Hi Josiah, Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I apologize if I came off like I was making false accusations, especially in a thread about how to make a particular bike faster (and not a debate which tire brand is the "best" or if company stakeholders are the best people to publish scientific studies about their products). I've never read any of the peer-reviewed and/or scientifically rigorous tire studies that pre-date Compass (and I probably wouldn't understand the physics/ math involved anyway!). I'm only familiar with the advertising copy on the RH website and I read The All-Road Bike book. It definitely references "science" often but I've repeatedly found that RH marking talks *about *science often but isn't written up like a scientific paper that clearly explains how to replicate their experiments, their methodology and results.
This is what I associate RH promo materials with: "That got me thinking: How can we maximize the interlocking between tire and road? Pavement is made up of irregular little stones. If the tire has many little edges, some will interlock with these road irregularities. More edges allow for more interlocking. Obviously, the edges need to be stiff enough, so they don’t just fold over when they push against the road irregularities. How stiff they need to be, and how much rubber we need, is something we can calculate." However, none of the calculations are shown. Then, in the same passage, very anecdotal claims are made: "When we received the first prototypes of our Rene Herse tires, I put them on my bike. The next morning, I headed to the gym, still sleepy at this early hour. On familiar, empty streets, I was riding on auto-pilot. When I turned onto a side street at the bottom of a long hill, my front wheel almost hit the curb on the inside of the corner. My bike was turning much tighter than it usually did, because the tread was interlocking more with the road surface" or "In the 12 years since we introduced our tires with their optimized tread pattern, I haven’t lost grip once. I don’t ride any slower than before—if anything, I’m probably descending faster, now that I can really trust my tires…" Of course, none of this means that they didn't do robust studies and publish their results in reputable, peer-reviewed journals. And it does not mean that their tires aren't faster, grippier and more comfortable than any other tires available. I was just making a wisecrack about the tendency to reference science that indicates you should buy their products if you like things like speed, comfort or traction without sharing the actual science (on the parts of the website I've been too, at least). EIther way, I definitely want to try their extralight tires at some point. I've just been intimidated about them being "fragile," especially because me plus my bike weigh about 270lbs. As for the speedy platypus, it sounds like any extralight RH tire with or without knobs and at any width over 38mm will be faster. Gabe On Sat, Jan 10, 2026 at 12:23 PM Josiah Anderson <[email protected]> wrote: > Gabe, this sort of thing comes up a lot with people accusing Jan of bias > in his studies, but what people miss is that the science came before the > products. Compass/RH sells the products they sell because they like them > and because the Bicycle Quarterly research says they work well. The first > several rounds of tire tests happened before Compass even existed, and the > tests are what informed the design of the tires, so OF COURSE the tests say > that RH and similar tires perform well - that's the point of the tires! > > I don't work for RH/BQ and am only vaguely acquainted with most of that > crew, I just don't like seeing false accusations go unchallenged. > > Josiah > > Le sam. 10 janv. 2026 à 9:21 AM, Gabe <[email protected]> a écrit : > >> Hi Eric et al., >> Sometimes i feel like Jan's experiments always lead to the conclusion >> that one should buy something he is selling!!! However, he DOES sell tires >> of various widths, so his research could go either way on this one. I >> currently have Rene Herse 48mm tires in the endurance casing (the knobby >> ones) on a big Appaloosa. Before, I had some 37mm WTB tires with a fine >> tread of mini knobs. The narrower tires definitely made the bike "feel" a >> little lighter and more appropriate for a longer road ride. The bike was >> still close to 40 lbs but I'd say the skinnier tires felt better on the >> road. And I feel like nice quality 38mm tires should still be fairly >> forgiving on crappy roads, while, at the very least, being lighter. I can't >> imagine the