Pete I didn't detect any dismissiveness or contentiousness in your post above, nor did I intend any defensiveness in my reply, so it's me who should apologize if you got that from my reply. I appreciated your post.
On Feb 25, 5:05 pm, Peter Pesce <petepe...@gmail.com> wrote: > William > Apologies. I didn't intent my tone to be dismissive or in any way > contentious. > I think it's an interesting experiment and tried to specifically cite > how speed could really matter in your brevet riding and commute. So I > understand it matters to you more than it may to me. I'm really not a > sensitive or experienced enough rider that I think I could tell much > difference between any two tires. > I also paraphrased Grant as much out of "bemusement" as anything else. > I'm sure he sweats the details ( though I'm not sure that sweating > details and fretting about speed are the same thing) > In any case, in look forward to the results, though I fear they will > only stoke my 650b curiosities further. > Pete > > On Feb 25, 2:56 pm, William <tapebu...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Pete > > > I'm a scientist and an engineer, by profession and by DNA. I'm wired > > to be curious. I'm wired to tinker and to question. I'm not obsessed > > with increasing speed, nor am I obsessed to get the ride over with. > > On brevets, when you ride fat 650B tires, you'll get a number of > > people on 700c road bikes ask you "Why would you want to slow yourself > > down like that?" They just assume that my 584x41s are absolute pigs. > > I've never been more comfortable on a performance bike than I am on my > > Hilsen with fat 584s. At the end of a 10 hour day, my back, rear end, > > arms shoulders, hands and feet all feel great. Once my legs catch up > > I have no doubts that my body could handle the longer events. Having > > found a new plateau in comfort, now I want to test the assertion that > > my fat 650B tires are actually significantly FASTER than 700x28s. > > It's hard for me to believe it, so I need to see it for myself. What > > I know is that my Hilsen feels much faster than my Hillborne, even > > though it has much fatter tires (650x41 vs 700x33). That equation has > > too many variables for sure. > > > It would be fascinating to me to find that the more comfortable tire > > choice is also the faster tire choice. I don't know if that's what > > I'll find. I expect that the data will be inconclusive, too close to > > call. For sure I expect I'll continue using fat 650Bs for all my long > > distance events. The comfort is way too much for me to pass up. A > > lot of comfort is bike fit, though, and the 700x28 wheels won't change > > any of my fit points on the bike, so maybe I'll feel just as good. > > Who knows? Curious folks like me think this way. > > > Speaking of curious people being wired differently...If you really > > want to blow your mind, ask Grant what the perfect rim diameter is. > > He has an answer that he will defend emphatically and his perfect size > > rim has never been produced. So, don't misconstrue Grant's 'enjoy the > > ride' rhetoric to suggest that Grant doesn't sweat the details on > > bikes. He's one hundred times more technically nitpicky than me, and > > I think that's a very good thing, and one of the myriad reasons I like > > buying Rivendells. > > > On Feb 25, 11:34 am, Peter Pesce <petepe...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Very cool idea to have one bike that works for both sizes, and a > > > stroke of minor genius to think of up-sizing the 650B bike, rather > > > than down-sizing a 700. I was hoping I could convert my Sam to 650B, > > > just to see what all the fuss is about, but it only took a few > > > measurements to see that it wouldn't really work. > > > > I am curious to see your test results, but can't see how they'd be in > > > any way meaningful - jut too many variables. > > > > I can see how speed matters on a brevet, and to some degree on commute > > > (especially a 35-miler) but I, too, keep coming back to Grant's > > > question (paraphrased): "If we all like riding so much, why are we > > > always in such a hurry to get it over with as fast as possible?" > > > > On Feb 25, 1:04 pm, William <tapebu...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > OK so I made a sort of self-indulgent mod to my A. Homer Hilsen. I > > > > set up the normally 650B bike with a 700C wheelset and short reach > > > > brakes. It's a wheelset I already had, and a short-reach brakeset I > > > > already had. So now I have a single bike that can easily be taken on > > > > a ride with 650Bx(whatever) tires one day, and taken on the same ride > > > > with 700x(23-28) tires the next, or whatever. > > > > > I bought the bike because of the feel of 650B, and I'm thrilled with > > > > it. Like most of you, I've been skeptical of the claims from Jan H > > > > and others that fat tires are faster. That said, on brevets in the > > > > last couple of months, I've been surprised at how quickly I catch and > > > > pass riders on coasting descents when I'm on 650x38 at 50psi and they > > > > are on 700x23 and I presume 90-110psi. That's anecdotal, and doesn't > > > > necessarily mean anything, but it was surprising. > > > > > So, now I think it will be fun to do a pseudo-scientific spot > > > > comparison between 650B and 700C. My commute to work is a 35-mile > > > > hilly ride through the east bay hills from El Cerrito to South > > > > Hayward. A good chunk of that is a non-stop stretch. I can usually > > > > get from my front door to a traffic signal in front of Castro Valley > > > > High School without stopping or putting my foot down. The next 10 > > > > times I do this commute, I'm going to alternate between the two > > > > wheelsets, and record my time for the same non-stop stretch for these > > > > ten rides. The 650B tires will be hetres at 50/45psi, and the 700C > > > > tires will be continental gatorskin 28s at 85/80psi. > > > > > Anyone care to guess which will seem faster? Too close to call? > > > > Impossible to test unless the rider is blind to the wheel > > > > configuration? Any advice on keeping the data clean? -- 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-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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