Challenge Tires offers a huge selection of tread styles and shapes for cyclocross racing and training. Matching the right tread to the conditions on the race course can equal free speed, improved traction, and handling.
Here's the current lineup, beginning with high-traction tires intended for mud and wet and finishing with the minimally-treaded models for use on fast, dry courses.
Limus
The Limus is a dedicated mud tire with tall knobs designed to provide traction in deep mud. A great choice for riders who race primarily in wet and mud.
For riders who have the luxury of multiple race wheelsets, they can choose the Limus on muddy days and a Grifo or Chicane on dry days.
Baby Limus
Prior to the introduction of the Flandrien, the Baby Limus "split the difference" between the Limus (dedicated mud tire) and Grifo (an all-conditions tread pattern.) Now that the Flandrien has entered the Challenge tire line-up, the Baby Limus is now positioned between the Limus and the Flandrien, providing slightly more wet and mud grip, at the expense of a little more rolling resistance.
Flandrien
The Flandrien is the newest addition to the Challenge cyclocross tire line-up, and is positioned between the Baby Limus and Grifo. The Grifo is one of the top-selling and most popular cyclocross tread patterns of all time, riders might choose a Flandrien instead should their local conditions skew a bit more toward the wet.
Grifo
The Grifo is far and away one of the most widely used tread patterns in cyclocross today. This tread pattern is sold under the Challenge label with many other brands selling a tire that looks very similar to the Grifo tread. Typically, I recommend the Grifo for cyclocross racers who only own a single set of race wheels (i.e. they need a single tire that will work for just about all conditions.)
Grifos are also a great choice if you're new to cyclocross, due to their neutral handling - once you're more experienced with tire selection and tire pressure choices with some racing under your belt, you'll have a better idea of whether you'd be better served with a different model.
Chicane
The Chicane uses a "file" tread in the middle of the tire for very low rolling resistance on fast, dry courses. Compare this with something like a Grifo that uses a "paddle" or "chevron" shape in the middle of the tread - those offer more grip to avoid slipping while riders are putting down the power (such as while climbing a hill) but also add rolling resistance in conditions where they aren't needed for grip. At the edge of the tread, however, the Chicane still has knobs for cornering grip, so they aren't purely a "slick" tread.
Chicanes are a great choice if you typically race in dry conditions with plenty of traction - think the dry grass at the old CrossVegas course in Las Vegas and many of the SoCalCross races held in hot dry weather.
Dune
The next two tires, the Dune and the Koksijde, are very unusual choices that aren't commonly found on cyclocross race bikes in the United States.
The Dune is super fast rolling, with a file style tread in the middle and tiny, minimal edge knobs. It has two common use cases - the first is on heavy sand courses (thus the "Dune" name) and the other is ice. You'll need expert level bike handling skills to maximize the capabilities of the Dune.
Koksijde
Koksijde takes the Dune design to even more extremes, completely removing any edge knobs for cornering and leaving only a tiny file tread across the entire tire casing. It's designed specifically for races like those held in the Belgian coastal town of Koksijde, which is almost completely sand dunes with a small slice of pavement.
The very vast majority of riders can completely ignore the Dune and Koksijde models (if you do need them, you'd already know!) Because they are so unusual, I don't typically carry the Dune and Koksijde models here at RideCX.com.
Challenge cyclocross tires at a glance
This chart illustrates the Challenge cyclocross tire line-up, sorted from "fast-rolling" to "more grip" from top to bottom along the Y axis, with weather conditions from wet to dry along the X axis.
