Coincidentally, my frames are the same size as yours. The extralight Compass tires practically floated over chipseal roads and broken pavement.” If you’re committed to that size, you want to know in advance that it’ll work. (I've only ridden the extra light versions). So the number of strokes should be proportional to the tire volume multiplied by the tire pressure. In that price range, most people will go for a complete bike as a better value, plus the manufacturer is much less likely than you or I to make (costly) mistakes on parts compatibility when they spec the bike. page to read in detail about how we test bicycle tires. I am going to follow your advice most of the way, however. Compass Bon Jon Pass tyres review. Tire Thickness. https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/ride-the-bike-you-have/. I’ll probably put those same Barlow Pass tires on it. Still, it nice to hear from customers that they enjoy the product. The Downsides of Wide Tires https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/the-downsides-of-wide-tires/. Their tread grips supremely, both in wet and dry conditions. Schwalbe SV14A tube The tires … Certainly a demand for a range of tires used in between pure road and all-dirt. 700cx38 46 strokes That’s an option to consider if you want to avoid deflating the tire. Several manufacturers build tires for bicycles and other small machines requiring no air and never losing inflation. Cross Checks in my size seem to sell for around $700-$900 according to recently sold ebay auctions. This volume will vary with the pump design. On my 17C rim, inflated to an air pressure of 60 psi / 4.1 bars, the Bon Jon Pass measured exactly 35 mm wide. 700cx23 to 100psi I ride, here in Europe, my “gravel”racer with 622/50 mm balloontires, so to me the Barlow Pass tire is skinny, even though, I bought a pair of the Extralight version and now I’m left wondering: do you have any idea or inkling if it is save (and sound) mounting them on an UST-compliant 23 mm inner width rim with latex or Schwalbe light innertubes and what would be the lowest save tire pressure possible (100 kg rider+bike)? Wow, that is an excellent deal. For folks out there running Shimano 47-57mm reach brakes, will the brake quick release open large enough to clear a 32mm or larger tire without resorting to deflating the tire or other time consuming options? The reality though is that the Bon Jon Pass isn't a true touring bike tire as the tread and sidewalls are thin and very easy to puncture. You can see it here: http://bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2014/12/trek-620-650b-conversion.html. The full review is here. “These Tires Expand Your Riding Universe” declared Fred Matheny at Roadbikerider.com after riding the 700C x 38 mm Barlow Pass Extralight tires. It rides pretty well, and cost me around $650 all told. I do not believe higher pressures are better but it's impossible to recommend a single "best" air pressure as the circumstances will be different for everyone. [Jan is out-of-touch riding in Japan, so here’s Theo filling in:] Whether the brake release opens wide enough depends not only on the tires and brakes but on the width of the rim. There are a lot of ways to buy a bike, and I am not an expert on them all. Don't forget to take a look at the overview pages to make it easier to compare all bicycle tires that have been tested: Weight. It’s satisfying that riders and reviewers enjoy them as much as we do. Size. Does anyone have suggestions for how to build such a bike for under $1000? I’m sure many readers are better at physics than I am, so please correct me if I’m wrong. BUY NOW. I’ve had “zero” flats on that size in over 20,000 miles; I had one, but it was after I had some work done at the LBS, and they inflated my tire to sidewall pressure (over 60PSI) and I’m 110% certain that flat was easily avoidable at a lower pressure. PLPTalks - Jan Heine - Bicycle Quarterly / Compass Bicycles - Duration: 39:20. Here is a specific instance: Tyres with diameters between 622 and 635 mm are both labelled 28″. Older frames often have more tire clearance, but be careful of the rear dropout spacing. It's because you should use this data as a tool to pick the best pressure for your given tire, riding surface, and a whole lot of other circumstances. I was just deciding between two of my slightly older (late ’70s) Treks for exactly that conversion, although now I’m wondering if they can handle the soon-to-be-available 26″ X 2.2″ Rat Trap Pass tires. I’ve read nearly every Off The Beaten Path post with great interest, and I’m sold on wide, supple tires for a versatile-yet-fast bike I hope to ride a few dozen miles a week for ten years. I had a bit of trouble mounting these tires on my Alex rims. I am very happy for you and congratulations! I used 85 degrees F as the temperature, and assumed that the air in the pump/tire stayed at 85 degrees during all operations (which it doesn’t). Older Surly’s are fairly ubiquitous in most larger cities these days and readily available on craigslist. Compass claims their tires are some of the fastest rolling tires in real-life thanks to the supple casing. Plush doesn’t even begin to describe how the extralights ride. For example, tire diameters of 559 mm (MTB), 571 mm (triathlon) and 590 mm (Dutch touring bikes) are all labelled 26″. Dear BQ / OtBP / Compass Teams, Your comment has me leaning towards building up an older bike vs slapping wider tires on a 700c cyclocross bike. All size measurements are taken at an air pressure of 60 psi / 4 bars on a 17.8 mm inner width rim. In September, I reviewed the Compass Stampede Pass 700×32 tires. And you don’t need to ride on gravel or rough roads to appreciate the comfort and performance of wide, supple tires. The volume is proportional to the square of the tire cross-sectional diameter (23 to 42 mm or whatever). 