> Received Soma SL's this afternoon. I now have an SL on front and EX on > rear both mounted on Velocity Dyad rims. > > New SL reads 37.4 mm @ 41.4 PSI > One week old EX reads 40 mm @ 41.2 PSI > > I won't have a chance to ride around but as expected the SL tread feels > similar to the Compass Barlow Pass EL I have unmounted. The side wall of SL > and EX are the same and have a sort of waxy feel compared to Compass but > they're pretty supple. > Steve Palincsar recollects Jan had a written opinion on 700c max tire size. Coincidentally I was reading VBQ Vol 2 number 3 from winter 2004 and found "Choosing Your Wheels: History, Comfort and Rolling Resistance." He makes a case for a "golden mean" that's achieved with 700c x 25 and 650b x 38. His escape comment in the conclusion is "Whether this is arbitrary or really results in the most pleasant handling bike remains unknown."
I'd say in the intervening 10+ yrs he's softened his conclusion and accomodates wider tires in his supple equation. For me commuting in the dark to work and running errands around town over the years I've found 42mm Schwalbes worked well for cracks, roots, branches etc. For me 42+mm of any tire is preferred for the type of riding I do. His article also mentioned the not as robust nature of supple tires which painfully I've found true. I now have Stan's in my tubes and tire wipes installed. I may add a rabitt's foot (or lucky charm) if all else fails. My conclusion. Supple tires are comfortable and fun but can be painful with flats or replacement cost. Mitch Browne San Luis Obispo, CA > > > -- 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 [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
