Tag: rough stuff

Resist Nomad Early Review

I have been riding the Resist Nomad 700×42 for almost 6 weeks and almost 1000 miles, and feel comfortable sharing my initial impressions of the tires.  Over the years I have come to appreciate the ride quality of fat light weight tires on the road.  Experience has proved for me at least that you can get the comfort and speed, rolling over all of the little stuff and most of the big stuff too without having to give up speed and acceleration.  The catch in the 700c size is a limited selection of true light weight performance tires wider than 32mm.

While the selection for tires like this is improving, most have a more pronounced knobby tread.  I was excited to see the Resist Nomad hit the market a little over a year ago.  These tires are primarily designed for the freestyle urban scene.  The fact that they meet the demands of the mixed terrain / fat tired road bike crowd was a bit of a surprise for Resist.  The catch for me at the time was not having a bike that would fit tires this wide.  Rambler No.1 then entered stage left.  My Rambler is purpose-built around tires this wide.  While my production samples were under way I was in contact with Resist to get some samples in my hands.   Currently these are the lightest 700x42mm tire on the market that I know of.

Out of  the box I was pretty impressed.  I have samples in both the skin wall and black wall.  The skin walled tires average 530g while the black walls average 560g.  Both currently are only available with a wire bead.  While not a svelte race tire, the weight is quite reasonable when you consider that the popular 650bx42mm Grand Bois Hetre’ is roughly 430g with a folding bead.  The width is a rue 42mm.  The tread is a semi slick with micro pyramids broken up with a larger square grid.  The street price on these tires is around $30.

Enough with the stats, the ride is what really matters, and it has been great.  Initially they were a little bit loud, a sort of hum from the tread against the road, but that quickly faded as the tire wore in a bit.  I have kept the pressure between 40-50 psi for my combined rider/load/bike weight in the 240lb ball park.  Handling has been superb.  They get a little bit of roll or dive at the rim if I let the pressures drop below 35psi.  The road buzz from our currently terrible roads is gone.  It really is like riding on pillows.  Average times and speeds, about 18mph cruising, are on par with my previous data I collected riding Jack Brown greens or a variety of 28mm tires on other bikes.  Cornering and grip in dry weather is fantastic.  I am able to carry more speed through turns, ride through rough patches and hold more consistent lines than previously possible on narrower tires.  Unfortunately (or Fortunately) we are a bit spoiled with a lack of rain in the SoCal basin and I have not had a chance to push these in the wet.   On fire roads and the trails they have held their own well.  While obviously not as grippy as a true MTB tire, the added volume and contact patch has been welcome in easing the attention I need to pay to my line with the “skinny” 35mm tires I have been on in the last couple of years.   The Nomads help to bridge the gap between true underbiking and a knobby tire.

The build quality is what you would likely expect for a tire at this price point.  For $30 retail you can not expect the level of detail and finish that has been coming out of the Panaracer Japan group for some of the other popular boutique tires.  As you can see in the picture the two sides of the mold were not well aligned.  The casing and rubber around the bead on the skin walls is a little thin.  One of my samples has a short tear from being a bit heavy-handed with a tire lever, and that tire is now out of service.  I have only had one flat to date.  It was in the rear and caused by a thin truck tire wire.  Considering the amount of glass and debris on out roads this is pretty good.  I tend to pick up flats or slow leaks like this every couple of months. Thus a single flat early on is just that, a flat, and marginally an indicator of long-term performance.

Bottom line, these look to be a great tire for the price.  I will likely run them for a long time, and look forward to a long-term follow-up review.  If your bike has the room to fit these tires I would not hesitate to pick up a pair.  I am happy enough with them that I may be adding them to the storefront in the next few weeks.  There are a bunch of variables in that equation, but I know I will stock them eventually.

