Reynolds 531C vs 531ST
Mark Chandler
I'm considering having a bike made that's a cross between an
audax machine and a tourer. The maker--Mercian--classifies
it as one of their touring models, but it's very similar to
many other manufacturers' audax machines.
I'd like to spec it with canti's and clearance for 700x35c
tires. Most of the riding will be on-road, but I'd like
to be able to take it on *gentle* dirt/gravel roads (no
real rough stuff, cyclo-cross, or mtb'ing).
I understand that 531ST is much thicker/stouter than 531C.
Would it be overkill to spec the 531C for a bike that will
never be ridden with more than a bar-bag and racktop pack?
One concern I do have is that the seatstays not be too
flexible with the canti brakes (Avid C-15's). FWIW, I'm
approx 200 pounds and a pretty "smooth" rider.
Any advice is appreciated.
--mc
==============================================
Mark Chandler Concord, CA ve...@value.net
http://value.net/~velo
==============================================
Peter South
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Chandler <ve...@value.net>
To: <ran...@topica.com>
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2000 10:56 PM
Subject: Reynolds 531C vs 531ST
>
> I'd like to spec it with canti's and clearance for 700x35c
> tires. Most of the riding will be on-road, but I'd like
> to be able to take it on *gentle* dirt/gravel roads (no
> real rough stuff, cyclo-cross, or mtb'ing).
Not sure about the frame spec. but do you really need 700X35 tyres? I run
700X25 on my Dawes Galaxy and they do just fine - commuting, audaxing, rough
stuff the lot. I,ve had the odd flat of course but no other problems. I
can't imagine pushing 35s along!
Peter South
Mark Chandler
On Tue, 2 May 2000, Peter South wrote:
>
> >
> > Ahhhhhhh..... but the item of information everyone leaves out of
> > these tire discussions, is how much do you weigh?
> >
> > I'm a fairly large fellow, about 210 lbs on a really, really good
> > day, a bit more usually, and will regularily pinch flat or flat anything
> > smaller than a 28. So I find the original reasoning very sound, for me
> > anyway.
>
> I weigh 12stone plus, 170lbs in USA speak - I used to have pinch flats
> (snake bites in the U.K.) until I discovered track pumps and pressure
> gauges! I look at the max. pressure on the tyre and then add a good 10% at
> least. Pump them up HARD and no matter what you weigh they won't pinch. Take
> a look at any car handbook, they tell you to increase the pressure for a
> full load. The quoted maximum pressures on bike tyres are well inside the
> safe limit. My Hutchinsons say 115 psi, I put 140 psi in and I can't even
> remember the last time I had a puncture - must be well over a year ago.
> Peter S.
Amazingly enough I know how to use a track/floor pump and a pressure gauge.
Air volume is your friend on rough roads and dirt/unpaved roads. The more
volume, the more cushion, etc. A 32 or even 35mm tire at 75 pounds is
more comfortable than a 25 or 28mm tire at 120+ psi.
My original posting said that the bike would see a mix of paved and unpaved
use. While there will/would be clearance for 35mm tires, it won't be shod
with them 100% of the time. But, I know from experience that skinny tires
at high pressure are awful for unpaved use.
Lastly, my size, and the fact that I don't want to have to worry about every
pothole, stone, cigarette butt, etc, is why I want wider tires. This would not
be the bike I'd take on a fast 200K brevet, but the one I can wander along and
explore dirt roads on.
Mark Chandler
>> I'd like to spec it with canti's and clearance for 700x35c
>> tires. Most of the riding will be on-road, but I'd like
>> to be able to take it on *gentle* dirt/gravel roads (no
>> real rough stuff, cyclo-cross, or mtb'ing).
>
>Not sure about the frame spec. but do you really need 700X35 tyres? I run
>700X25 on my Dawes Galaxy and they do just fine - commuting, audaxing,
rough
>stuff the lot. I,ve had the odd flat of course but no other problems. I
>can't imagine pushing 35s along!
My current skinny-tire bike has 700x25c Michelin Axial Select tires. These
measure 25mm on the bike's Mavic MA2 rims. They're fine when I want to go
fast (well, fast for *me*), but the ride is a tad rough on bad roads, in the
dark, etc. The frame (mid-80's Holdsworth) *might* be able to fit a 28c
tire, but it's unlikely. I'd like to be able to run 700x32c tires
w/mudguards, and even 35s when I know I'll be exploring dirt roads. I won't
be running fat(ter) tires all the time, but I'd like the option to do so.
dani...@mot.com
I can't offer advice, but a comparison of frame stiffness
for a large variety of materials and frame sizes is
found at :
http://damonrinard.com/rinard_frametest.html
Dan
Paul Graveling
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Mark,
I'd highly recommend reading "Touring Bikes - A Practical Guide" by Tony =
Oliver, published by Crowood (ISDN 85223 339 7). You may be able to =
borrow it from the library.=20
It's very informative about frame building materials and covers most =
Reynold's tubing including 531C and 531ST as well as Columbus, Tange and =
Vitus alternatives. It also covers geometry, and other aspects of =
design.
Regards,
Paul,
New Zealand.
