road.cc
by Liam Cahill Mon, Feb 03, 2020 09:45
The Challenge Strada Handmade TLR Tubeless road tyre is up there with the most supple road tubeless tyres on the market. The excellent construction translates into very good performance on the road. (#)
The tubeless revolution is coming to the road and while many have already jumped on the bandwagon, I've been biding my time, waiting for the casings to become supple, like the open tubulars that I like. With these HTLRs, Challenge has aimed to merge the ride feel of those supple open tubulars with the added puncture protection of tubeless. I think it's got it spot on.
Challenge is making two models of road tyre using its handmade tubeless ready (HTLR) construction methods: the Strada Pro, which is only available in 25mm size (in black, or black and tan), and the Paris-Roubaix, which is available in a 27mm only. To go bigger than that you're looking at the Strada Bianca gravel tyre in a 30mm or a 36mm. The SuperPoly casing is made from polyester with a high 300TPI (threads per inch) count. While it's not as supple as Challenge's corespun cotton, or silk casings, it's far more supple than the standard casings on most tubeless and clincher tyres. In your hands, you can even stretch the tyre slightly. There's a lot of give in these.