Snoqualmie Pass Tires on the Miyata

11 Friday Sep 2026

Posted by Brian Hanson in Builds, Cycling, Northwest

Tags

bicycle, commute, cycling, tires, Miyata, bike, Seattle, rene herse, compass, triplecross

Took the Miyata out for a Seattle loop: Golden Gardens, Ballard, across the locks, and into Free Range Bicycles. Picked up a pair of Rene Herse Snoqualmie Pass Endurance — the 700×44s I’d been hunting from my favorite LBS (Hi Shawna!).

Endurance casing instead of Extralight. Still a light folding tire, a bit more protection for tubes on these older clincher rims. Feels right for this bike. This will be the first bike in a while that I run with tubes. They only measured out to 39.5mm initially. This is only 3mm more than the Barlow Pass “38’s” I have on my Homer. It will be interesting to see if these stretch.

At this point I don’t mind them being a bit shorter as the top tube is touching the taint when I swing a leg over…

Good day. Bike’s ready for real miles now.

Tire hunt for the Miyata — 700×44 max

08 Tuesday Sep 2026

Posted by Brian Hanson in Builds, Cycling

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bicycle, bike, cycling, Seattle, tires

The Miyata Triplecross is almost ready — still needs tires. Clearance tops out around 700×44. The rims are not tubeless-compatible, so I’m fine running tubes. I’m still looking at light folding casings (including tubeless-ready models that work fine with tubes).

I have a soft spot for the Rene Herse and Schwalbe lightweight stuff. Wanted to put a short list up and hear what you’d run.

In the running

Rene Herse Snoqualmie Pass 700×44 — Exact size. Folding, tubeless-compatible, great with tubes. Standard casing is about 380 g; Extralight around 335 g if I want the softest ride. Local Cascade pass name doesn’t hurt. This is the front-runner in my head.

Schwalbe — No true 44 that I can find right now. Closest: G-One Allround in 700×40 or 700×45 (45 may be tight on this frame), or a Marathon Almotion around 700×40 for a more touring/conventional setup. Happy to hear other Schwalbe picks in this width band.

WTB Byway 700×44 — Fast center, light gravel shoulders. Folding, tubeless-ready, works with tubes. More “pavement plus a little dirt” than a knobby.

Panaracer GravelKing SK — 700×43 sits under the limit. Familiar Japanese folding casing, TLR, solid all-road option. Also scratches the old Pasela which seem to be discontinued.

Tufo Gravel (Speedero / Thundero / Swampero) 700×44 — Light folding TLR casings that also run well with tubes. Speedero if it’s mostly road; Swampero if I want more bite.

What I’m asking

If you’ve run any of these at ~42–44 mm on older clincher rims (tubes), what stuck? Anything I’m missing that’s light, folding, and happy under 44? I’ve been out of the tire game for a bit and it seems that a lot has changed in the past 5 yrs.

Comment here or poke me elsewhere — I’ll pick something and get this bike out for real miles.

Tale of two rando bikes

28 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by Brian Hanson in Cycling

≈ 3 Comments

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 Brian Hanson 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…

Introducing the Full Line of Compass Tires

22 Saturday Feb 2014

Posted by Brian Hanson in Cycling

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Tags

a. homer hilsen, Babyshoe Pass, Barlow Pass, compass, cycles, extra lever, Gran Bois, Hetre, jan heine, light tires, randonneur, rivendell, supple, tires

Bigger, lighter 700C tires! Just what we’ve been waiting for, Jan! Can’t wait to try the Barlow Pass – looks like a great alternative on my country bike. Big thumbs-up on the names for the new tire range. Love the NW mountain pass theme. I have some Hetre Extra Legers going on a new bike, but I’m going to have to get a pair of the Babyshoe Pass tires for the next set.

More info from Jan – all new tires – not re-branded Gran Bois. They have been created based on all the tire testing Jan and crew have done over the years. I’m very interested in the 700c x 32mm, 38mm, and the 650b x 42s. I will have to get new fenders for the Hilsen so I can put the big guys on!

Off The Beaten Path

Compass Bicycles Ltd. introduces a full line of high-performance tires in both 700C and 650B sizes. The narrower 700C tires are a great way to transform the performance and comfort of a racing bike. The wider 700C tires, especially the 38 mm-wide “Barlow Pass”, will allow riders of 700C bikes to enjoy the benefits of supple, fast and wide tires. The wide 650B models provide more performance and better cornering grip than existing models, thanks to their optimized tread pattern and thickness.

Eight years ago we started the first systematic real-world tests of tire performance in recent memory. We conducted both roll-down tests and track tests with a power meter. What was revolutionary about these tests was that they were performed with a rider on board. As it turns out, the rider is an integral system of the bike, and suspension losses in the rider’s body are one of…

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