Review on 33mm cross country tires

[Pradeep Naidu]

Hi folks
After seeing the deteriorating roads in Bangalore  day by day, and after losing complete  hopes that it will get better in future.. pun intended..
I got myself upgraded to 34mm cross country tires from Vittorio,xl pro.
I was expecting it to be slow.. actually it is.. but my timing to office was intact same 36mns(18kms) , same as one of my faster rides in my 23 and 25 mm tires. Usually it takes 40 to 43 mns
But my HRM watch said my Heart rate has increased very significantly. My avg was at 140and Max was 170.
Getting lower day by day.. Working on it..

What i like the most about these tires: they are very comfortable and easy on the bad roads.. and it climbs footpaths with ease and handles pot holes really well..
Good puncture protection.. And very grippy..
But the same arrogance got me completely wrong today.. with rains, I felt a huge thud on my butt after I realized I had bent my bike little too much than required..
Unfortunately, I had a second fall today too.. this time it was on the small pores kind of a footpath.. its too slipery and I use only front brake.. I couldn't handle even at low speeds and skid very badly..
I guess I'm on a very high psi.. its running on 80psi.. I think it's too high..

But overall, the tire is awesome, picked it from wheel sports and is very good buy too..1,050 per tire and you can give it a shot to see how it feels for you guys..

Hope this helps..
Regards,
Pradeep

[suman paul]

You have given all data very precisely except the speed - what do you mean by 'slow'

thank you & regards

suman

+ 91   9886300685

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[Pradeep Naidu]

Suman, speed I don't know, I don't use cyclo comp. I only see the time it takes to reach from my home to my office basement.

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[berkeleydb]

First things first -- riding on footpaths is a strict no-no.

Re: your ride timing -- riding speeds/times in the city will (should) be limited by traffic, road conditions, etc.; riding on footpaths not withstanding. So going with less efficient tyres should_not necessarily increase your ride times. The increased heart rate quite understandably suggests that your are having to work harder to maintain the same speed/timing as before. You probably have enough in the tank to go with even wider tyres, & still maintain similar speeds/timing as before.

And the wider tyres will make the ride more comfortable for sure. I ride 1.5" (38mm) tyres at ~60psi. I have used 1.25" (~32mm) tyres briefly; not sure at what PSI; might have been ~70psi. That is the thinnest tyre I have used. I found those to be significantly less comfortable (& more efficient) compared to the 1.5" tyres. Of course, the particular brand/model of tyre would also matter, in addition to the width. The 26x1.5" ones I am referring to are Maxis Detonator. The 26x1.25" ones were Continental City Contact. The Continental ones would be my choice for brevets.

-{db}.

[Opendro]

80 psi is way too high though I'm not sure of your weight ;) I never check the pressure. I just go by the "feel"... a comfortable ride for a given road. It will be about 40 to 45 on a 40mm for the rear I guess.

You have a heart rate monitor, but not a speed monitor!

Try a nice slick and supple 40 mm tire. You will never feel like going below. I rode that profile for 6 years.

Falling frequently isn't cool. I usually tell my wife - doing the same mistakes and getting into unwanted accidents make us lose not only our own confidence, but also our confidence in our children. We also lose our right to scold their repeated mistakes. Different people have different handling skills and judgement errors. One should always be within his own limit based on past experience. Just take an example, I let my daughter ride to her badminton classes alone. I expect her, not only to ride safe, but also to know how to be physically safe. One error she commits, I will totally lose my confidence. And I will never be in a position to suggest others riding a bike in Bangalore traffic. On the contrary, not getting into errors is what allows me to ride multiple days away from home without letting anyone at home worry about my safety or call me unnecessarily.

Sorry Pradeep. That sounded like a piece of advice. But you are an influential biker in this forum. Please set an example. I don't want to hear about another fall from you ;)

[Opendro]

Why so? In fact, newer pavements (like those in St. Marks Road) are to be shared between cyclists and pedestrians.

I say, take a good judgement. If the pavement has too many pedestrians, avoid it. They should have more right than cyclists on the pavement. Otherwise, I don't see a reason why I should be stuck behind the automobiles when the pavement is completely empty. For that matter, I even lift my cycle if there is not pavement and traffic is jammed. I suppose, lifting bike and walking on road could also be illegal!

Point to be noted: I'm NOT riding a bicycle to save the planet. I truly believe that cars for everyone is just not viable in a densely populated country like India. If our children should have a decent commuting experience, it can only be by dissuading people from driving cars. Motorcycles are the most efficient in terms of volume of commuters that a given road can transport in a given time. Next will be a bus, then a bicycle and then comes cars and cabs. It is in this context that I ride a bicycle.

If bicycle cannot beat a car in commute time, it is just not worth riding a bicycle. Period.

