I mounted a pair of Grand Bois Cypres - 700x30 (they are supposed to actually measure 32mm, but I don't have a good way to check) - tires on my Rambouillet this weekend and went out for a ride.
I had been debating the purchase for a little while because I was concerned about clearance under my Longboards. For a trip on the C&O Towpath, I mounted a pair of Schwalbe Marathon 32s, and they just made it, although a little tight for my taste. However, they were just fine over the rough-ish surface of the towpath. At this point, I was using Silver sidepulls. Recently, I switched to Paul Racer Ms, and decided to take the Grand Bois plunge. Elton@Harris felt that the tires would fit under the fenders, and he was indeed correct. Either the Cypres are a little smaller than the Marathons, or the Racer Ms allow the fender to raise a little higher than the Silvers. Could be both. In any case, the tires fit fine. I was also wondering if the purchase of the Grand Bois tires would be "worth it". I had been running Paselas, and they were fine. My Ram with Dura-Ace 7700 hubs rides like glass. But, add in the Cypres, and it rides like glass coated in butter. Man, is that one smooth bike now. One thing that I was not expecting was the improved cornering. Now, I'm not Jobst Brandt or anything when it comes to turning... http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_urSQl6wUA5g/S53M3cq118I/AAAAAAAAH48/iMcTHor25qM/s1600/tiretest.jpg ...nor did the Ram corner poorly before, but with the new tires, it was just so smoooooth. I could lean the bike over and it never wavered from what seemed like a perfect arc. I wonder if this has to do with the "roundness" of the tire? It seems like the wheel is just rolling over a large glass marble or something. The bike also seemed easier to control and even more stable at very slow speeds. Once again, these are improvements over already excellent handling characteristics. Anyway, I'm just putting this out there as one opinion on the size of a 32mm tire under fenders on a Rambouillet (it fits!), and how Grand Bois Cypres tires ride (they're awesome!). Steve -- 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?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
