I have been riding the Resist Nomad 700x42 for almost 6 weeks and almost 1000 miles, and feel comfortable sharing my initial impressions of the tires. Over the years I have come to appreciate the ride quality of fat light weight tires on the road. Experience has proved for me at least that you can get the comfort and speed, rolling over all of the little stuff and most of the big stuff too without having to give up speed and acceleration. The catch in the 700c size is a limited selection of true light weight performance tires wider than 32mm.
While the selection for tires like this is improving, most have a more pronounced knobby tread. I was excited to see the Resist Nomad hit the market a little over a year ago. These tires are primarily designed for the freestyle urban scene. The fact that they meet the demands of the mixed terrain / fat tired road bike crowd was a bit of a surprise for Resist. The catch for me at the time was not having a bike that would fit tires this wide. Rambler No.1 then entered stage left. My Rambler is purpose-built around tires this wide. While my production samples were under way I was in contact with Resist to get some samples in my hands. Currently these are the lightest 700x42mm tire on the market that I know of.
Out of the box I was pretty impressed. I have samples in both the skin wall and black wall. The skin walled tires average 530g while the black walls average 560g. Both currently are only available with a wire bead. While not a svelte race tire, the weight is quite reasonable when you consider that the popular 650bx42mm Grand Bois Hetre' is roughly 430g with a folding bead. The width is a rue 42mm. The tread is a semi slick with micro pyramids broken up with a larger square grid. The street price on these tires is around $30.
Enough with the stats, the ride is what really matters, and it has been great. Initially they were a little bit loud, a sort of hum from the tread against the road, but that quickly faded as the tire wore in a bit. I have kept the pressure between 40-50 psi for my combined rider/load/bike weight in the 240lb ball park. Handling has been superb. They get a little bit of roll or dive at the rim if I let the pressures drop below 35psi. The road buzz from our currently terrible roads is gone. It really is like riding on pillows. Average times and speeds, about 18mph cruising, are on par with my previous data I collected riding Jack Brown greens or a variety of 28mm tires on other bikes. Cornering and grip in dry weather is fantastic. I am able to carry more speed through turns, ride through rough patches and hold more consistent lines than previously possible on narrower tires. Unfortunately (or Fortunately) we are a bit spoiled with a lack of rain in the SoCal basin and I have not had a chance to push these in the wet. On fire roads and the trails they have held their own well. While obviously not as grippy as a true MTB tire, the added volume and contact patch has been welcome in easing the attention I need to pay to my line with the "skinny" 35mm tires I have been on in the last couple of years. The Nomads help to bridge the gap between true underbiking and a knobby tire.
The build quality is what you would likely expect for a tire at this price point. For $30 retail you can not expect the level of detail and finish that has been coming out of the Panaracer Japan group for some of the other popular boutique tires. As you can see in the picture the two sides of the mold were not well aligned. The casing and rubber around the bead on the skin walls is a little thin. One of my samples has a short tear from being a bit heavy-handed with a tire lever, and that tire is now out of service. I have only had one flat to date. It was in the rear and caused by a thin truck tire wire. Considering the amount of glass and debris on out roads this is pretty good. I tend to pick up flats or slow leaks like this every couple of months. Thus a single flat early on is just that, a flat, and marginally an indicator of long-term performance.
Bottom line, these look to be a great tire for the price. I will likely run them for a long time, and look forward to a long-term follow-up review. If your bike has the room to fit these tires I would not hesitate to pick up a pair. I am happy enough with them that I may be adding them to the storefront in the next few weeks. There are a bunch of variables in that equation, but I know I will stock them eventually.
While helping friends with their bikes, I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of really nice gear I would not have usually had come through the garage on my own budget. This time it is one of the new Brooks Select saddles.
First thought in my mind as I slid open the box was, WOW, everything a Brooks saddle should be is right in front of me.
The leather is thick and firm, not the thin flexy stuff of recent regular production. Shiny Copper rivets, and all the little things like proofide, tension wrench and a cloth to wipe it down. As I pulled it all open there were more surprises.
Mostly catalogs and marketing, but it looks well put together and worth a deeper look as time permits. The best surprise was the included rain cover, hidden under the saddle.
This is a fantastic addition that alleviates the need for an additional purchase, and/or the use of bags and shower caps when caught in the rain. The design is well thought out, with a deep nose pocket, draw-string tensioner and cut in the rear to leave room for the bag loops.
