The Chicane tread is a combination of a file tread and a Grifo. © Cyclocross Magazine
A couple of months ago, we hinted at a new tread from Challenge, the Chicane, which was rumored to be a tire with aggressive side knobs. It was spotted being prototyped last season for leaning over in corners on dry courses and having traction on the icy courses that we saw in Madison at Nationals.
Helen Wyman was one of the racers prototyping the Chicane, and she’s the first to be testing it out on an actual race course at Gloucester. She only raced with it on her rear wheel though, as her husband and pit crew Stef Wyman had just glued them the night before and the front one hadn’t set in time for the race. Even with only one Chicane tire, Wyman said that it was ideal for the dry, loose course, though she added that she would be happy to test it in the mud soon as well.
According to Wyman, the Chicane is designed to be a “no-compromises tread pattern, which inspires confidence in loose corners but accelerates rapidly in straightaways.”
“They give you the best opportunity to get traction in important corners as well as have the ideal tire for sprinting at the end of a race,” she explained after winning the European championships on the prototypes.
Stay tuned for a full profile of Wyman’s new Kona Super Jake CX with disc brakes, and more pro bike profiles from the first weekend of Holy Week racing in New England.
Helen Wyman helped design Challenge’s latest tire, the Chicane. © Cyclocross Magazine
