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!