Middle Nomad

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Tags

bicycle, bike, cycling, dureme, Hunqapillar, Nomad, Resist, rivendell

My continued adventure on the Hunqapillar. Today I put Resist Nomads on the beast, and removed the 50mm Duremes. Although I love these tires, they are heavy, and make my ~1000ft ascent home tougher than I want it to be. These Nomads may be a good medium.

The cushion for pushin’

This tire is rated as a 45mm, but most folks measure it out at about 41mm. I’m going to wait a few days for a measurement so it can stretch. First impressions are good. It rolls smoothly, has plenty of plushness, and less weight than the Schwalbe. It’s definitely not as plush as the Cypres or Jack Brown Green, but for what this bike is for, I would like a bit more rubber on the road, and I’m always chasing the mythical Hetre in 700c. This is a haulin’ tourin’ mountain bike.

Up Front

The tire is a wire bead. It mounted on the Synergy with minimal finger pressure – no need for irons if you have a flat. The sidewall is a bit darker than the light yellowish typical skinwall. This works really well on the bike with the amber overtones of the shellac, and the mahogany wood fenders.

Tread

The tread is a square pattern similar to the Jack Browns, but without the slick parts. It handled riding no-handed in my short test ride without unusual amounts of wobble. I felt the street, but most of the hi-frequency vibration was absent. The tires were inflated to 30psi front and 50psi rear.

Purdy

Next steps are to do some serious riding in the dirt and trail. I will take them for a quick ride down my favorite dirt path tomorrow and check for grip. Need some more mountainy bars on this beast. The noodles are great for road riding, but this thing wants to be in the dirt, and I have a nice road bike. Next up are either Midge bars or Albatross. I may put the basket back on, too!

Rivet Redux

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by Brian Hanson in Cycling

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

cycling, Pearl, Rivet, saddle

I’m throwing in the towel on the Rivet Pearl. I’ve given it 700+ miles at this point, and it still feels too stiff on my sitz bones. The bummer is that the shape and the cutout is perfect. It just uses leather that is either way too stiff, or I just don’t weigh enough to dent it. I also love the finish and adjustability. The rails are nice and long.

Too Tough

If I rode with a chamois pad all the time, this would be a comfy saddle, but I do a lot of miles with no pads on my commute, and I get plenty of 20-mile+ comfort from a standard broken in Brooks B17, or better still, a Selle Anatomica Titanico.

Time to find the Rivet a new home. Let me know if you are interested in trying it out.

Diamond Tape Session

27 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by Brian Hanson in Cycling

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Tags

bleriot, bosco, city chickens, cycling, diamond bar wrap, diamond wrap, harlequin, harlequin wrap, Miyata, saluki

Diamond Tape Session, a set on Flickr.

This afternoon, four mad-rad RBW list members got together for a bar taping fest in a Seattle garage (yes, it was raining). Amazingly, all members arrived on their bikes and carrying nothing more than bar tape, and the willingness to be made a fool of by cotton tape, they learned the fine art of the harlequin bar wrap.

We had a good time, and in the end there were 3 new diamond’d up cockpits on a Saluki, Bleriot, and Bosco’d Miyata Ridge Runner Team. Special thanks to Rob Harrison for his garage, and his family’s patience! For those that missed this round, there will be more. I will host one in a few months at my place.

Pics prove it happened in the rain with chickens…

Green in the Front, Blue in the Back

27 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by Brian Hanson in Cycling

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

a. homer hilsen, bike commute, commuting, cycling, cypres, dureme, flat tire, Gran Bois, Hunqapillar, jack brown, rivendell, schwalbe

I love Rivendell Jack Brown tires. They are a great combo of cush on a 700c wheel and low rolling resistance.

http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/t100-g.htm

Hilsen with Jacks

I have had Jack Brown’s on my A. Homer Hilsen for a few years, with a brief fling using the also sublime Gran Bois Cypres tires. For the past 6 months, I’ve been regularly riding a Hunqapillar with heavier Schwalbe Duremes on my work commute of 10-20 miles, and I have been gradually come to a conclusion. Heavy tires with tough sidewalls are great for avoiding flats, but I don’t like riding on them. They feel really sluggish – like I’m constantly pushing and fighting to keep the bike moving. Not fun to me. Biking should be fun.

Hunqa with Jacks

With that in mind, I swapped out the Duremes for my extra set of Jack Browns and rode in the other day with this configuration. Yes – it made a difference. I also noticed the difference in feel of the bike frame going from the more flexy AHH to the stiffer Hunqapillar. My normal cruising speed on the flats is 15-20 mph depending on the inclines/wind/legs on the AHH. With the heavy Schwalbe Duremes (50mm) on the Hunqa, I was typically struggling to keep it at 13 mph.

Now, I’m not trying to set speed records, but I’ve found that the beauty of “road” bikes is that they typically feel more effortless on the pavement. In my many years commuting with a mountain bike with roadish tires, I know that a lot of it has to do with geometry as well, but tires DO make a big difference. That said, it’s not the diameter, it’s the weight, and the sidewall. Big cushy tires can be AWESOME if they are light and have a supple sidewall.

Blue in Back

Green in Front

Yes, you will get more flats. Only you will be able to decide if the rest of the time riding is worth the few flats. I’m not in goathead country, so the biggest problem is road trash (glass, radial wires, nails). This will result in a flat every few months. I can live with this. To avoid it as much as possible, I use the Jack Brown Blue (kevlar belt) as my rear tire, and the lighter, suppler Green on the front. This keeps me pretty flat proof, as everyone knows that you always get flats on the tire that is hardest and messiest to change (rear).

Now I just need to move those fenders in a bit…

SaddleSack Pair

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by Brian Hanson in Cycling

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Tags

a. homer hilsen, bicycle, bike, bike commute, commute, commuter, cycling, hilsen, homer, Hunqapillar, noodles, rivendell, sackville, saddlesack, Seattle

SaddleSack Pair, a set on Flickr.

The Rivendell Sackville line of saddle bags is the nicest bags I’ve come across. Well built, and great looking aesthetically. They also hold a tone of gear. I keep tools in both of these bags, but have room for a small iPad or laptop, a change of clothes, and in the larger Medium bag, I have hauled that plus a growler of beer with room to spare.