Medic Zero

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I've made a lot of progress on losing weight, and have dropped from just over 300 pounds to now under 240, but even at my best possible weight I'll be a little over 200 pounds.

I used to have a lot of problems with flats before I switched to Panaracer T-Servs and Vittoria Randoneur tires, but I'm now building up a 650b tourer and looking for tires for touring and city riding. I sometimes do dirt roads and tame singletrack on tours too.

I'm used to running my fairly wide (~1.5") tires at pretty high pressures, 75 PSI in front and 90 in the rear. I know that conventional wisdom has been shifting to lower pressures, but as a Clyde, I'm not so sure that applies as well to us.

Anyone have any experience with Compass/Rene Herse tires? How is the flat protection?

Anyone tried lower pressures? Does it work for Clydes/Athena's too?


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since6

I am 295 and ride the 28mm 700c Compass tires on my single bike. Our 400+ tandem has 32mm Compass tires and we have had NO problems with them just make sure to check tire pressure and keep them infkated.

kingston 

I love RH tires, but they are thin. Schwalbe has a few different varieties of Marathons that come in 650b and would be much better if avoiding flats is your primary concern. Wide tires and tubeless are fashionable right now which allows people to run lower pressure. Tire pressure is based on the combined weight of the rider and the bike and the width of the tire. Here's a calculator.

Medic Zero

That is some solid intel! Thanks! Which model tires are you using?

Medic Zero

The one time I tried Marathons, I wasn't impressed. They didn't compare well with the Vittoria Randoneurs or Panaracer T-Serv's I'm used to riding. To be fair, I had just ruined a tire and stopped in the nearest bike shop looking for something comparable, and what they had was probably the lowest level of Marathon available, but it seemed stiff and heavy. I put several hundred miles on it, but was much happier when I got around to ordering more Vittoria Rando Pros and swapped it out.

Interesting calculators! Thanks for sharing! I'm going to have to play around with reducing pressure down to what they are suggesting.

kingston 

Tires are all about trade-offs. Just depends on what you are looking for. Marathons are designed to last a long time and prevent flats which means that they are heavier and don't roll as well as some other tires. I like Marathons for commuting and loaded touring where the inconvenience of a flat or a worn out tire is a bigger deal than the speed and comfort you have to give up.

since6

The 28mm are Chinook Pass and the 32mm are Stampede Pass, I stick with the regular rather than light sidewall version in both.

Medic Zero

Thanks!