When the Crusher in the Tushar first started, everyone made a big deal about which bike to ride: MTB or road. The tagline was, "no matter which one you choose, you'll be dead wrong at some point in the race!" I won the amateur race in 2013, and went back this year with what I hoped was the right bike.
Held high in the Tushar mountains of Utah, the Crusher in the Tushar is a climb-tastic gravel race, featuring 10,000ft / 3,048m of elevation gain over just 70 miles of alternating pavement and dirt.
After a few editions, riders figured out that this was clearly a course for a cyclocross bike. The really important questions then became, what wheels, what tires and what gears?
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- The course: 70mi with 10,000ft / 3,048m of elevation; 40 percent paved roads, 60 percent dirt and gravel
- The horse: Focus Mares CX with Di2, SRM and Clément X'Plor MSO 36mm set up tubeless on HED Ardennes +
- The equipment goal: A bike that can handle racing on paved roads and dirt roads with equal aplomb
Tubeless for the win — or, at least, for a flat-free race
Tubulars would be great for pinch-flat resistance and comfy psi, but if you sliced a sidewall — which is highly probable — you'd be hosed. If you run clinchers, there will be a 99.789 percent probability that you pinch flat.
This leaves us with a tubeless set up that is the best option in my opinion. There's no tube to pinch and you can run tyre pressures as low as 40psi (which I did) for some shock absorption. The bailout is a tube and CO2 cartridge if you flat. In two years of competing in the Crusher I have used a tubeless set up at 40psi without any issues.
The preparation and the results
Verdict on the bike, the gear and the event
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