Grand Bois Hetre?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by terryg on March 26, 2013 at 3:44pm

speaking from the sidelines, I've never flatted my Hetres, 2 years/"seasons", at least 5000km on all sorts of terrain.  I'm glad to see this thread revived!

Permalink Reply by David P. on March 29, 2013 at 7:20am

Duppie,

Lessee, I got a couple in succession in January, and before that one in ca. October....it's hard to say with any precision, but my subjective answer is 'not very many.' I ride est. ca. 4000-something per year and most of it is on the Hetre bike, and I probably get 4-5 year on the tires. Last couple of flats I got were on the Pasela TGs on my SS. Mine are worn, but still have a suggestion of tread in the center. I'll replace them whenever I start getting flats left and right.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

How many flats have you gotten on these, if any?

David P. said:

I love these tires. I've had a set on my Rawland for closing on a couple years now, replacing Cols. They see pavement (commuting, etc.) the large majority of the time, but I've ridden them on dirt and gravel, too. I did the Lowell 50 on them twice. Probably skittery on really loose stuff, I'd imagine. I weight about 140-145 and set pressures to ~45-50psi front and ~50-55psi read for pavement, a bit lower for off-pavement. I used to set them about 5psi higher until I realized I wasn't losing anything by dropping 5psi or so. Below maybe 40 or def. 35 they feel squirrelly and syrupy to me, though. They are comically easy to mount and dismount on my Synergies (both on older extrusions and a newer one) though, for me, not quite to the point of having difficulty getting them seated correctly.

I have 650b Cypres (32mm) on my fasty-fast* bike, which is a conversion that will fit up to about 38mm in 650b. These are really nice tires also. Aired them down from my usual 60-65psi and rode them on rough dirt the other weekend, happy times.

*I generally suck at going fast, but this is the bike that is my Mazda Miata-analog bike.

Permalink Reply by David P. on March 29, 2013 at 7:23am

I'll also note that I rode the Cypres (bought used, so partially worn) on the Bloomingdale Trail the other weekend, which is practically carpeted with broken glass, and did not flat. Being on a soft surface helped (vs. asphalt), and I aired the tires down to what I'd guess was around 50psi.

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on March 29, 2013 at 10:01am

Wow David, that seems like a really low pressure. How much do you weigh?

Permalink Reply by David P. on March 29, 2013 at 5:33pm

I weigh about 140-145. I had set the Cypres to about 75-80psi because I couldn't remember what I'd been riding them at before winter. I don't think I'd ever want any more than 70psi for road riding on those.

Permalink Reply by spencewine on March 29, 2013 at 5:46pm

David, can I ask what your frame you used for a 650B conversion? I was considering a specialized sequoia (early 80s 700c), but passed on a chance to pick one up in my size as it was a tad over my budget. Some day, i'd like to grab a new Box Dog Pelican/Boulder/Rawlands...but it's a bit out of my price range at the moment... Plus, I should probably finish a brevet before I start dumping money into something.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on March 29, 2013 at 6:12pm

Thanks!

David P. said:

Duppie,

Lessee, I got a couple in succession in January, and before that one in ca. October....it's hard to say with any precision, but my subjective answer is 'not very many.' I ride est. ca. 4000-something per year and most of it is on the Hetre bike, and I probably get 4-5 year on the tires. Last couple of flats I got were on the Pasela TGs on my SS. Mine are worn, but still have a suggestion of tread in the center. I'll replace them whenever I start getting flats left and right.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

How many flats have you gotten on these, if any?

David P. said:

I love these tires. I've had a set on my Rawland for closing on a couple years now, replacing Cols. They see pavement (commuting, etc.) the large majority of the time, but I've ridden them on dirt and gravel, too. I did the Lowell 50 on them twice. Probably skittery on really loose stuff, I'd imagine. I weight about 140-145 and set pressures to ~45-50psi front and ~50-55psi read for pavement, a bit lower for off-pavement. I used to set them about 5psi higher until I realized I wasn't losing anything by dropping 5psi or so. Below maybe 40 or def. 35 they feel squirrelly and syrupy to me, though. They are comically easy to mount and dismount on my Synergies (both on older extrusions and a newer one) though, for me, not quite to the point of having difficulty getting them seated correctly.

I have 650b Cypres (32mm) on my fasty-fast* bike, which is a conversion that will fit up to about 38mm in 650b. These are really nice tires also. Aired them down from my usual 60-65psi and rode them on rough dirt the other weekend, happy times.

*I generally suck at going fast, but this is the bike that is my Mazda Miata-analog bike.

Permalink Reply by David P. on March 29, 2013 at 6:31pm

Spencewine,

I have two 650b bikes - a Rawland cSogn and a Vendetta sport tourer. The Rawland was designed for 650b (I didn't buy it for that - it's just that the frame met my wants at a nice price and it happened to be 650b) and the Vendetta is a conversion. The Vendetta (secondhand! - new customs are way out of my budget) has all the characteristics of a nice sport tourer (though definitely biased towards the racy side) but it was designed for small 700c tires. Since I require fenders, I could not fit anything bigger than 23cm and even those (very worn, yet) were a tight fit. As a 650b it fits 32cm Cypres under fenders easily and will fit Lierres under fenders with a bit of care. But since it's a one-off it's not information of much use to you, I'm afraid. I like it way better this way - much cushier, the wheels are lighter than the old ones so they feel zippier, and I even like the brake feel better.

I don't know what your budget is but you can find used Rawland framesets for $400 or less if you're patient. There's a listserv for them. You're welcome to try mine out if it fits you - it's a Medium and I fit 56-58 frames generally, but with the sloping top tube mine will fit smaller people if you don't mind a slightly long reach.

spencewine said:

David, can I ask what your frame you used for a 650B conversion? I was considering a specialized sequoia (early 80s 700c), but passed on a chance to pick one up in my size as it was a tad over my budget. Some day, i'd like to grab a new Box Dog Pelican/Boulder/Rawlands...but it's a bit out of my price range at the moment... Plus, I should probably finish a brevet before I start dumping money into something.

Permalink Reply by ilter on March 29, 2013 at 6:47pm

I have been following Rawland listserv for a while, so as to get updates on the new Stag frame. Also read somewhere that Soma will come up with a new 650b sometime soon. Those two are probably the cheapest options for a new frameset. Though a conversion that fits 32cm tires w/ fenders should be just as good, if not better, for road riding.

And if they paved County Rd M this year, none of this matters much :)

David P. said:

Spencewine,

[snip]

I don't know what your budget is but you can find used Rawland framesets for $400 or less if you're patient. There's a listserv for them. You're welcome to try mine out if it fits you - it's a Medium and I fit 56-58 frames generally, but with the sloping top tube mine will fit smaller people if you don't mind a slightly long reach.

spencewine said:

[snip]

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