No riding for me this weekend - maybe I should have gotten that flu shot :(.

[Carbon_Dude]

Day 2 of the coughing, sneezing, moderately achy joins, and a runny nose.  Temperature is 100.6F and I don't want to anything but lie under a blanket and keep warm.

Kinda sucks since we are having decently warm weather, although the rain will be moving in next week and temps are expected to drop.  Compare this to last weekend when I rode 27 miles, guess I won't be boosting my winter milage average until maybe next weekend.

After about 3 days, my wife is getting over her cold/flu or whatever this is so I have some hope that it won't last too long.

I am just "an incubus of viral plague" right now.

[cmh]

Day 2 of the coughing, sneezing, moderately achy joins, and a runny nose.  Temperature is 100.6F and I don't want to anything but lie under a blanket and keep warm.

Kinda sucks since we are having decently warm weather, although the rain will be moving in next week and temps are expected to drop.  Compare this to last weekend when I rode 27 miles, guess I won't be boosting my winter milage average until maybe next weekend.

After about 3 days, my wife is getting over her cold/flu or whatever this is so I have some hope that it won't last too long.

I am just "an incubus of viral plague" right now.

Damn, that sucks, I hope you're washing your hands before typing these posts so that you don't risk any of us catching a virus.

I was sick this past weekend as well. Saturday I was really tired, but still wanted to get out Sunday because it was nice. Got out for an easy ride and as soon as I started my brain clicked into "FULL GAS NOW GO FASTER" mode and by the end I thought I had raked out my lungs with a fork. On the upside, Grace didn't have to wait for me and took almost 6 minutes off her best time - and got 9th overall on a 19 mile loop which is the unofficial home of MTB in the Philly area in the winter. She was positively flying!

[Carbon_Dude]

Thanks for the reply CMH.  On Sunday I felt 200% better but rain was moving in and I didn't want to chance riding on wet, slick, muddy trails.

I took a PTO day from work yesterday as I was still coughing and sneezing too much to go into the office.  More improvement today, I will try going into work.

In the meantime I mounted a new Continental X-king tire to my -036 so it's ready to go when me and the weather both are.

[cmh]

I took a PTO day from work yesterday as I was still coughing and sneezing too much to go into the office.  More improvement today, I will try going into work.

In the meantime I mounted a new Continental X-king tire to my -036 so it's ready to go when me and the weather both are.

Hope you're feeling better. I still sound strange (although I always prefer my deeper voice when I'm sick) and have a cough, but doing much better here. Hope same for you.

X-Kings are great tires. She's been running either X-Kings or Mountain Kings for years now, gotta stick with what works. In the winter, it's the X-King in the back and Mountain King in the front, both with the ProTection sidewalls. In the summer, especially in race season, it's X-King RaceSport front and rear. They've been excellent.

Only problem with the RaceSport tires is trying to order them from... anywhere. Try to order an X-King RaceSport from the LBS and they will hear - and order - the RaceKing ProTection. Although I loved the super fast-rolling Race King, she never found it to have enough traction. No US retailer seems to have any idea about the RaceSport line, either. Thankfully, most European ones do, and they have better prices anyway.

[Carbon_Dude]

Thanks CMH, I'm almost back to normal.  No riding here though for a few days, lots of rain hitting the Atlanta area the last four days.  Hopefully the trails dry out for this weekend, I can't wait to get back out on the trails.

My other favorite tire has been the Vittoria Saguaro TNT, they've worked really well on my -057.  Good in dryer conditions, roll really fast and hold air surprisingly well for a tire mounted tubeless.

I still want to try other tires though, the Maxxis IKON or the Kenda HoneyBadger Pro.  The HB Pro is relatively new in the market.  I look for 120tpi casing, tubeless compatible, folding (of course), tread blocks a little closer together, possibly even tighter spaced blocks down the center for low rolling resistance, not too heavy, and not too expensive.

Surprisingly there are several tires that meet that criteria.

I was just looking at 27.5+ tires and about choked when I saw many of them were around $100.

[cmh]

My new favorite tire - and honest, I discovered it before it came with the Epic - is the Specialized FastTrak. Had the S-Works front and rear on the Rumblefish but it's too thin for me and a rear wheel. The Epic actually comes with the "normal" FastTrak in the back and the S-Works in the front. It's a wonderfully fast tire with shockingly good traction for its pretty minimal tread. Far from ultimate traction, but I love the way it slides. Great fun tire that is really fast in hardpack.

[Carbon_Dude]

When I had my Epic 26er years ago, I did like the Specialized Ground Control tires that were on it.  Specialized does make some good tires.  So many options, I was also looking at the Kenda SlantSix Pro.  It comes in a 29x2.35" size.

[cmh]

When I had my Epic 26er years ago, I did like the Specialized Ground Control tires that were on it.  Specialized does make some good tires.  So many options, I was also looking at the Kenda SlantSix Pro.  It comes in a 29x2.35" size.

I've run the Slant Six - no complaints. Been a while since I was on them, don't really remember anything specific. Looks like a minimal tread but it paired well with the Small Block Eight in the back. I remember that the 26er version was FAR heavier than the stated weight, but the 29er was right where it should be. All that info is a couple years back, and I'm pretty sure that you won't be too concerned about the issue with the 26ers.