CADEX Continues to Integrate

Wider is better, and the width of rubber is all the rage right now. As hookless finally starts to get its deserved traction, it’s no secret that it still has a heavy lift ahead before complete acceptance. We see it all too often where tires blow and slime goes everywhere. Even CADEX’s Ironman World Champion (Kristian Blummenfelt) has lost two races because he refuses to carry a CO2 and a tube for backup. So why is that important to the story? Simply that when lessons are learned, knowledge is gained. And the industry is still learning a lot when it comes to tires in a hookless ecosystem.

The leading wheel manufactures are still charging towards a HOOKLESS future. And, in order to do this, they are simply doing what they do best. Integrating their own knowledge to produce their own stuff. And CADEX is no different in this arena than the others in the space, with ZIPP and ENVE being the other futurist thinkers.

The main issue we see in the space, besides consumers learning all the rules around it, is within the industry. The wheel composite manufactures are heading in this direction, but there seems to be a lack of a common goal when it comes to the overall “partnerships” with the major tire brands. The tire brands have a massive community to serve on standard hooked rims, so I don’t think they feel like they can take the time to rethink the future of wheels. Although this is just me thinking out loud.

With that said, it’s time to introduce the new CADEX AERO COTTON TIRE, made by CADEX for CADEX (im sure it will work on other hookless wheels). We first saw some of these back in January when we flew over the pond to Adelaide for a sneak peak of the new wheel and Trinity Launch.

With the new wheels and the new TT bike, I’m sure CADEX felt the need to get with the times and produce some wider tires, starting at 28mm and going up. This is found with the TT bike they just produced, which featured prototype 32’s on (not pictured).

So why choose cotton over something else? What makes it different? Generally speaking, these are some differences when thinking about why someone would want a Cotton tire over a Non-Cotton one, or vice versa.

As CADEX continues to move forward in the space, these tires now represent one of seven options in the ever growing stable, and the first cotton tire the company has produced. They seem to be more robust than other cotton tires on the market, which would be a good thing, because, in the end, you can’t win if you can’t finish. Just to be clear, these aren’t training tires, these are racing tires. They aren’t designed to put hard, nasty, training miles on. They are designed to go as fast as possible through the wind, while being as sticky as possible around the corners.

A decent look at the tread of the tires.

So far we have ridden these a couple of times, but not for any major efforts. They however live up to the ride claims – you can feel the grips on the concrete slits we go over. Our plan is to test these out during RAAW (Race Across The West) next month.

For the tech geeks here are the TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

Sizes: 700x28c, 700x30c

Weight: 278g (28c), 305g (30c)

ETRTO: 28X622 (28c), 30×622 (30c)

Maximum Pressure (PSI / BAR): 72 PSI / 5.0 BAR

TPI: 320

Bead: Hybrid Carbon-Zylon

Bead Type: Folding

Compound: RR-S2

Casing: Cotton Race Casing (CRC)

Puncture Protection: Race Shield

The one thing I will say just out of pure thumbs up. Is that is at no point on this tire wall can anyone be confused at what type of rim and what sort of pressure this tire is rated too. This is one thing that has been an issue in the past of some of the CADEX and other Hookless tires.

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