mangochutney

The WTB Exposure 30 I had been running on Swift Wind (my titanium Van Nicholas Yukon Disc) have finally worn down to the point they needed replacing. I really liked these tires: they punch far above their weight and lasted a long time.

The type of rubber I wanted to go with next needed to be lighter, faster, potentially narrower (for those all-important and marginal Aero Gains™) but still robust enough to survive excursions onto field and forest roads that I enjoy on my rides

The Specialized S-Works Mondo piqued my interest when I saw the announcement and after reading a review on Rennrad News and a first look on Bikerumor, I decided to give them a try.

Mounting

I bought the 700×28c version planning on running them with Schwalbe Aerothan tubes. Road tubeless may work for some people, for me it’s been nothing but frustrating, whereas the Aerothan tubes are no fuss and give me a similar ride feel.

I’m using a DT Swiss GRC 1600 wheel set (think: GRC 1400 rims but with 350-series hubs instead of 240). The rims are hookless with an inner width of 24 mm and an outer width of 32 mm.

Getting the tires onto these rims was an absolute pain in the butt.

Conti GP 5000 are tough to install on my other DT Swiss rims, these Mondos were an exercise in patience and persistence.

Once installed and inflated, they measured 29.86 mm, which is a smidge below the 30 mm minimum tire width DT Swiss specified for the rims but that’s fine. Specialized helpfully have a rim width/tire compatibility table on the packaging of the Mondos and not only is it within spec, the width came out almost exactly where Specialized projected it to be.

I read in a blog post somewhere that DT Swiss had tested these rims for road use and found that the best aerodynamic advantages are achieved with a 28 to 30 mm tire because that leaves the broadest part of the rim wider than the rubber.

First ride

I used the Silca tire pressure calculator to arrive at a recommended 70 psi for the front and 72 psi for the back and went for one of my regular training routes on road surfaces of varying smoothness, age, and quality. Weather was cold (around freezing) and road conditions were mostly wet.

First impressions are the following:

• This 29.86 mm tire (effective) is more supple than I expected it to be. I was jostled around only a little bit more than with the WTB Exposure 30 which blow up to 33 mm on these rims.
• They feel fast! Acceleration is excellent and they have plenty of grip in a straight line but don’t feel like they glue me to the surface.
• Cornering grip is impressive both in the wet and dry. I did a few corners on this route at a much higher speed in the wet than I would’ve typically done in the dry with the previous tires.

Russ Roca posted a video on his channel: “The DARK SIDE of Electronic Shifting No One Talks About“

He makes a couple of good points about compatibility, ease of performing modifications, and cost of upgrades and repairs but I still have problems agreeing with the doom and gloom situation he presents.

I’m really of a split opinion here. I have four bikes: a titanium road bike with Shimano Di2 and Shimano hydraulic brakes, a titanium MTB with mechanical SRAM Eagle shifting and Hope hydros, an e-bike with mechanical SRAM Eagle and Magura hydros, and a Trek retro-mod with mechanical SRAM Eagle and … Magura hydro rim brakes.

Both Magura and Shimano hydros are so ridiculously easy for me to service and even on tours I’m not worried because essentially every bike shop can do it. The advantages and lack of maintenance of those over most cable-actuated brakes simply outweigh the negatives for me.

A bit further into the video Russ talks about electronic shifting being the “death of freedom” but he also says,

Here’s the thing: humans are complex, there are certain aspects of my life where, you know, I’ll go for that simplicity. For example: video editing, I’m an Apple fanboy all day long. I just want things to work and in that instance I’m willing to give up, you know, certain levels of customization and control.

And that is the thing: with shifting I perceive Di2 similarly to my Apple gear: they’re both golden cages but very big and comfortable ones. When these products work and fit your needs, they are utterly perfect and effortless. When they don’t, they can be incredibly annoying.
Di2 shifting has been nothing but great for me. Setup and maintenance are simple and easy, the components long-lived (bought mine used). I have the gearing I want for this bike (48/32 + 11-32) and there’s even room to go 11-40 on that system with a Wolftooth Goat Link (as Jom from Gravel Cyclist confirmed).

That said: the frame I’m running Di2 on is a Van Nicholas Yukon disc with internal routing that is also fully compatible with wired shifting (even wired braking) if I ever want to go that route. It was important to me when I bought it because I did not want to get locked into electronic shifting systems.

All in all, I had expected something more profound from the video. Russ and Laura make good content but this felt more like a rant about something he doesn’t like because it doesn’t fit his needs.