I know I said I'd wait until the 500km mark for a review but I thought I'd write a first impression post. So here goes.
The look: apart from the lack of a valve stem (and the fact I'd got crazy colours) you would be hard pressed to tell that the tyres were any different. There is the obvious lack of valve stem but I have enough trouble finding the valve when I need to pump up tyres.
The ride: I was a but worried for the first few km. Not because of how they felt but of a weird noise they made, sort of like my rim had a kink and was rubbing on the brakes every wheel revolution. Fortunately after about 20km the noise was gone, obviously a nob or something similar from the moulding when the tyre was made.
For a solid tyre they feel remarkably similar to a normal tube tyre. They actually are a little nicer over rough surfaces tending to smooth them over a little more. Bigger bumps though you do feel a little more, probably because they can't compress as much as a tube filled with air could. The ride is by no means unpleasant and I think if you hopped on the bike you wouldn't really notice until someone told you.
They gripped very well, maybe even as well as the gatorskin tyres that were on previously. I threw the bike into some corners relatively hard and it never felt near their limit. They actually make an almost suction cup sound as your roll making it at least sound grippy.
This comes to the only real downside of the tyre. Rolling resistance. Something they seem to have a fair bit of. Comparing the effort on the ride today was a lot more than a similar one a few weeks ago. I took the power meter with me and the power and hr was a lot higher for the same loop at a slightly slower speed. While it could be just having a bad day rolling down the slightest down hill my riding partner consistently pulled away at some speed with both of us freewheeling. I have the soft version which is supposed to mimic 95psi so it would interesting to see if the hard version lessened the rolling resistance.
The extra rolling resistance is a small price to pay for the guarantee of no flats. My riding partner even had a flat on the ride this morning. I rode in the shoulders covered with glass just because I could and there is never any worry about a puncture or a cut which is quite nice. I didn't take a pump or co2 or even tyre levers today which was quite liberating.
They will never be a race tyre but as a training tyre you never have to worry about they are perfect. A bit heavier and a bit slower on the roll but that's not a bad thing for training. I'm almost considering replacing the Gatorskins on my Sunday club bike with the Tannus Musai when they wear out. As a commuter tyre they are perfect. Speed isn't a concern but never having to worry about checking tyre pressure or if you'll get stranded is ideal.
So on first impression the tyres are everything you could ask for at the small sacrifice of some extra rolling resistance. Only time will tell if they keep going this way.
Just a spot for general ramblings (but mostly on Hifi, Home Theatre, DVDs, Games and anything gadgety...)
Saturday, January 05, 2013
Friday, January 04, 2013
Daddy Daycare Day One.... Done
This year I'm moving to a part time work role so I can spend more time with the kids while they were little. While I've taken them for plenty of days (or weekends etc) on my own today was the first official day of Daddy Day Care and I was a little nervous.
Being a Friday there were decidedly less coffee shop or pub visits to what I was used to but we still had a great day. More importantly the kids seemed to have fun and I didn't end up thinking OMG WHAT HAVE I DONE.
Being a Friday there were decidedly less coffee shop or pub visits to what I was used to but we still had a great day. More importantly the kids seemed to have fun and I didn't end up thinking OMG WHAT HAVE I DONE.
There was A LOT of time on the railway today and a slightly stressful trip to the Planetarium with little miss one deciding to test her lung capacity in the hushed and domed theatre. The rest of the afternoon we just hung around the Botanic Gardens getting close to the wildlife.
In terms of days out today was as close to a dream as you could want, hardly any tantrums and everyone running around with a smile on their face. While every day isn't going to be like that it certainly is a lot more fun than being at work!
Thursday, January 03, 2013
Time for something a little different - Tannus Musai Punture Proof tyre
So this is a little backward in coming forward. Last year I had a lot of flats riding. In the latest Ride On Magazine they reviewed some puncture proof tyres by Tannus and gave them a very favourable rating. The big difference in these tyres are they are solid rather than having a tube and being filled with air. For road bikes (the Musai model) they two versions, a hard and soft compound which are supposed to mimic 133psi and 101psi respectively. Because these are for my commuter I've chosen the soft compound hoping that the ride on a solid tyre will be comparable. The tyres sound heavy(ish) at 380g but it's actually 12g lighter than my Gatorskin/tube setup I had on the rear and 100g lighter than the Maxxis Re-Fuse on the front.
After a bit of looking around I found a stockest in Brisbane at Avanti Plus (who also fitted them, which is quite a chore apparently).
So far the bike hasn't actually ridden anywhere (other than around my garage, which felt remarkably like riding a bike). The big test when I take it out in anger or on some heavy commutes. According to the guys at the shop they take about 200km to wear in so I'll write a review on them at around the 500km I guess.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Last ride for 2012
On New Years Eve, I set out with a long time friend +Andrew Herrmann to do a bit of an expedition out to Mount Cotton looking at his new commute (ironically to roads we used to travel a lot as kids)
It was a great way to close out a huge year of cycling with a lot of first (thanks to the wonders of Strava.com I know what they all are)
Here's a few of the highlights for the year:
Big Rides
Midi Smiddy
Arthur's Seat
Cootha Challenge
Brisbane to Gold Coast
Ride for Home
Cyc'd Tour de Noosa
Cycling firsts
Most Kilometers in a Year (9158km)
1000km in a month (June, November, December)
Biggest Climb Ever (553m)
Longest Ride Ever (217km Tour de Noosa)
Other (not very) interesting Stats...
Flats - 25
Best Tyre (no flats) 2x Continental GP4000s (1347km)
Worst Tyre (quickest flat) Vittoria Rubino Pro III (flat in 5km) (to be fair a Continental GP4000s came a close second at 10km)
Most Mileage: Continental Gatorskin 2678km (Still going)
Number of hours spent out on bike neglecting my family: 409
Crashes: 3
A huge thanks has to go to +Vanessa Freke for not killing me for being out on the bike so much! And thanks to everyone I got to cycle with this year was lots of fun.
It was a great way to close out a huge year of cycling with a lot of first (thanks to the wonders of Strava.com I know what they all are)
Here's a few of the highlights for the year:
Big Rides
Midi Smiddy
Arthur's Seat
Cootha Challenge
Brisbane to Gold Coast
Ride for Home
Cyc'd Tour de Noosa
Cycling firsts
Most Kilometers in a Year (9158km)
1000km in a month (June, November, December)
Biggest Climb Ever (553m)
Longest Ride Ever (217km Tour de Noosa)
Other (not very) interesting Stats...
Flats - 25
Best Tyre (no flats) 2x Continental GP4000s (1347km)
Worst Tyre (quickest flat) Vittoria Rubino Pro III (flat in 5km) (to be fair a Continental GP4000s came a close second at 10km)
Most Mileage: Continental Gatorskin 2678km (Still going)
Number of hours spent out on bike neglecting my family: 409
Crashes: 3
A huge thanks has to go to +Vanessa Freke for not killing me for being out on the bike so much! And thanks to everyone I got to cycle with this year was lots of fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)