The saddle itself is beautiful. The leather is left natural and un-died. The saddle will likely take on a nice patina as the years stack up. The Leather is much thicker feeling than the average brooks saddle of recent production. I have been recommending the Berthoud saddles to those with the budget due to some of the quality issues I have had with Brooks offerings over the last couple of years. Roughly 1 in 3 of the saddle I bought were either too thin to support well, or would sag out within months. When the select line was announced I was excited and have been waiting for a chance to get my hands on one. Also of note is the Organic leather, I am not exactly clear on what this means with respect to a non edible good, but will look into it further and report back. It certainly is not a bad thing.
The steel frame is painted with a rough black paint. This appears more robust than the copper or chrome plating on other models I have. The coastal ocean air has resulted in a quick decline of the appearance on my other saddles. While the shiny finish looks god out of the box it has ever held up well.
I applied the initial coat of proofide to the top and bottom of the saddle. The color only darkened slightly.
This saddle will be going on a vintage Trek 650b conversion and will complement the look of the bike perfectly. I know that the owner plans to put the miles on this bike, and I look forward to sharing reports on the long-term performance.
I would also like to note my source for this saddle. Wallingford Bicycle Parts was and is fantastic to deal with. They are always fast to ship, great with communication, prices are competitive and the frosting on the cake is th e 6 month unconditional satisfaction guarantee. A few years back when the US $ was strong against the Euro and British Pound I was sourcing things from Europe directly. As the exchange rate has settled a bit the cost savings is not nearly as great, and the service from US companies like Wallingford more than makes up for the dollar or two you might save. In this case they happened to have the best price I could find as well. I look forward to buying from them in the future.
I bought this bar to get some rear sweep in the grip area for my S&SUB. Over the years I have used more upright bars then I can keep track of, from super cheep to the Nitto Albatross (B-352AA is my Fav). The Wald offering comes in at about $20, they are chromed steel for high bling factor and they are made in the U.S.A.. They seemed like a worthy candidate for this budget build. My inital impressions are good. On the plus side they are comfy, cheep, made domestically, the straight front will not interfere with the load and they seem pretty strong. Downside is a bit of slide in the stem (possible stem issue), short grips and they are kind of heavy.
The dimensions are, 50cm wide tip to tip, 26cm of straight section in the front, 9cm of rise and 13cm of straight return at the grips. The return on the grips is almost straight with just a smidge of flare. The grips are really short, no room for levers and shifters at all. I have the brake levers here pushed as far into the bend as possible without the levers flaring out too much.
Overall I like these bars in spite of their limitations. In the application on this bike, single speeds or other times you will not need more than brake levers, these are a perfect and affordable upright bar. I would buy them again if needed and recommend them if they meet your needs.
As an aside, the keen of eye may have noticed my NOS Jim Blackburn parking brake. I am not sure if these are still made, but it is fantastic for keeping the bike still while loading.
Earlier this week I landed a Brooks Swift in trade for a B17 I had on a bike that sees only occasional use. This presented me with the opportunity to take some side by side comparison shots. The pictures tell a good bit of the story (L toR Berthoud Touring, Brooks B17 and Brooks Swift:
The Bi7 is a few years old with about 7K miles on it. The Berthoud is now two years old with about 5k miles on it, and the Swift is fresh out of the box. All three saddles have a similar plan shape that I prefer, the relatively wide flat rear with a quick drop and taper through the nose of the saddle. I am pretty big at 6'3" and 210 lbs, and the wider saddles provide adequate support for my sit bones while the arrow nose reduces the chance for thigh rub. Also, all three saddles have steel rails. While the general shape is similar, the overall dimensions vary as shown:
| Saddle |
Weight (g) |
Length (mm) |
Width (mm) |
| Berthoud Touring |
509 |
278 |
158 |
| Brooks B17 |
557 |
285 |
170 |
| Brooks Swift |
504 |
273 |
153 |
The one thing that the stats do not clearly indicate is the flatness of the rear portion, or more exactly the way the flatness drops off outside of the four central rivets. The B17 and the Berthoud both remain flat almost to the outer edge of the saddle. The Swift while flat in the center, drops off in a taper towards the front and sides, leading to a much narrower fit than the dimension may let on.
In the picture showing the rails, I lined all three up with the forward most point of rail mountablity in the same position. When on my bikes all three are pushed back as far as they can go. With this position my sit bones hit just forward of the second rivets from center. Thus while there is some variation in length of the rails on the three different saddles it is kind of moot point for how I have them on the bike.