lost "suppleness" / squishiness/ bounciness would cost you much >> speed (if any) and if the bike feels easier and more spry that could help >> morale the last hour or two of the long ride. I feel like that could be a >> middle ground without putting 23mm slicks at 105psi on the bike! Feel >> lighter, still have not-to-skinny tires. >> >> Happy Friday!!!! >> Gabe >> >> On Fri, Jan 9, 2026, 16:10 Eric Daume <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> According to RH, you're not going to gain any speed by going to a >>> narrower, supple tire: >>> >>> https://www.renehersecycles.com/bq-tire-test-results/ >>> >>> Eric >>> >>> On Thu, Jan 8, 2026 at 6:20 PM Stephen Martinez <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> TL;DR: Looking to make my Rivendell Platypus faster and more efficient >>>> for long century rides on rough chip seal without losing comfort. >>>> Considering narrower/faster tires (38–40mm) and possibly a lighter >>>> wheelset. Curious what’s worked for others. >>>> >>>> >>>> Spring rides are coming up, and I’m thinking about taking my Rivendell >>>> Platypus out for a few local century charity rides this year. >>>> >>>> >>>> In past years, I’ve done these rides on my faster steel road bikes with >>>> ~28mm tires, but several of the routes have long stretches of chattery chip >>>> seal, potholes, and general road roughness. Comfort can become a limiter >>>> later in the ride. I’d like to try the Platypus instead—ideally still >>>> riding in sandals on flat pedals—but with a setup that’s a bit quicker and >>>> more efficient over distance. >>>> >>>> >>>> Right now the bike is very much in winter/comfort mode: >>>> >>>> **Rear*: René Herse Antelope Hill 29 × 2.2 (700 × 55) >>>> >>>> **Front*: IRC Marbella 29 × 2.25 >>>> >>>> **Wheels*: Velocity Cliffhangers (30mm) with a Peter White Cycles >>>> dynamo hub up front and a Rivendell Silver hub in the rear. >>>> >>>> It’s extremely comfortable and stable, but once I hit a certain pace, >>>> it feels like I’m pushing against a speed ceiling—especially on longer >>>> climbs. >>>> >>>> >>>> I’ve been considering swapping to something narrower and faster, like: >>>> >>>> **René Herse Barlow Pass (38mm)* >>>> >>>> *or *Pirelli P Zero Race ~40mm* >>>> >>>> I’m also curious what something in the *32–35mm range* would feel like >>>> on a Platypus—whether it would still play nicely with the geometry while >>>> offering a meaningful bump in speed and climbing efficiency. >>>> >>>> I’ve also briefly thought about a lighter wheelset, but I haven’t gone >>>> very far down that path yet. I’ve even wondered about putting together a >>>> second, more performance-oriented wheelset—something like a carbon >>>> deep-section setup—and what that would look and feel like on a Platypus. >>>> >>>> >>>> Has anyone here experimented with setting up a Platypus (or similar Riv >>>> geometry) with lighter, faster road-oriented tires or wheels? I’m not >>>> chasing aero road-bike speed, but I am hoping to improve cruising speed and >>>> climbing comfort over long endurance rides while still keeping the Platypus >>>> character intact. >>>> >>>> >>>> Would love to hear what’s worked (or hasn’t) for others. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> 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 view this discussion visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1a81404d-7958-4747-83f4-23a1e27f0908n%40googlegroups.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1a81404d-7958-4747-83f4-23a1e27f0908n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- >>> 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 view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAHFNW5DrmuBadxA%2BrFCEHnSaeLy8TDd4Q9cQ1L7OQCziePiZew%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAHFNW5DrmuBadxA%2BrFCEHnSaeLy8TDd4Q9cQ1L7OQCziePiZew%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> 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 view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAEFJR8p_FX2TvCOmL0sQu0WuH5q9NvL9LEFTY9LRGUuVTjg-8w%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAEFJR8p_FX2TvCOmL0sQu0WuH5q9NvL9LEFTY9LRGUuVTjg-8w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > 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 view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CADqZWjMNVbbMRo6%2BS6wsoyj7c%3D5-fBGKwj4rquNtt%3D9grBxFCQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CADqZWjMNVbbMRo6%2BS6wsoyj7c%3D5-fBGKwj4rquNtt%3D9grBxFCQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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