I recently bought an AHH after just doing the MtBike thing for 15 years. I live in Seattle, and do 99% of my riding on my 10 mile one-way commute with lots of hills. I take a dirt path for about half mile every day and bomb it down in the morning, and climb it up at night. I've got Jack Browns. I would say that it is totally capable of this, but if you're going to do a lot of dirt riding, I would go for more of a cross tire. You'll feel a lot more secure on the bombing runs down hill if you're an aggressive speed demon like me - it's just about more knobs hitting the dirt when you're on a downhill turn.
That said - if you're riding on road and dirt, it will always be a compromise, and because I'm on road most of the time, I compensate for lack of grip when I'm on the dirt. Yeah - you get some slippage on the Jacks when climbing in gravel/dirt, but I always did with knobs, too - just have to lean back and put the weight over the drive tire. As far as keeping up with the carbon folks, it totally depends on your fitness and motivation. The bike is totally capable. I ride an occasional 12 mile fast hilly lunch ride with some really fit people, and they don't get too far ahead of me on their 15 lb Sevens. I can live with the fact that I'm older and slower, but I don't use the bike as an excuse, and it definitely is not the reason I'm in the back of the pack... Brian On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 12:55 PM, Erik <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi all: > > I am in the market for a lugged steel frame, and am about ready to > pull the trigger on an A. Homer Hilsen. Based on my needs (described > below), I would greatly appreciate any guidance as to whether or not > this is the right bike for me, and how I might choose the right > tires. > > I live in Boulder and plan to use the bike primarily for road riding > in/around Colorado, so there will be a significant amount of climbing > involved. There are also quite a few gravel paths that I would like > to take advantage of around my house. I have no experience camping or > doing longer multi-day trips, but the concept intrigues me. > Basically, I do not currently own a bicycle, so I want this bike to > serve all of my needs. > > My largest concern is this: most of my friends and neighbors go on 3 - > 4 hour rides up into the mountains on their super-light carbon > frames. Is there a way for me to set up the AHH so that it is > functional on mellow gravel roads, but also keeps up with my friends > on the steep climbs? Will a 32 tire work for this? I would prefer to > only own one set of tires if this is possible. > > And I am leaning towards building the bike with bar-end shifters. Any > reason I should consider otherwise? > > Any advice would be greatly appreciated. > > Cheers. > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