While I have only logged 50 miles or so on the Swift I can say that I love all three equally but different. The B17 is perfect on bike where the bars are at or above saddle height. The wider rear better accommodates the wider stance of my sit bones when in a more upright position. I also find that the B17 is much more comfortable with thinner shorts and a chamois adds more bulk than is needed. The Swift is more suited to bikes where the bars are below saddle height. The narrower contact patch adequately supports my sit bones with my torso rolled forward, yet the drop off at the corners and narrow nose keep the pressure off of places where you do not want it. So far I have only ridden the Swift with my Ibex knickers that have a chamois, but based on my initial impressions I look forward to this saddle when things warm up a bit and I get back to my normal shorts. The Berthoud is my Goldilocks saddle. I have had it on every bike in the garage, bars high or low it was comfortable. The sweet spot was with the bars at saddle height on the Roadeo. I am hoping that with some break in the Swift will be as comfortable.
The Swift is on the Roadeo for break in and experimenting with the bars set below the saddle. I am looking forward to putting the miles in with this one.
I have had the Grab On Grips on the Roadeo for 3 months now and a follow-up review is due. The
original review was favorable, and at this point I would still list them as a keepers.
They have been a nice touch of comfort on long cold descents. When underbiking, skinny tires on dirt, more time is spent on the brakes than would be comparable to a full suspension mountain bike. The little bit of added padding and grip eases the finger and hand fatigue on the multi thousand foot fire roads coming down from the mountains. Even with powerful brakes this can get tiring after 30 minutes or more of constant feathering of the brakes.
The durability is better than I expected for these simple thin foam rubber grips. Bumping into things, leaning against walls and a couple of minor lay downs in the dirt and no rips or tears yet. I still have my doubts that they will out live the bar tape, but for the couple of bucks they cost I would say it was money well spent.
I have enjoyed them through the cool winter, next follow-up will be after a few months of warm weather sweat.
While the selection for tires like this is improving, most have a more pronounced knobby tread. I was excited to see the Resist Nomad hit the market a little over a year ago. These tires are primarily designed for the freestyle urban scene. The fact that they meet the demands of the mixed terrain / fat tired road bike crowd was a bit of a surprise for Resist. The catch for me at the time was not having a bike that would fit tires this wide. Rambler No.1 then entered stage left. My Rambler is purpose-built around tires this wide. While my production samples were under way I was in contact with Resist to get some samples in my hands. Currently these are the lightest 700x42mm tire on the market that I know of.
Out of the box I was pretty impressed. I have samples in both the skin wall and black wall. The skin walled tires average 530g while the black walls average 560g. Both currently are only available with a wire bead. While not a svelte race tire, the weight is quite reasonable when you consider that the popular 650bx42mm Grand Bois Hetre' is roughly 430g with a folding bead. The width is a rue 42mm. The tread is a semi slick with micro pyramids broken up with a larger square grid. The street price on these tires is around $30.
Enough with the stats, the ride is what really matters, and it has been great. Initially they were a little bit loud, a sort of hum from the tread against the road, but that quickly faded as the tire wore in a bit. I have kept the pressure between 40-50 psi for my combined rider/load/bike weight in the 240lb ball park. Handling has been superb. They get a little bit of roll or dive at the rim if I let the pressures drop below 35psi. The road buzz from our currently terrible roads is gone. It really is like riding on pillows. Average times and speeds, about 18mph cruising, are on par with my previous data I collected riding Jack Brown greens or a variety of 28mm tires on other bikes. Cornering and grip in dry weather is fantastic. I am able to carry more speed through turns, ride through rough patches and hold more consistent lines than previously possible on narrower tires. Unfortunately (or Fortunately) we are a bit spoiled with a lack of rain in the SoCal basin and I have not had a chance to push these in the wet. On fire roads and the trails they have held their own well. While obviously not as grippy as a true MTB tire, the added volume and contact patch has been welcome in easing the attention I need to pay to my line with the "skinny" 35mm tires I have been on in the last couple of years. The Nomads help to bridge the gap between true underbiking and a knobby tire.
The build quality is what you would likely expect for a tire at this price point. For $30 retail you can not expect the level of detail and finish that has been coming out of the Panaracer Japan group for some of the other popular boutique tires. As you can see in the picture the two sides of the mold were not well aligned. The casing and rubber around the bead on the skin walls is a little thin. One of my samples has a short tear from being a bit heavy-handed with a tire lever, and that tire is now out of service. I have only had one flat to date. It was in the rear and caused by a thin truck tire wire. Considering the amount of glass and debris on out roads this is pretty good. I tend to pick up flats or slow leaks like this every couple of months. Thus a single flat early on is just that, a flat, and marginally an indicator of long-term performance.
Bottom line, these look to be a great tire for the price. I will likely run them for a long time, and look forward to a long-term follow-up review. If your bike has the room to fit these tires I would not hesitate to pick up a pair. I am happy enough with them that I may be adding them to the storefront in the next few weeks. There are a bunch of variables in that equation, but I know I will stock them eventually.