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charset="iso-8859-1"
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<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
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<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Mark,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I'd highly recommend reading "Touring =
Bikes - A=20
Practical Guide" by Tony Oliver, published by Crowood (ISDN 85223 339 =
7). You=20
may be able to borrow it from the library. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>It's very informative about frame =
building=20
materials and covers most Reynold's tubing including 531C and 531ST as =
well as=20
Columbus, Tange and Vitus alternatives. It also covers geometry, and =
other=20
aspects of design.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Paul,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>New Zealand.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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aukhawk
Peter South <Pe...@maple7.freeserve.co.uk> writes
>but do you really need 700X35 tyres? I run
>700X25 on my Dawes Galaxy and they do just fine - commuting, audaxing, rough
>stuff the lot.
Well said Peter. Sheila has used 19mm tyres for years, for everything
including touring with smallish panniers, sometimes on unsurfaced Alpine
tracks.
I used to use 19s but I must admit in recent years I've gone up to 23s,
I quite like the extra weight round the rim which stabilises the
handling a bit.
As to the original query re frame materials - I think the concern re
canti's on thin-walled tubes is a legitimate one, but other than that I
would have thought 531C would be much more suitable - for the loads
described 531ST would surely be over-engineering. Many frame-builders
these days offer 'mixed' tubesets so that you can have some extra beef
on the seatstays, say, without carting heavy main tubes around.
Francis Cooke
--
Francis Cooke
Sheila Simpson
@aukhawk.demon.co.uk
Du...@stimpy.net
> Peter South <Pe...@maple7.freeserve.co.uk> writes
> >but do you really need 700X35 tyres? I run
> >700X25 on my Dawes Galaxy and they do just fine - commuting,
> audaxing, rough
> >stuff the lot.
>
> Well said Peter. Sheila has used 19mm tyres for years, for everything
> including touring with smallish panniers, sometimes on
> unsurfaced Alpine
> tracks.
Ahhhhhhh..... but the item of information everyone leaves out of
these tire discussions, is how much do you weigh?
I'm a fairly large fellow, about 210 lbs on a really, really good
day, a bit more usually, and will regularily pinch flat or flat anything
smaller than a 28. So I find the original reasoning very sound, for me
anyway.
Pete
Ontario, NY
USA
Mark Chandler
On Tue, 2 May 2000, aukhawk wrote:
> Peter South <Pe...@maple7.freeserve.co.uk> writes
> >but do you really need 700X35 tyres? I run
> >700X25 on my Dawes Galaxy and they do just fine - commuting, audaxing, rough
> >stuff the lot.
>
> Well said Peter. Sheila has used 19mm tyres for years, for everything
> including touring with smallish panniers, sometimes on unsurfaced Alpine
> tracks.
>
> I used to use 19s but I must admit in recent years I've gone up to 23s,
> I quite like the extra weight round the rim which stabilises the
> handling a bit.
>
> As to the original query re frame materials - I think the concern re
> canti's on thin-walled tubes is a legitimate one, but other than that I
> would have thought 531C would be much more suitable - for the loads
> described 531ST would surely be over-engineering. Many frame-builders
> these days offer 'mixed' tubesets so that you can have some extra beef
> on the seatstays, say, without carting heavy main tubes around.
Remember, I'm 210 pounds. I'll be riding a 56cm frame, which I suspect
is a bit taller than someone who can ride 19mm tires on unpaved roads.
Also, I'm coming off 18 years of off-road riding, so I'll have to "unlearn"
many habits from time spent in the dirt.
What I may opt for is a stouter downtube and the aforementioned beefier
seatstays.
Then again, if I chuck it all in favor of 26" (559) wheels, the whole
point might be moot (time to check the sjscycles/thorn web pages again).
Peter South
>
> Ahhhhhhh..... but the item of information everyone leaves out of
> these tire discussions, is how much do you weigh?
>
> I'm a fairly large fellow, about 210 lbs on a really, really good
> day, a bit more usually, and will regularily pinch flat or flat anything
> smaller than a 28. So I find the original reasoning very sound, for me
> anyway.
I weigh 12stone plus, 170lbs in USA speak - I used to have pinch flats
aukhawk
Dusel, Peter W <Peter...@usa.xerox.com> writes
>> Well said Peter. Sheila has used 19mm tyres for years, for everything
>> including touring with smallish panniers, sometimes on
>> unsurfaced Alpine
>> tracks.
>
>these tire discussions, is how much do you weigh?
>
> I'm a fairly large fellow, about 210 lbs on a really, really good
>day, a bit more usually, and will regularily pinch flat or flat anything
>smaller than a 28.
That's, er, now I've just got to covert from archaic units to *really*
archaic units ... ah yes, well, quite a lot - I was heavier than that at
the start of this year :-( and I tour on 23s. My main cause of flats is
lifted patches. Sheila is of course a lightweight.
Francis
dani...@mot.com
aukhawk wrote:
> My main cause of flats is lifted patches.
I used to have this problem until I started enforcing
5-min dry time before putting the patch on using a
watch. I don't think I've had a patch lift on me since.
Dan