My Bombadil has Pacenti Quasi-Moto tires. I would think any non uber stout 2 inch tire would behave much the same in this respect. I have another more roadish bike with 47mm tires (wtb byway) I run at ~25psi when I want things cushy. That one does fairly well off road as well. Keep in mind at 20 psi, 2 psi is 10%. Do the fat bike crowd run pressures down in the single digits? My rules of thumb are: If your tires aren't soaking up bumps the way you want, lower the pressure, then lower it some more until they are. (too low may not be low enough) If you start getting pinch flats in the process, get bigger tires. (got the first classic pinch flat of my life yesterday, guess I should try 28mm tires on that bike) If you feel like your tires have too much rolling resistance, shop for more supple tires. I think that approach can produce satisfactory results for a lot of folks without going beyond 28-33 mm tires. Despite the current popularity of "wider is better" and asking "how wide is too wide?" there can be wisdom in asking "how wide is wide enough?". Typically it seems like tires are so much more compliant than even "std. diameter" thin wall tubing, that softer tires dominate wrt vertical compliance. Sounds like for you, not so much. First time for everything I suppose. I expect you are aware there are folks who only like more flexible extra thin walled "standard" diameter tubed frames. Perhaps you do too. It's good to know what one likes. I hope the stress levels in your fork blades are well below the fatigue limit for steel. Also that's a tall head tube, perhaps some of the flex in your fork is in the steerer tube? Have you seen the video of Hincapie in Paris Roubaix sitting bolt upright with his disconnected bars in his hand as he veered into the ditch and separated his shoulder?
I think the handling of my Bombadil is somewhat different than my other bikes, I like it a lot for riding the hills in my local open spaces. Prefer other bikes for riding on roads though. On Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 4:24:23 AM UTC-7, Garth wrote: > > What are your 50mm tires Ted ? It seems pressure does play a large role > in all this ! > > > On Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 12:52:31 AM UTC-4, ted wrote: >> >> Love my road bikes, also love my Bombadil. >> >> Logged lots of miles on ~21 or 22mm tubulars, was on 26mm tires today. >> Yep, ride great. Probably wouldn't choose them for riding over the ridge in >> my local open space though. >> >> Yes wide tires are just wider, well wider and taller. The wider tends to >> mean they sink in less on soft surfaces. That can be a good thing or a bad >> thing. The taller helps to avoid pinch flats at lower pressures. They also >> need lower pressure to give the same spring rate. At 20 psi the 50mm tires >> on my Bombadil are quite compliant. At 30 not so much. But at 20 psi short >> of going fast over bad deep dried out bovine hoof prints i'd never >> characterize its ride as "jarring as heck". Clearly your millage differs >> though. >> >> On Monday, June 8, 2020 at 4:10:41 PM UTC-7, Garth wrote: >>> >>> >>> I've been riding my Franklin Reynolds 531ST custom from from '99 a >>> whole lot lately..... man I like that bike. I had the 62 c-c frame made >>> with a 62cm TT and 46cm chainstays. I originally used the Dirt Drop bars >>> from Nitto but now use an Albatross 56cm steel. 36/46 Origin8 crank and >>> Sachs 7sp. 13-32 freewheel. >>> >>> speaking of big tires and all ... well riddle me this Batman how this >>> bike literally just floats over patch paved and cruddy washed out gravel >>> roads with not so fancy 33mm Forte Metro ST tires that were about $15 .... >>> and my Bombadil regardless of the tires I've used even at very low pressure >>> is jarring as heck ? Exact same wheels builds on both. It's also easier for >>> me to maintain my line and speed with the road bike up steep washed out >>> backwoods gravel roads also, corrections are wholly intuitive and >>> effortless. Watching the fork flex like crazy over bumpy roads is also fun >>> ! >>> >>> I could only "guess" it has a whole lot to do with the tubing and it's >>> design I suppose. Regardless, it's great and even though I've not yet >>> received my Suzie it has me rethinking the whole thing. I "hope" the Susie >>> is a whole lot more vertically resilient than the Bomba. But those Hilly >>> frames are a once in a lifetime "try" for me though. If not, I'll have >>> another road kinda bike made. Does Reynolds even make 531 anymore ? >>> >>> Also, a wider tire is just wider, not necessarily better or worse. I >>> love narrow tires as I grew up riding them so it's quite intuitive for me. >>> I rode many a pairs of Specialized Touring Turbo 27x 1/8 or 1/4. Those are >>> what I knew as "road tires" even before I got into road racing tires which >>> were even narrower. There is such a distinct feel, a precision that gets >>> lost in wider tires from all the bikes I've ridden. I've tried some wider >>> tires on my road bike and it just felt odd. It seems pretty obvious to me >>> that a frame that is quite compliant doesn't need overly wide tires to ride >>> "soft" and cushy. >>> >>> Then there's the simplicity of double crank and the ease of which to >>> throw on various parts. I also had cantilevers put on the frame and use >>> Suntour XC Pro's, and they are outstanding, I've never had such a effective >>> brake. It's also darn light to me, even with the heavy duty Phil/Mavic >>> wheels that are on it. >>> >>> Hooray for road-tire bikes ! >>> >>> >>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/94258b49-48e3-4918-a239-e4107b153317o%40googlegroups.com.
