The bike was also way too stable and wanted to steam roller everything making throwing it around hard. I could make the bike go forward, but it was just a slog. I also had to be okay hitting chunk I’d have popped over or ridden around with a lighter setup. Keeping in mind I’ll happily ride my 29 x 2.6″ DHF/DHRs from my house to the trails and back 30kms on pavement so I’m not afraid of an aggressively knobby tire. I also didn’t flinch adding the weight of a Tannus insert to the rear of my hardtails. I’m not a weight weenie. That said there comes a point when you just can’t ignore the added mass. This was one of those times.

What made things worse was the ride feel was awful as well. Something about that extra weight and the much smaller free volume inside the tire due to the CC insert made every bump feel significantly more harsh. With that added stability I ended hitting more stuff since changing lines was harder. It took away all of that sweet 29+ cushion ride feel, which on a rigid bike is tough to swallow. So to recap pedaling across and up sucked. Coasting downhill sucked. I went home and immediately ripped these tires/inserts off the rims. I had to resist burning them with FIRE! Just kidding. Sort of.

Now some folks will thinking that this is unfair because the tires might have been okay without the CC plus inserts. That’s true. I am keeping the DHF/DHR 29+ rubber. Partially as a hedge against a future where there are no 29 x 3.0″ tire options and because in the future, when the horror of this recent test has faded, I’ll try them again sans CC and see what I think. My guess is I’ll like them as much as I did the XR4 + XR4 setup, but time will tell.

DHF + DHRII – 29 x 2.6″ [Tannus Tubeless insert rear only]

After the failed Maxxis 29+ tire/CC insert test I had some time to kill waiting for more 29+ rubber to land at my door so I threw the wheels/tires from my Pipedream Sirius SS bike onto the Speedbomb. This was a wheelset/tire combo I have put thousands of trail KMs on and I loved them on my hardtails so I had some hopes they would work well on the Stooge. The obvious downside was the volume difference between a 2.6″ tire and 3.0″ tire is significant, although the smaller tires are lighter [same comparing same brand/model] and on a rigid bike I wasn’t sure I’d like that trade off, but it was worth a try.

On the positive side of things these wheels spun up super easy so it felt great to stand and hammer on the pedals then feel the bike jump forward. Getting the bike off the ground or changing lines was easy and it really encouraged me to play with the trail as much as possible. Traction was excellent as it always is with this setup. On the downside the smaller tires did not have that lovely floaty 29+ feel and when hitting chunk were harsher than say the XR2s. That said because they were so agile I could avoid a lot of the bumps I hit on the DHF/DHR+CC setup and the 29 x 2.6″ ride feel was better than that weird CC insert harsh ramp up. So the ride feel/comfort wasn’t actually bad with these smaller tires.

Based on what I had tried to this point I liked the 2.6″ DHF/DHR [Exo 3C MAXXterra] + rear Tannus insert the best for winter riding. It gave me excellent traction with decent ride feel. I did feel a bit sad to give up on the 29+ experience with a frame that can fit that size tire so I wanted to keep trying.

Maxxis Rekon+ + Rekon+ [No Inserts]

I have used 29 x 2.8″ Rekon+ [EXO/DC] tires a bunch on my bikepacking hardtail and I had a set hanging in the garage so I figured I would try them. The Rekons have more traction than the XR2s, but less than the DHF/DHR. Their weight and rolling speed is in between those other tires as well. You don’t get quite the same floaty ride feel with a 2.8″ tire vs. a true 3.0″ 29+ tire, but it’s still pretty nice and noticeably more volume than a 2.6″ tire. Riding the Stooge with Rekon+ tires was good. I could ride fairly aggressively without losing traction and the snappy/agile ride feel was satisfying. The front end traction wasn’t quite as solid as I wanted for winter riding, but I could make it work if there wasn’t a better option. These tires were a solid maybe!

Bontrager XR4 + XR4 [No Inserts]

When some XR4s landed I mounted them up without any inserts. I have a ton of experience with the XR2, but I had never tried their more chonky brothers. The traction these tires offered was pretty darn good. I’d probably give the edge for that to the DHF/DHRs, but the difference wasn’t big enough to matter. Without the inserts there was no weird tire volume ramp up harshness to deal with and that was nice. On the other hand their weight and rolling resistance was noticeably higher than the 29+ XR2s. This killed a bit of that snappy ride feel I liked and there was still some of that harshness from the heavier tires hitting chunk that I didn’t get with the dual XR2s or the 2.6″ DHF/DHRs. If you told me I had to ride these tires I wouldn’t blow my brains out, but I wouldn’t be stoked either.

