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Showing posts from July, 2019

Review – IRC Tires Boken Tubeless Gravel Tyres

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A gravel biking tyre is distinctly different from a mountain bike or a cyclocross tyre – it should be at least 40c in volume and have a tread pattern that is capable of handling both rock strewn trails as well as gravel and sand. The IRC Boken Tubeless Tyres are a great example. I fitted the IRC Boken Tyres to my Kona Private Jake – set up tubeless on a set of Stan's NoTubes S1 Crest wheels. They were quick relatively easy to mount up, although I did have to put an extra wrap of rim tape on the rim to create a tighter seal. The tyres felt robust and well made from first inspection. The tread pattern on the Boken is a fine 'micro-diamond' design, and not as aggressive as some gravel tyres that I have tested, such as the Vee Tire T-CX, or the WTB Nano. The clear virtue of this is that the tyres are notably faster rolling and better for asphalt and light gravel sections than many, though predictably it does mean traction is slightly lower on slippery and loose surfaces c