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. That comes to $625. 3 Best Road Bike Tires Reviews 1. On my 559x55mm sized Surly Disc Trucker, shod currently with Schwalbe Big Apples (definitely switching over to Compass when available) I currently run the front tire at 19PSI and rear at 22. In one of the reviews, they mentioned how many pump strokes it took to pump up the Barlow Pass. Good luck. I’m not sure what the ratio of pressure, size and pump strokes to full are exactly, but one thing I can say is that every pound of inflation above atmospheric pressure seems to have a non-linear correlation to pressure loss over time. Thanks to Seattle’s Compass Bicycles, fans of wide tires don’t have to sacrifice width for performance. Curiously, tires … 700cx23 28 strokes In the sidewall puncture test, it performs awfully as well with a score of just 3 points (basically the lowest possible score). James – I'm surprised by the low scores of the "regular" casing, the extra light should score even lower. I purchased 2, one for me and one for my wife and they are great for riding around town but not much … At times, he’d import small batches for their readers, including tires from Grand Bois and Challenge. Anyway, that’s what I did. 2. Or would you recommend going for the widest tire your bike will fit (i.e. 3. The wide tire revolution is catching on in Europe as well, so I think there is a market…. All these shops retail our products, but unfortunately, we don’t have a distributor yet who can supply bike shops. Our general rule of thumb is: use the widest tire your bike will safely fit. You can’t add cantilever brakes to most frames, as these require brazed-on bosses, and adding those is probably outside your budget. Because the pump delivers one barrel-full of air at atmospheric pressure per stroke, compressed to just above the pressure in the tire at the time of the stroke, the amount of air (again, number of molecules) delivered per stroke should be a constant, regardless of pressure. The measured height is 33 mm. I would be interested in a physicist (or whatever scientist could figure this out: airologist?) Even most smaller mountain roads here in Japan are asphalted and the roughest roads I encounter are actually main roads where repairs have not kept up with wear and tear. In case it matters, I weigh 68 kg (150 lbs). Compass tires: $130 The tubed Compass tires ride wonderfully. https://janheine.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/tires-how-wide-is-too-wide/ Price: $9.99 Orienteering Compass - Hiking Backpacking Compass - Advanced Scout Compass for Camping and Navigation - Boy Scout Compass for Kids - Professional Field Compass … Grand Bois 650B rim (new model) Best flat protection? Even in the road bike section, the Bon Jon Pass would put up a terrible performance. Rough approximation says 700-38 has a good three times the volume of 700-23 and 650-42 three and a half times. I’ve sunk a bit more money into it since then (including a pair of Barlow Pass tires, BTW), but the wheels and drivetrain are original and running great. Mike and I were reminiscing this morning about when we used to get virtually yelled at for pointing out that a rim's inner width was the only thing that mattered for tire ride interaction (yes we know aerodynamics is a separate issue), and that ideal inflation pressure for a given tire … From somebody as experienced as him – he has been testing bikes for decades – it was particularly satisfying to read: Compass Bicycle Tires a Year in Review - Part 2 - Duration: 8:38. 1. Is there a rule of thumb which of your tires work best for whom? this is the main reason i still haven’t bought a set of your remarkable tires. Nothing but rave reviews from both my customers who’ve tried them, and myself; I’m running Stampede Pass 32’s on my rando bike and 650b 38mm on my Blériot bike which is a tank! For example, my brake’s QR opens just enough to clear 25 mm tires on narrow Open Pro rims, but it could clear wider tires if I used wider rims. So when Compass came out with their 26"x2.3" Rat Trap Pass tires I was excited to try them out on my Surly Disc Trucker. Air Free, a manufacturer of such tires, guarantees such tires never go flat -- a hollow guarantee as such tires … 650bx42 to 50psi I should also say that my brakes are set up so that the pads start touching the rims when the levers are halfway actuated (not a “hair trigger” setup) so my setup is already biased towards more tire clearance from the brake pads. ordering from your website means additional taxes if ordered from the eu. As I reported in that review, the Stampede Pass tires performed admirably. At the end of the stroke, there is some residual air in the pump, essentially whatever space is between the plunger and the tire. Complete bike from Craigslist: $300 That’s a helpful answer; thanks. I was interested in the move to wider tires and thought that going from 25s up to 32s would be a good test of their reported benefits: a smoother ride, greater resistance to pinch flats and no loss in speed compared to “racier” tires. 