Bontrager XR4 + XR2 [No Inserts]

With the information I had so far there was one last option I wanted to try. Maybe an XR4 up front with an XR2 in the rear would be a good combo providing the best of each tire and mitigating the parts I didn’t like? Out on the trail these tires did work pretty well together. The front end is solid and dependable for traction while the rear does okay in terms of traction and keeps the overall bike moving forward well enough when I pedal. The Stooge isn’t as agile/snappy as the dual XR2s or the 2.6″ DHF/DHRs, but it’s not bad. I do enjoy that lovely floaty 29+ ride feel I get with the 3″ tires. The rear XR2 does lose traction occasionally. Especially when I stand to hammer up a slippery climb and move my weight too far forward. That said it doesn’t happen a lot. Most of the time I feel pretty impressed with how that lightly knobbed tire hooks up. I’ve ridden this combo quite hard for a big chunk of the total KMs on the Speedbomb. So far no dents in either rim despite the lack of inserts and lack of suspension at either end. Only time will tell if that’s sustainable long-term.

Best Coastal BC Winter Tires?

To be clear picking a “best” tire option is totally subjective. A lot comes down to which type of ride feel I like more and that can change from ride to ride. So take my opinion with a grain of salt in that regard. After way too much tire testing if you made me choose the “best” tires would be the 29 x 2.6″ DHF/DHR with a Tannus insert in the rear. Traction is excellent. The bike feels snappy/agile to ride which is fun and means I can avoid a lot of chunkiness. The downside is the smaller volume tire isn’t as comfortable on a rigid bike so when I do hit stuff I feel it. Then again I hit less stuff so it’s not a huge negative. However, that’s not the the tire combo I decided to ride! I ended up sticking with the XR4 + XR2 with no inserts. I’d rank this setup slightly less amazing overall than the previous one, but my other trail bikes all run on 29 x 2.6″ tires so adding one more bike with the same tires to that mix doesn’t give me anything fresh. Whereas having a 29 x 3.0″ mountain bike is a fun/fresh/different ride experience and I do enjoy me some 29+ Kool Aid! Not to mention the rigid aspect. If I start denting my rims with the 29+ setup I’ll have to reconsider.

Here is my overall ranking list for winter riding:

1. DHF + DHR – 29 x 2.6″ [Tannus Insert Rear Only]
2. XR4 + XR2 – 29 x 3.0″ [No Insert]
3. Rekon+ x 2 – 29 x 2.8″ [No Insert]
4. XR2 x 2 – 29 x 3.0″ [No Insert]
5. XR4 x 2 – 29 x 3.0″ [No Insert]
6. DHF + DHR – 29 x 3.0″ [Cushcore Plus x 2]

Singlespeed Gearing

Aside from tires I have played around with the size of the SS cog on the Stooge. The front ring has always been a 30T. I started with a 22T cog and while that worked it was fairly hard to get on top of on the punchiest of climbs. If I was feeling good and riding trails I knew, so I could optimize my momentum into climbs, it would be fine. If I was tired and/or riding trails I didn’t know well I’d be walking a bunch. Then I tried a 23T cog. With a light tire like the XR2s that worked well and gave me a bigger margin to allow me to react slower to the need to crank on the pedals. However, once I went to a heavier setup like the XR4 x 2 or DHF/DHR with Cushcore that cog felt too hard to push. So I busted out a 24T cog. This bigger cog and the XR4 + XR2 tire setup is where I am at currently. It feels good on the trails. Not too hard and not too easy. However, it’s too low a gear to want to ride across the valley [30K round trip] on pavement to get to/from the trails. I “commute” by bike to the trails less in the winter and I have other bikes that will do that mission happily for me so I’m not going to worry about it. Come the summer I may care more about that issue.

Here is a quick summary of what these various cogs give me for gear inches with a 29 x 3″ tire and 175mm cranks. I threw the number in for my SS hardtail in at the bottom for comparison. I’m using Sheldon Brown’s calculator for these numbers.

1. 30 x 22T = 40.8″
2. 30 x 23T = 39.0″
3. 30 x 24T = 37.4″
4. 28 x 21T [29 x 2.6″] = 39.2″

Up Next!

Wow if you read this whole post on 29+ tires you are a rockstar! Plus tires/inserts are expensive so hopefully somebody out there finds these results useful in homing in on a good 29+ tire combo for their bike without having to buy and try so many tires. Since I settled on the XR4 + XR2 combo I’ve done quite a lot of riding so I’ll follow up this post shortly with a Part 3 review discussing how the Stooge Speedbomb rides in more detail.