BBT Metric Century – Central Coast Mixed Loop

We spent the first part of the 4th of July weekend with family up in Atascadero, Ca and it was beautiful but HOT.  The highs were over 100 deg F most days, so most riding was done as early as possible.  Saturday morning I was up well before the sun,

to head out on a 108 km loop that had been recommended by Big Blue Toe from bikeforums.net.  The route would take me through the ranches and coastal range south of Paso Robles, down to the coast from Cayucos to Morrow Bay, through San Luis Obispo and back up the Cuesta grade to Atascadero.  Here is the map and stats:

 

The first third of this ride through the hills along mostly dirt roads was hands down the most beautiful ride I have ever done along the central coast.  I look forward to incorporating it into other loops in the area.

On the stretch between Atascadero and the coast I think I saw no more than ten cars.  The time of day may have had somethng to do with it, but I will take it where I can get it.  The hills have transitionioned from spring green to summer gold, while the trees are green and thick providing welcome shade in many areas.

Twenty miles of country back roads with fourteen miles of well mainteined gravel made for a wonderful morning of riding.  For most of the gravel section there was a creek runnng alongside the road with the occasional mini waterfall

After a few hours I had my first glimpse of the coast and ocean:

It looked like there may be a bit of welcome fog hanging on which would help keep the day’s temperatures in check.  The drop down to the coast was incredible, with ony a short climb along Old Creek Road,

and then down hill the rest of the way.

Once on the coast the temp had dropped almost 10 degrees thanks to the sea breeze.  Traffic was still light on the Hwy 1 into Morro Bay, you can just see Morro Rock through the  fog.

Once in town it was time for a coffee break.  I had been on the saddle for a little over four hours at this point.  Morro has no shortage of coffe shopes these days.  My Aunt nad Uncle have some friends that own the best IMO, Top Dog, and is well worth a stop if you ar pssing along on this stretch of coast.

Keeping a comfortable pace, fat tires and having you bike well set up makes it much easier to smile like this after 4 hours of non stop riding.  The 20 minute break was welcome, but I knew I would regret it as the day was heating up.  Back on the road I headed out through the state park and estuary  to Los Osos..

From there it was hot and uphill for the long ride home through SLO and back up the grade.

Things were heating up incredibly fast and I knew it was going to be a tough hot ride up the Cuesta grade.  Once out of SLO the next 5 miles has a gain of almost 1000 feet.  The planned route kept me off of the highway shoulder and on the old Stage Coach Rd, with more gravel.  At the start of the way out of town spirits were high, and things were looking good.

An hour and 1000 feet later I was still moving, but thiking this was a much better idea on paper. 

In 20/20 hind-sight, and post ride review of the map I realised that many of the bike walking sectoins were pushing 20%.  This is still very ridable if you have appropriate gearing and the legs for it.  I had both, but had not fully planned for the temps creeping closer to 100 deg.  Once over the crest the ride was all downhill.

What an incredible day.  Things were going very well untill the climb out of SLO.  I slipped on my water intake thinking I was “almost there” and paid the price with some serious cramps setting in 5 miles from home.  I have been using a watch to remind me to drink a bottle an hour, but should have been drinking a bit more in anticipation of the rising temps.  My usual blend of Hammer Nutrition HEED and Perpetuem was not enough this day.  Luckily I was able to lounge in the pool and rest through the rehydration phase.

I look forward to rdiding every leg of this loop in different combinations in the future.

Deeper Into Emma Wood

I started out heading up the coast, but decided it would be more fun to head back and further explore the hobo trails come nature trails and now hobo trails again.

Just a thread of the trail left at the start,

If the camera were not strapped on for this shot I probably would have dropped it, friendly guy, but startled me something fierce while on the slippery section of trail.

Spring is coming on strong around here

Shortcut home with time getting tight. 

All this within a mile of home, play in your local parks.  What you find may surprise you.

