on 12/3/09 6:34 AM, Shawn at sa240...@yahoo.com wrote: > Now that I have the Atlantis, I have been thinking of making my Hilsen > more of a roadish type bike to use on week-end rides with my friends > on our smooth local MUP. Can anyone tell me how the AHH might handle, > ride and look with 25mm to 28mm tires on it. I know most people don't > ride that skinny of a tire but any feed back would be appreciated. I > am trying to separate the two bikes into two distinct categories; > Atlantis- touring, camping, commuter= big tires; Hilsen- club rides, > events, exercise, go faster=skinner tires. It seems like the Hilsen¹s > clearance are wasted now that I have the Atlantis. > > I know it sounds like I want a more traditional type road bike and the > Roadeo would fit that bill perfectly, except there is the matter of > finances, can¹t sell the Hilsen to totally finance the Roadeo, and I > am not crazy about the fact the Roadeo does not have brazeons for at > least a Mark type rack. > > Is the Rambouillet a better road bike than the Hilsen? If so maybe I > should trade or sell my Hilsen for a Rambouillet. I want to be clear > that I do not want to race, I just want to make a clear distinctions > between the two bikes. > > Sorry about the long post and thanks in advance for any advice or > feedback.
Tires are relatively cheap, and if you think that will give you the ride you are looking for, I'd slap on some 28's and ride. The first time I rode the Hilsen over at RBW, they only had a set of 28's, and it definitely handled a little differently than the way I've got it set up now (JB's/33 1/3). But, that was a short ride, and it wouldn't be reasonable to say I recall how/what/why. But, honestly, thinner tires do not a Rrrroady bike make. Jack Brown Greens are pretty danged (warning - loaded phrase to follow) light. A Conti 25mm is in the 215 gram range, while the JB(G) right around 300. So, you are dragging another couple hundred grams around on your club ride, which matters maybe on the climbs. There has been a significant discussion of tire sizes affecting speed over on the iBob list following the last Bicycle Quarterly (not the current edition). Jan's experiments tend to support the idea that a supple, larger volume tire is really faster than a highly inflated thin (23 mm) typical road tire. Folks will tell you that the narrow tires are faster, but there's less "real-world" evidence to support that. In other words, when the fast kids go steaming past me, I don't think it's really got anything to do with other than the engine. You could play with a lighter wheelset, tweak your riding position a bit and upgrade parts to drop a little weight. But, there's nothing about the Hilsen that won't let it go fast, if you want to push it. - Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Your Photos are needed! - http://www.cyclofiend.com/guidelines "Steel's what you want for a messenger bike. Weight. Big basket up front. Not cardboard with some crazy aramid shit wrapped around it, weighs about as much as a sandwich." -- William Gibson, "Virtual Light" -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
