The 38 mm and 42 mm versions are the most similar to each other, with a very tightly packed center tread matched to a much more open shoulder design with a double row of staggered L-shaped blocks. IRC offers the Boken Doublecross solely in 700c diameter, but in three different casing widths - 33, 38, and 42 mm - all with size-specific tread variations.
After all, even the fastest tires are slow when you’re carrying them. Speed is nice to have for a mixed-terrain event like the Belgian Waffle Ride, but so is traction and casing durability. The tread design rolls quite well on paved and hardpacked surfaces, but in terms of outright grip, it could benefit from softer rubber. In this case, though, the Boken Doublecross is billed as an “aggressive all-conditions gravel tire”, supposedly offering both excellent straight-line speed and secure cornering for demanding events like the original Belgian Waffle Ride in southern California, whose 217 km (135 mi) course serves up a brutally diverse mix of tarmac, dirt fire roads, rocky hiking trails, and honest-to-goodness singletrack. I’ve been on and off (mostly on) the semi-slick bandwagon ever since, and it was with this same sense of hope that I took delivery of IRC’s Boken Doublecross, built with a tubeless-ready 60 TPI nylon casing, an almost perfectly smooth center tread, and particularly meaty cornering knobs. The fine center tread looked fast - and was fast - and yet the tacky rubber still offered surprising good climbing traction (even in moderate mud!) Meanwhile, its stout cornering knobs gave me all the confidence I wanted when blasting through corners.
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for semi-slick tires, dating back to the mid-1990s when the Michelin Wildgripper Sprint was my go-to rear for mountain biking.
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