November 2010 SoCal Rivendell Ride – Santiago Peak OC

This ride had been in the works for almost a year.  Noel, on of the group from Orange county had Suggested this as a big ride, but it was in the early spring and there were few takers as the days were getting hotter.  As the summer time and back to school business started to fall back into its own rhythm, the momentum for this ride started to gather back some of its steam.  The date was set for November 13, and it was initially looking like there was going to be a relatively big turnout, almost 10.  By friday night people were dropping out, illness, injury, and I think a few may have been intimidated by the elevation profile.

For this ride I had chosen my Rivendell Roadeo, with a low 30/28 gear combination.  Not sure if this was brave or silly considering the elevation gains planned for the day.  The only thing I changed from my standard set up on the bike for the ride was the front tire.  I went with a 35 mm Schwalbe Marathon XR for the added durability on the front end while heading into an area likely to have goathaed thorns and sharp rocks on the downhill side.  I had a well broken in Jack Brown on the rear with a spare in my bag.  I can handle a rear flat on the way down, but hate losing the front tire on dirt going fast, it has never gone well in the past. 

The day started early for me as I was traveling the furthest, 120 miles, to get there.  The price you pay for associating with guys who generally live 2 to 4 counties south of you.  The weather was crystal clear and I was driving past wide blue skies fringed by the ocean and my own local mountain ranges.  The travel and new adventure bug had bitten and I was on my way, down the HWY 1 along the coast, to the 10 and then the 5 deep through parts of industrial Los Angeles that were so far from my intended goal.  Once past Anaheim you could start to see the mountains and the excitement was building, this was going to be a good day. 

We all met up to start the ride in the small town of Silverado in eastern Orange County.  Even with Santa Ana conditions the wind and temperatures were very pleasant at the lower elevations.  The group totaled out at 5: Doug, David, James, Jenny and myself.  This has to be one of the most amazing kept secrets in Orange County, it is in the bottom of a tree-lined valley houses up both sides and a small little western town as you head up into the mountains along Silverado Canyon Rd on the way to Maple Springs. 

The town gives way to a single paved lane into the national park.  The whole way is steady but manageable climbing. 

The pave gives way to dirt somewhere near the transition to Maple Springs road.  This is a jeep track and therefore open to vehicular traffic.  We did encounter some 4x4s, but everybody was pleasant and fairly respectful, even the kids with coolers full of beer. 

Shockingly there were only a handful of people making use af such a spectacular resource in such a densely populated area.  We all pressed up the hill at a respectable pace, sure to take breaks along the way for food, water, pictures and to just enjoy the space.  I love the fact that these group rides actually slow me down a bit, when I do this on my own I am wasted by the end, but with the group and taking breaks the whole day is more fun and less exercise.  As altitude gained the views became more expansive.  Almost all of the eastern LA basin and the mountain ranges beyond were visible. 

Onward and upward we made it to the saddle with the Harding truck Trail.  From the saddle there were clear views of Orange county and Catalina Island offshore.  The weather was much cooler than at the lower elevation and the wind was howling.  The decision was made to forgo the out and back leg to the summit and complete the loop along Harding Truck trail.  A few hours of climbing gave way to over an hour of what seemed like endless clean fire road bombing downhill. 

The trail came to an end at the small town of Modjeska.  Back on the pavement it was time ot complete the loop back to the cars. 

Thanks to Doug for putting together a detailed map. . Five hours of riding, 25 miles and over 3800 ft of climbing not too bad.

We capped the ride with a meal and some liquids at the Silverado Cafe, then back into the car for one of the most beautiful sunsets and then the slog through LA back home. 

The company and the ride made the drive well worth it. The bikes and riders all performed well. Not a single mechanical for the whole group and only one minor spill. Also, a big pat on the back for Jenny who had never ridden anything like this ever proper to this ride. Welcome to the world of underbiking.  Next group ride is December 11, Dirt Mulholland. . While the group is based around Rivendell owners, this is not really an exclusive thing, if you are thinking of trying out the world of road bikes on dirt, it is going to be a good time.

Full Photo set: