Soma Cazadero newb review

16 replies · 2,050 views

TheRo0sTer
75 posts
#1Mar 23, 2017, 2:20 PM
When I first joined the forum I wanted to know about tire options. After getting 500 miles under my belt I decided it was time to upgrade my tires. I ride a mixture of hard packed gravel roads, chip and seal roads with some asphalt in there. My experience with tires includes: Clement Xplor, Specialize Trigger Pro, Schwalbe Mondial Marathons and Ellie Maes.

First look these things are beastly compared to all the tires above. The inner solid lug is nice for asphalt as stated in most reviews. The outer knobs are nice and solid. Mounted up on a Bontrager TLR wheel they measure at 41.5 mm (I'll post wheel width later, but I think it's 23 mm). Which I found out is the limit of tire width in my '14 S Works Crux. I took them out for a test ride running 50 psi in the rear and 45 psi up front.

Down the asphalt road they roll nice! I won't say they roll as nice as the Triggers, Ellie Mae's or Mondials, but they rolled just as fast as the Clements. We did about 17 miles on the asphalt (it was supposed to be a gravel ride) and finally we hooked up with some gravel. Now here is where these things really shine! On a scale of 1 - 5 comparing all the tires above too, these are a 5 in the gravel. The wider contact patch made cruising the loose gravel easy on the knees and the solid contact patch allowed them to fly over the hard packed stuff.

Would I recommend these to someone? YES of course I would. Unless you are weight weenie... then you need to stick to one of the narrower tubeless tires. I do plan on running them tubeless after this weekend. I will add pictures and how they fair setting them up tubeless after this weekend.
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Soundwave
13 posts
#2Apr 20, 2017, 11:43 PM
Thanks for the review! How did the tubeless experiment go? The more I hear about these being easy to make tubeless, the more I want them.
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TheRo0sTer
75 posts
#3Apr 21, 2017, 5:53 AM
Funny you should ask! So I finally got around to installing these tubeless. First I tried using the Gorilla tape method. FAIL I tried, tried and tried again to get it to seal. Then I tried STANs yellow tape... FAIL. I jumped on the internet and did a tubeless search and found the inner tube boot method. Stans sells their kits with these boots, but I already had some tubes sitting in boxes from my 26" MTB days. Guess what they sealed up the first time both times and I have only had to add air once in a month now.

Second look at these tires...

They are everything the manufacturer claims, the review cover and a bag of chips. The biggest plus is the solid center lug. This is great for hard packed gravel roads, asphalt, and concrete. They roll a bit better than the Trigger Pros I was riding. Another up is the size of the lugs on the sides. The one thing I did like about the Trigger and Clement is they always felt squirrely coming out of corners. These big lugs hook up and keep you moving in the right direction. Being an old Freeride and XC MTB guy I really like these for cornering. "What is different? I was catching you coming down the hill into the corner, I had to scrub some speed and you are 20 - 30 ft ahead of me coming out of the corner!" These tires give you the confidence to hold more speed. Like I said they are hooked up!
If you have a frame that can support this width tire and are looking for a fast rolling, corner hooking tread... Look no more!

Tubeless set-up: You can buy STANs boots or you can get you a couple Presta valve 24" tubes. Either way, I recommend using the rubber boots or tubes over the tape. The downside to tubes... you have to cut the excess rubber away after the tire is installed. With a steady hand and some patients, it's a breeze!

This isn't the video I watched, but this is how I did my tires.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByBAItDM3Ws
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TheRo0sTer
75 posts
#4Apr 21, 2017, 8:53 AM
TheRo0sTer wrote:
Funny you should ask! So I finally got around to installing these tubeless. First I tried using the Gorilla tape method. FAIL I tried, tried and tried again to get it to seal. Then I tried STANs yellow tape... FAIL. I jumped on the internet and did a tubeless search and found the inner tube boot method. Stans sells their kits with these boots, but I already had some tubes sitting in boxes from my 26" MTB days. Guess what they sealed up the first time both times and I have only had to add air once in a month now.

Second look at these tires...

They are everything the manufacturer claims, the review cover and a bag of chips. The biggest plus is the solid center lug. This is great for hard packed gravel roads, asphalt, and concrete. Another plus is the size of the lugs on the sides. The one thing I didn't like about the Trigger and Clement is they always felt squirrely coming out of corners and deeper loose stuff. These big lugs hook up and keep you moving in the right direction. Being an old Freeride and XC MTB guy I really like these for cornering. "What is different? I was catching you coming down the hill into the corner, I had to scrub some speed and you are 20 - 30 ft ahead of me coming out of the corner!" These tires give you the confidence to hold more speed. Like I said they are hooked up!
If you have a frame that can support this width tire and are looking for a fast rolling, corner hooking tread... Look no more!

Tubeless set-up: You can buy STANs boots or you can get you a couple Presta valve 24" tubes. Either way, I recommend using the rubber boots or tubes over the tape. The downside to tubes... you have to cut the excess rubber away after the tire is installed. With a steady hand and some patients, it's a breeze!

This isn't the video I watched, but this is how I did my tires.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByBAItDM3Ws
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DerekJ_MI
232 posts
#5Apr 22, 2017, 11:54 PM
So did you use rim tape to go tubeless or not? All my other tubeless setups I tape the rim then install the tube and the latex and that's it. This setup adds in a tube under the tire. What am I missing? Or is this what is needed to get these specific tires tubeless?
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TheRo0sTer
75 posts
#6Apr 24, 2017, 6:58 AMedited
I used tape to keep the spoke nipples from coming up through the hole and putting a hole in the tube (Boot). I learned the hard way when I broke a spoke and I was taking the old spoke out. Put a hole in the tube (boot). The tube in the wheel between the tire and the wheel worked best to keep a seal with this tube ready tire. I'm sure if these were tubeless, I could have just did the rim tape.
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DerekJ_MI
232 posts
#7Apr 24, 2017, 6:36 PM
Thanks. I read where depending on your rim size these tires will work without the rim tube (or just with tape and sealant). I also read where you can install them with a tube, inflate them to 90 psi and let them site for a week. Then deflate, remove the tube and they will go on easy tubeless. IDK, they are not the cheapest tire out there and I have a whole stable of rubber right now so maybe in the future this will be good to go.
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Laeljon
51 posts
#8Apr 24, 2017, 7:00 PM
I just used rim tape on Velocity A23's....went with floor pump....
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Soundwave
13 posts
#9Apr 28, 2017, 9:58 PM
I got some of these. Had a hell of a time getting them to seat properly until I realized I could tug on the tire and get it 90% seated without any pumping at all. It went silky smooth after that. We'll see how they look in the morning.

By the way mine measure about 41.5mm tread to tread on Stan's Grail rims, which I believe are 20.5mm internal width. They make a little noise on smooth roads because they are still a bit tacky, but I imagine that will wear off after a few dozen miles.

P.S. Gumwalls make everything look better, even flashy bikes like the RLT.
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TheRo0sTer
75 posts
#10Aug 5, 2017, 3:01 PM
Well a few months have gone by and zero issues with these riding tubeless. Up until last Sat when I took air out and the Stans goo clogged my valve stem from seating. Other than that... maybe 800 miles worry free! I tried running the Gravelking SK at the Hairy Hundred in MO. Dude I despise that tire! LMBO Unlike the Cazas, they were squirrely as all get out. These are just plus at all pressures. I wish they had these in 38 or 40cm for other frames. I sold my Boone 9 because it wouldn't fit this tire. I loved that bike, but this tire is ON POINT.

