School me on RH tires for my Sam

[Tim Bantham]

Hello All, I'm thinking about treating my Sam Hillborne to a new set of shoes. I'm currently riding smooth Gravel King's in a 38mm. These are set up tubeless and I run them at around 38 to 40 psi. I've been very happy with these tires and find that the 38mm GK's ride great.

My Sam is circa 2016 with side pull brakes. I am currently using Paul Racers. I could probably fit a larger tire than a 38mm but don't feel the need to.

I want to try a new set of RH/Compass tires which will also be tubeless. I could just get the Barlow Pass but I am curious about the Bon Jon Pass. I am mostly interested to see how a slight smaller 35mm would compare to a 38.

I was going to get the standard casing because I am prefer to put a premium on durability over the ultimate suppleness.

Should I continue to take advantage of the tire clearance I current enjoy and keep riding a 38mm or should I try satisfy my curiosity by trying the 35mm's?

Tim

[Johnny Alien]

For me personally I don't see a reason for going smaller if I have the room.  The added volume and ability to run lower pressures just makes the ride better for me. That sad different tires run different sizes so a 38 GK might run a true 38 or it might actually be 36 on your rim. If that were true then a true 35 would be almost no difference at all. It all depends on the true GK size vs the true RH size. There is likely not a huge difference in ride between 3mm. I would just personally stick with the larger tires.

[David Person]

I have a 2016 Sam with Tektro R559 sidepulls.  Ran Barlow Pass (standard casing) with fenders and then moved up to Snoqualmie Pass but were questionable with fenders.  Moved the fenders to a new Surly frame that have Snoqualmie Pass also, but more clearance.  Went tubeless on the Surly for the first time.  Sam is still tubed, but will be building a set of wheels for it with tubeless compatible rims soon.

[Collin A]

Tim,

As the others have mentioned, don't you dare think about going smaller than 38s. I have RH Barlows (measure closer to 41 on my 21mm ID rims) on my 'gravel' ritchey, but I use the bike as my road bike as well and those tires are just perfect for road riding and mixed terrain, provided it isn't too dusty and loose where you are. Also, RH actually posts tire size based on pressure and rim ID on their notes for the tires on their product pages, so you can use that as a reference for fit as well.

And agreed on the choice of standard casing, they work well enough and are noticeably (although not much) cheaper than the EL versions.

Good Luck,

Collin, in Chattery Paved Sacramento

[David Person]

Wow Collin, you're getting 41mm on the Barlows?  I get 40mm on the Snoqualmie Pass when mounted on Velocity Dyads and 42mm when mounted on Quills.  The Barlows mounted on Dyads measured 35mm, if I remember correctly.

[Collin A]

Yeah...not really sure why, but there is always some variation, right? They are setup tubeless, but just the standard casing.

Luckily I have clearance for 50+mm tires in the frame and fork, so I'm doing fine on that end.

Collin "its good" in Sactown

[David Person]

Very interesting.  Both my sets of Snoqualmie Pass are standard casing.  The set on the Quill rims are set up tubeless.  The set on the Dyads have tube.  ID rim width are 20.2mm for the Quill and 18.4mm for the Dyad.

[Nick Payne]

My Barlow Pass measure 40mm after several months use, mounted on 22mm internal width rims (Light Bicycle AR28 disc rims).

Nick

[Adam]

It seems like most folks are happy with Barlow Pass & fenders, which is what I have (with 559s), and that's a great combo. Without fenders I'd go larger, probably the Snoqualmie Pass unless the Oracle Ridge fits w/o fenders?

I've considered trying to squeeze the Snoqualmies - which are around 40mm for me too - under VO zepplin 52 fenders. Has anyone tried this? I think the challenge would be the 559 front brake's squeeze when open, which would be a non issue on the OP's Racers, I guess? If anyone's successfully done this, or some other combo of Snoqualmie pass and fenders, I'd like to hear about it.

Adam

[Ben Mihovk]

Very interested in the conversation as I've been tempted by RH tires lately. I'm one year into my Shikoros that came with my Atlantis and I love them...but I'm tempted to try something else when it's time to replace them. The Barlow Pass Endurance casing seems like the play (wish they had an all-road in 42mm as my Shikoros are 42mm).

On the other hand...Soma makes a Supple Vitesse EX in 700x42 for $20 less a tire....on the other-other hand, maybe I can't beat Shikoro for urban commuting/crushed limestone trails.

Ben

[Mark Allen]

Adam, I've had Snoqualmies (in Extra Light, Standard and Endurance casings, even!) under VO zeppelin 52 fenders on my Sam Hillborne for a few years now. I think the only thing preventing me from completing my bingo card is that my Sam is the canti version, not the sidepull. On H+Son Archetype rims (17.5 mm inner width), the Snoqualmies measure at 41mm for me and I've got 10 mm of clearance between the tire and the fender. I've been incredibly satisfied with this setup.

Mark

[Tim Bantham]

OK OK I"ve come to my senses. Nothing less than 38mm so the Barlow Pass is where I am leaning. My tubeless set up is on a Velocity Quill which is just a superb rim. Both wide and stiff which makes for a very durable yet reasonably light wheelset. I don't have a caliper but according to the RH specs on a 23mm rim the Barlow Pass measures 41mm. I am not riding this bike with fenders.   My brakes are Paul Racers and I find the 38's fit through a fully open brake when taking the front wheel on and off. A friend of mine who rides a ton more than I do is very knowledgeable on these tires. He said that the Endurance casing is what I want. The extra lights are very difficult to set up tubeless yet the endurance casing is marginally easier. The EL casing is susceptible to sidewall cuts where as the Endurance has the same thread count but has the added protection. I do like to ride rough stuff once in a while so even just a little off road riding calls for a more robust sidewall.

I am currently riding Gravel Kings smooth treads. To me the Gravel Kings have been great. They are an easy tubeless set up and hold air just fine. I've never had a problem with them and I find the ride quality to be very nice.

I'm intrigued by the RH tires but when I hear that they are a PITA to set up tubeless I wonder if it is worth the hassle. They also cost twice as much. Will I really improve the quality of my ride? I already feel like the Sam rides amazing on 38mm GKs pumped up to 38 psi front and 40 in the rear.

[Jason Fuller]

My experience (and the experience of several people I know) has been that while on paper, the GK and RH tires should be basically identical (they're made by the same mfg, they have similar design and weight, etc), there is some difference outside these metrics that result in the Rene Herse tires riding much smoother and also being more robust against punctures. I'm betting it's in the casing's weave. 

I've run a couple sets of standard casing and a couple sets of extralights, and especially for tubeless I'd just go standard casing. I didn't personally notice a big difference in ride, but the EL's lose air quicker for sure.