We like some things in our shop so much that we just have to say a few words about them. Especially if the things have already proven themselves in our everyday cycling...

When it comes to iconic wheel tire brands, the Clement name is always one of the first to come up, especially among aficionados well versed in cycling history. This is no coincidence, after all, company founder Aldolphe Clement, Tour de France-proven bike shop owner and inventor before the Lord, bought the exclusive rights to manufacture air-filled tires for France from John Boyd Dunlop as early as 1889. The cornerstone for an empire that would later cause a sensation in both automobile construction and aviation.

Merckx, Anquetil, Gimondi and many more appreciated the Clement wheel tires in the 60s and 70s, countless victories were achieved on Clement Seta and Clement Paris-Roubaix and thus established the legendary reputation of the tires. Pirelli bought the naming rights in the 80s and production was transferred from Italy to Thailand. Finally, in 1998, the local company that manufactured the Clement tires closed its doors. Max Brauns, owner of Brewo Italia, Clement Vertriebs, bought the machines, but could not agree with Pirelli about the rights to the name and so founded the company Challenge, whose hand-made tires are now also known under the names Seta and Paris-Roubaix have a good reputation and are happy to be ridden by Belgian cyclists.

In 2009, American Donn Kellogg, a New York bike courier in the 1970s, bike shop owner and busy doer in the American cycling business, finally acquired the Clement naming rights and set about reviving the legend with great passion. His claim: to produce a tire that lives up to the expectations that come with the name Clement. His long-standing connections to the cyclocross scene helped to develop robust tires with good grip, which make cyclocross riders happy with their coarse profile.

When it comes to cycling, rough conditions, bad roads and challenges of the worst kind in America, Belgium comes into play. Ritte van Vlaaderen founded an entire business model on this. Americans seem to reduce our neighbors to cobblestones, ramps, bad weather, wind from the front, fries and beer. The stuff cycling heroes are made of. That's why Clement has named the new road tire Strada LGG, after the code of Liege Airport. The LGG is available as a wired tire in black in 23, 25 and 28mm, with a beige sidewall in 25 and 28mm, each with 60 or 120TPI*. According to the manufacturer, the wired tire weighs between 220 and 290 grams, depending on the width. The tubular tire is only available in 25mm, which also weighs 265 grams, according to the manufacturer.

I've been riding the 28mm version of the LGG with 120TPI for almost a month now on my favorite racer, across town, over smooth asphalt, dry and wet surfaces, farm roads and cobblestones. In Denmark, the Strada got to know demanding gravel roads, forest soil and sharp-edged, bad asphalt. And he convinces me. A good, because versatile tire. Not a flimsy racing tire, but rolls well on smooth surfaces, with reliable grip on gravel and predictable braking performance. On wet roads, the LGG shines with its fine ripple profile and good grip. The tire is relatively light, assembly and disassembly are uncomplicated, it goes well over the edge of the rim. The model specified as 28mm is exactly 28mm wide when opened and is almost 30mm high.

When developing the LGG, Clement probably also kept an eye on the steadily growing community of gravel grinders in the USA, after all the tire has no problems being shooed off the road over gravel passages and dirt roads. With a so-called skinwall, i.e. skin-colored flank, the Strada is a recommended candidate for use on the classic racer on the Strade Bianchi of the L'Eroica.

We offer the Clement LGG in our store in different versions.

*TPI = Threads per inch, designates the number of fibers per inch in the carcass. A high value usually stands for a dense, high-quality fabric with thin fibers, which in turn have a positive effect on the rolling properties.