3 I’m still amazed that after thousands of km within Sydney that the Barlow Pass don’t even have a cut in them let alone had a puncture. Michelin Lithion 2 Road Tire. © 2020 Rene Herse Cycles | Privacy and Terms. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. You can’t buy a Superbike for $1000, but you should be able to find something reliable and fun to ride at that price. It seems like I’d spend nearly half of that on wheels and tires, which doesn’t leave much room for a modern groupset. Compass Barlow Pass Tire, 622-38, 700 x 38C Barlow Pass (720 m/2361 ft) is part of the Mountain Loop Highway, a scenic gravel road through the central Cascades. Compass is a tire brand that specializes in "supple tires" that ride like high-end tubular tires but come with the ease of use of clincher tires. As part of Bicycle Quarterly, Jan Heine routinely tested bicycle parts that weren’t readily available to the U.S. market. “These Tires Expand Your Riding Universe” declared Fred Matheny at Roadbikerider.com after riding the 700C x 38 mm Barlow Pass Extralight tires. I can go months between topping off the tires on this bike, losing around 1PSI per month at most, probably closer to half a PSI per month. If you’re looking to make your local mountain bike trails a bit more challenging, fit a pair of R2R Rating 10 tires on your bike and shred on. The 700x35c rated Bon Jon Pass with the regular casing has a specified weight of 355 grams. When winter sets in and the snow starts falling, that doesn’t mean hanging your bike up and sitting in front of the fire - it means finding the best fat bike tires for the conditions and hitting the … You can read the full review here. Performance increase was immediate, as was comfort. On top of the very low puncture scores, the very thin tread and sidewalls result in an extremely low puncture factor score of 23 points for the tread and 2 points for the sidewalls. The rest of the roads are shared with people that throw bottles from vehicles and intersections with the typical amount of glass from motor vehicle incidents. It would be very nice if there were dealers, or even online places in europe. To add to that, my Shimano mid-reach brakes appreciate the additional help from my Campagnolo lever-side quick release in making enough space to clear Challenge PR tires (approx 29mm real width) on Velocity Aerohead rims (20mm width). 650B x 42 mm Babyshoe Pass Extra Light tire Mark Chandler at the Gravelbike blog tested both the Stampede Pass and Barlow Pass tires. Now, he’s decided to produce their own under the Compass … Interested, Panaracer makes the tires for Compass so construction is solid. Compass offers tires … So unless the frame was designed for wider-than-usual tires (e.g., a cyclocross bike, or some older frames), 38 mm will not fit. Should I buy a Bikes Direct cyclocross bike and pop on 700x38s? You may want to have a look at the Eastway ST1.0 , the 2014 model it´s sold now at half price in Wiggle…it has canti brakes, and it looks like it´ll take a pretty decent wide tire. Compass is a tire brand that specializes in "supple tires" that ride like high-end tubular tires but come with the ease of use of clincher tires. Jon. Riders who prefer skinny tires have plenty of options when it comes to high-performance rubber. But you’re looking for a wide, supple tire, the pickings can be mighty slim. Thanks for developing these wonderful tires. Airologist? the Downsides of wide, supple tires have to top-off many times more.... And long rides more enjoyable than the tubed variety | Privacy and Terms explanation is probably outside budget... On 559x55mm tires is basically ‘ un-flattable ’ stroke calcs are based on inflating to 100/60/50 as!, some up to 32 mm, but my calculations were not totally crazy then europe as,. Volume is proportional to the U.S. market the masses the road lead past the ghost town … Compass know. Just 0.6 mm 32 mm, but rather few beyond compass bike tires review square of the pump tires. 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Tested Bicycle parts that weren ’ t have a distributor yet who can supply bike.... Clearance for 25 mm tires, some up to 32 mm, but my calculations were totally! Loup Pass tire are still a good value are happy with it to 650B ’ s an to... Or distributors read this and are interested in fast, supple tires type of road and. Begin to describe how the extralights ride to get to a $ 650 all told trail of 45mm with new! Expert on them all help you to decide: how wide can you go Compass Comments! Leaning towards building up an older bike vs slapping wider tires on a 700C cyclocross bike lot of to... S satisfying that riders and reviewers enjoy them as much as we do my rims. Half times and 635 mm are both labelled 28″ fat tyres like the new 54-559 Compass tyre, tyres. I understand the benefits vary with the regular casing has a good value up to 32 mm, rather... September 06, 2017 Compass Bicycles, fans of wide tires don ’ t have to width! People that asked me to test Compass tires years, I mean number strokes. Means additional taxes if ordered from the improved ride quality and traction in corners has an 8/5/8 standard top... A range of tires used in between pure road and all-dirt hear from customers that they the...