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AlanEsh
196 posts
#11Sep 13, 2017, 9:23 AMedited
TheRo0sTer wrote:
Funny you should ask! So I finally got around to installing these tubeless. First I tried using the Gorilla tape method. FAIL I tried, tried and tried again to get it to seal. Then I tried STANs yellow tape... FAIL. I jumped on the internet and did a tubeless search and found the inner tube boot method. Stans sells their kits with these boots, but I already had some tubes sitting in boxes from my 26" MTB days. Guess what they sealed up the first time both times and I have only had to add air once in a month now.

Second look at these tires...

They are everything the manufacturer claims, the review cover and a bag of chips. The biggest plus is the solid center lug. This is great for hard packed gravel roads, asphalt, and concrete. They roll a bit better than the Trigger Pros I was riding. Another up is the size of the lugs on the sides. The one thing I did like about the Trigger and Clement is they always felt squirrely coming out of corners. These big lugs hook up and keep you moving in the right direction. Being an old Freeride and XC MTB guy I really like these for cornering. "What is different? I was catching you coming down the hill into the corner, I had to scrub some speed and you are 20 - 30 ft ahead of me coming out of the corner!" These tires give you the confidence to hold more speed. Like I said they are hooked up!
If you have a frame that can support this width tire and are looking for a fast rolling, corner hooking tread... Look no more!

Tubeless set-up: You can buy STANs boots or you can get you a couple Presta valve 24" tubes. Either way, I recommend using the rubber boots or tubes over the tape. The downside to tubes... you have to cut the excess rubber away after the tire is installed. With a steady hand and some patients, it's a breeze!

This isn't the video I watched, but this is how I did my tires.

Wow. So your rims weren't tubeless ready? In your first post you said they were Bontrager TLR which I assumed meant Tubeless Ready. Apparently they weren't, or you wouldn't have needed to do this crazy setup
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TheRo0sTer
75 posts
#12Sep 14, 2017, 7:13 PM
Actually they were TRLs, but I swapped over to a TR CF wheels. One sealed with tape and the other did not. Heck even my TLR set had a hard time with one tire. Even the new Stans kit comes with a boot.
1
juansevo
15 posts
#13Nov 20, 2017, 10:24 AM
I love these tires. One tip I have is for primarily riding on the road, pup these puppies up to the max pressure! That center ridge really lets these tires rip when at max pressure on pavement. Almost don't realize you have big tires!
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cmcalpin
107 posts
#14Nov 27, 2017, 6:14 PM
I have some 700x42 cazaderos mounted on Stans tubeless grail rims. I used inner tubes when purchased knowing that they were not tubeless. I left the original tubeless rim tape on but put an extra layer on. I am planning on taking them off and trying tubeless one more time. I tried it last spring and they seated and aired up but kept losing air overnight even with sealant. I aired one up and layed it on a 5 gallon bucket and sprayed it with soap water. Sure enough the gumwalls were seeping. They were too porous. Back in went the tubes. I am going to try it again here soon as I keep reading reports of tubeless success with these tires.

As far as the tire itself, I love them and agree with the OP on his review. I rode them across Iowa this summer and do lots of gravel and they barely show any wear. Awesome tire!
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Christ D.
21 posts
#15Jan 17, 2018, 5:47 PM
I absolutely love these tyres. Set up tubeless with Stans tape and sealant. Only the front lost some air due to a bad valve. After putting a new valve in i have zero issues.
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TheRo0sTer
75 posts
#16Sep 23, 2018, 5:15 PM
Contact Soma. I remember tan walls separating back in the day.
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cmcalpin
107 posts
#17Sep 23, 2018, 5:17 PMedited
TheRo0sTer wrote:Contact Soma. I remember tan walls separating back in the day.

I apologize. I did some googling and found that gum walls have issues with UV damage and I kind of suspected that might be what was going on here. So I just deleted my topic right after you replied. I thought about contacting Soma but I didn’t know if tires had a warranty since I bought these in February 2017. I’ll put my picture at the end of this post so anybody else reading can see what I was talking about in the original post. Thanks for your reply. I think I will contact Soma tomorrow
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