Tale of two rando bikes

28 Wednesday May 2014

Tags

a. homer hilsen, Barlow Pass, brevet, Cycles Toussaint, jack brown, light bike tires, randonneur, rivendell, tires, Velo Routier

After my brief flirtation with a bigger tire on my Hilsen, I’m back to the real original version. Jack Brown 33.3s. They actually measure just under 34mm, so only 3 or 4 mm smaller than the Barlows. Who knew! They feel great, and I don’t have as much toe overlap with this setup.

I noticed how much this bike is like the “new” rando I’ve been taking on the longer rides this year. Slightly different geometry on the frames, different tire size, but really close to the same measurements at the body contact points. Here are two side by sides:

A. Homer Hilsen

Velo Routier

I’m using the same seat, bars, and cranks. Pedals will soon be the same if I can make up my mind on the clipless of choice. There is one main difference I could feel today on my ride home. The bars on the Hilsen are 2cm above seat height. On the Routier, they are only 1cm above the seat. This was changed as soon as i got home as I’ve been plenty comfortable on the Routier this season, and the Hilsen actually felt a bit odd – like I was riding a “comfort” setting. It was not feeling quite the same in the power output. With the bars dropped, and a test ride to confirm, I now have a spare rando bike (it was actually the original brevet bike and did just fine for the past two seasons).

Now I just need to get the time to actually devote a day to a ride!

Barlow Pass

13 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

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Tags

a. homer hilsen, Barlow Pass, compass, cypres, fenders, Gran Bois, honjo, Hunqapillar, jack brown, rivendell, tires, toe overlap, VO, Zeppelins

After putting 38mm tires (Compass Barlow Pass) and new fenders (VO Zeppelins) on my Hilsen, and riding them for a month or so, I have the following observations.

They are cushy and ride well
They are light (I have the Extra Lights) and don’t slow my pace down
They increase stand over height by a half cm or so (it is noticeable)
The bike handles about the same
The tread is very grippy – I like the sure-footedness
There is now quite a bit of toe overlap, and I have bounced the fender several times during slow maneuvers
The difference between my 31mm Cypress and these 38mm Barlows is much less evident than jumping to a 42mm Hetre

I am slowly coming to the realization that I like smaller, fatter wheels on road bikes, but if I’m on a 700c, 33.3mm is the most I need. On both the Hunqapillar and my Hilsen the favorite tires for pure road riding have been either Gran Bois Cypres or Rivendell Jack Brown (Greens). Both combos make the bikes feel fast, agile, and just “right”. They also do a good enough job to absorb road bumps that I don’t feel beat up even after a long (200k/300k) ride. When I have a bigger tire (35mm+) on a 700c wheel, the bike feels a bit ponderous.

I really want to like the Barlows – but they are just not Hetres, and they aren’t feeling significantly better or more comfortable than the Cypres/JBs. I don’t know if the added volume makes the toe overlap worth the bother. I also like the hammered Honjo fenders I had on this bike. They added a touch of class…