[Shankar Shastry]

I walk on the footpath when I get off the road to beat traffic. I'm still wrong. But I do it because a cyclist walking his bike on the footpath is a lot more predictable than one riding on footpath. If cyclists can ride on footpath because they're only 3 feet wide, why can't a motorcyclist ride? Isn't that a natural progression? And the next level would be if motorcyclists can ride, why can't cars occupy a slight portion of the footpaths? Oh by the way then why have footpaths got to be so wide?

You know what this leads to. Don't be that guy.

[Opendro]

Motorcyclists have got a clear instruction and a penalty (upto cancellation of license) for riding on pavement. So, they cannot.

Just for the sake of argument, I say, if there were enough space, let them also ride, provided they can get off the pavement when they encounter a pedestrian. But they cannot. 75% of Bangalore commuters on the road are motorcyclists and that itself makes it impossible to allow them on pavement. If pavements were 30 feet wide, yes they can be accommodated. I'm all for roads exclusively for motorcyclists. As I mentioned, they are the most efficient means of transport, even more efficient than buses.

Why do you think cars are not allowed on certain small roads? I go through really narrow lanes where just two motorcycles can pass by each other. Cars still come there too.

Footpaths are made wide (SURE program, forgot the full name) so that people will be encouraged to walk instead of driving even in short distances.

The real way forward for the city is to make roads exclusively for bicycles only. Even then, connectivity is still going to be an issue and we still have to rely on pavements unless there are massive number of bicycles to claim the roads as ours.

BTW, bicycle trails share with pedestrians in the US too. I didn't know about it until I rode the Trans Am. About 20 miles from Silverthorne till Breckenridge was only on trail completely away from motor roads or buildings. Another 30 or 40 miles before Williamsburg was again trail - shared by both cyclists and walkers. Rarely I rode on highway. As I finished the ride, I was riding in the town Newport News. They expect me to ride on the pavement wherever it existed. They used to honk at me crazy when I rode on the road and then I saw people riding on the pavement. The beach roads allow bicycles as well as walkers.

Again, I don't know the legality of either way. I do know that cycles are not allowed on freeways in the US. But this was in the town. The problem is that we are a minuscule in number, no where else to go. We are just trying to fit in a system which has outlawed us.

I still stand by my statement. If I cannot beat the motor vehicles in Bangalore traffic, it is not worth riding a bicycle.

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[Opendro]

I thought, I would double check the laws in the US. See http://bikeleague.org/StateBikeLaws. Expand Colorado and Virginia (which were the places I mentioned) and look for Sidewalk Riding.

I think, the question to be asked is if there is a practical problem if we ride on sidewalk? If the answer is yes, we should stop doing it. The same applies to motorcycle, trucks, or whatever.

[Ali Poonawala]

Hi friends

First things first -- riding on footpaths is a strict no-no

Guilty of doing this...it all depends.
For example..reaching Trinity circle from St. Philomena's by official route involves long route around Magrath Road, two sides of a triangle. Shorter side is one way. I ride on that footpath, which is wide and hardly any pedestrians.
So.. discretion is to be used..
It would be inappropriate to do this if pedestrians are many, and put to inconvenience and distance is significant too. In such situations I have walked the bike.

Not legally right but that is what I do.
Warm regards
Ali Poonawala

[Opendro]

Exactly doc. The most important point is that pedestrians should be given right of way on sidewalks.

About the one way. One ways don't apply to side walks. I mentioned the trail before Breckenridge. Some of them run alongside highways and they are not elevated/raised, only painted lines. You won't believe, I had to ride in opposite direction in some stretches, because highway got separate roads for each way. But the bike lane was two way, but sharing with only one side of the highway.

If on road, I never ride on the opposite direction.

I thought I should google up on the proposals in India if you guys are making so much fuss. Here is a working paper for India : http://cept.ac.in/UserFiles/File/CUE/Working%20Papers/Revised%20New/18CUEWP18_Walking%20and%20Cycling%20in%20Indian%20Cities%20A%20Struggle%20for%20Reclaiming%20Road%20Edges.pdf

The following is a quote from page.8 (not soft page, but printed page number).

 At locations where the right of way widths do not permit segregated bicycle tracks, bicycle track combines with the pedestrian path with a total minimum width of 2.0m. The bicycle lane is raised from the Motor Vehicle (MV) lane by 75mm

I think, the perceived notion that bicycles shouldn't use sidewalk comes from the olden days before motor vehicles hardly existed and bicycles ruled the roads.

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[berkeleydb]

Was out for a while... wanted to post here for some time.

I don't think most Indian sidewalks / footpaths are safe for cycling. And I don't see any parallels between western countries & India in these matters.

IMO, cycling on sidewalks in India puts cyclists & consequently, others, at risk. I don't think anyone should be doing that. If one finds the occasional sidewalk that is clear & well laid, one could cycle on that... but that's really the exception case.

-{db}.

[berkeleydb]

Also, the general standard of "watchout for others" is very low in India. I don't exclude cyclists from that. I don't think most cyclists in India would ride on a good pavement, w/o being a nuisance to pedestrians.

-{db}.