Old 04-27-21, 05:17 AM
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Germany_chris
I’m a little Surly
 
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Near the district
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Bikes: Two Cross Checks, a Karate Monkey, a Disc Trucker, and a VO Randonneur

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Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel
Well, folks, I turned my 620 into a Lexus.... My previously skeptical self (for good reason) with regard to big tires, their aesthetic, and their benefits, has been disproven. Crazy. Sure, big tires do look big in relation to traditional steel tube diameters (thus my aesthetic point/concern remains consistent), but finally, a big tire works for ol' Riddle!

As with these Somas, there is an initial coating/covering/something that must be shed or worn off in the course of riding. When they are new, the white-ish substance beads up and kind of gets everywhere it seems. On the road, it's basically a rubber lint roller for the first quarter to half a mile, slinging everything into your frame's tubes and to the sides. Kinda weird, kinda funny. That wears off soon enough so that you can get to the business of concentrating on the ride, if things haven't been made obvious to one's self already. In the case of the 620 and these 42mm tires, the case was made almost immediately, and it was GOOD.

I looped around the top of my neighborhood before descending to loop around part of the base of the hill it was on, figuring I'd run some normal "extended loop" roads and pathways to get an even better idea of things. No need to worry, riding that route only confirmed what the first quarter mile had already told me.

Out of the saddle climbing? No diminished performance.
Out of the saddle accelerating (big and small ring, various speeds)? No diminished performance.
Steering feel? Gained some wheel flop.
Straight line handling? Superb, better than before.
Cruising speed? Same gears, no slower.
"Quivering" upon medium to heavier road imperfections? Gone. I aimed for those road imperfections and was largely unaffected by them.
Comfort over 33s? Leagues better. Those 33s might as well have been 23s, IMO. I pretty much can't believe this was/is happening, but as a favorite YouTuber says, "...but I got to. I'm looking right at it." (or in my case, I'm feeling it as I ride) This is even with my quite-firm all-black Prologo saddle, which is not to be underestimated.

The cushion of air is real. The 47cm chain stays make it even better. I looked down at the rear tire multiple times over the ride and saw, in very real time, the deformation of the tire over small and medium (at the very least) road variances. That, ladies and gentlemen, is your suspension. The rest of the Suspension or Comfort Ecosystem is still important, but tires, like one's spring/shock combo, do a ton of work, and this was enumerated to me with the subtlety of a two-by-four.

I do really like my Medici, and it is worthy of many a good component and certainly a repaint. But...with these tires, the 620 just cemented its position as The Bike To Rule Them All. I'll get to gravel/off-road riding soon enough, but for road riding, I'm at Grail Level, which means any other kind of riding/capability is gravy. What a frame, and what a pair of tires!
I've always liked that bike

Last edited by Germany_chris; 05-11-21 at 12:38 AM.
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