I bought a Handsome Devil frame-set back in 2008, and it was the first bike I ever built up for myself. I did everything except install the headset and build the wheel-set. Over the years this bike has had a multiple personalities; triple crank-set traveler, stripped down go fast road bike, and most recently 1x9 fender-ed town bike. That is what I love about this bike, its flexibility, and ever since I read on the
Handsome site that this bike would take up to 700x47c tires I have wanted to try it out with maxed rubber. So about a month ago I purchased some Continental town and country tires in size 700x47c to see how it would work.
Now what kind of Seattle cyclist
removes fenders in December? Well one who wants to fit the fattest possible tires on their bike that's who! And to be honest it wasn't like having a bike with fenders was making me ride in the rain anyway, I was spoiled by the incredibly sun drenched summer/fall we had here in the NW.
And I don't recall the last time I pedaled a bike in anger, or joy or indifference... its been months. So one thing this little experiment will help with is getting my fat rear end back in the saddle. So to work! A little side by side by side look at the before and after tires.
Here is what the existing Panaracer Pasela's 700x35c's look like with the calipers
And after upgrading to the Phat rubber it looks like this which doesn't appear to be exactly 47c but is significantly fatter than the Paselas .....
After some fiddling with brake pads and such I am ready to roll before the sun sets on this shortest (last?) day of the year. Finally I am ready to throw a leg over the top tube for the first time in a while.
Yes I think I maxed out the tires size, might be able to squeeze a 700x50c in there but it would be tight.
So what did it feel like? Well the bike was definitely heavier but it rode like a cloud, floating along above the fray of crumbling asphalt and expansion joints, curbs? no worries rolled right over them, cracked and heaved sidewalks-HA take my 47c's! It was fun and even on a piddling 4 mile ride made me smile. Was it wrong to stop for a beer and fish and chips after such a short ride? C'mon according to the Mayans that could have been my last supper. Well now that I have dusted off the tool box there are many more bike projects to contemplate this winter.
Ride.Smile.Repeat.
Ryan
Hey, Ryan. I'm running Kenda Kwest 35's on the old Schwinn, the biggest I can get on there. And yer right, Phat is Phun. On some websites these are identified as "Comfort Bike Tires." In fact, I hesitated to buy them for that reason. "Comfort Bike?" Ya mean Grandpa bike, don't ya? But I snapped out of it in time and pulled the trigger.
ReplyDeleteI'll never look back. Not only does my bike LOOK more capable, she IS more capable. I have yet to flat on these tires and now I am experimenting with pressure, as in how low can I go before the snake bites. And I don't know why, but everytime I glance down at that big front tire while out riding I get a warm and fuzzy feeling.
tj
Thanks for the comment Velo Brother very appropriate you are the first commenter! Once you go Phat you don't back ;-) I am going to try to get again today if the rain holds off.
DeleteI've been tempted to run fatter tires on my Long Haul Trucker, but I don't want to take the fenders off, so I'm sticking with 700x35C for now. For fatness, I have 26" x 2.0" slicks on my old Raleigh mountain bike. And yep, it rides like a cloud.
ReplyDeleteAnd Tim Joe sent me here.
Hey Adventure welcome and thanks for the comments. I did go back and forth on whether to remove the fenders but when I got this bike 4 years ago I knew some day I would run the max tire I could on it and so I decided to take the plunge. I may see what kind of Rube Goldberg fender situation I come up with to keep the phat rubber AND have fenders but that is for another day. This post over on Lovely bicycle's blog gave me some food for thought http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-reward-of-closer-look.html
DeleteRyan,
ReplyDeleteLooks great!! I had a couple of pictures of your Devil with skinny tires but didn't realize you had put some fatties on there! I've got 32mm tires on mine right now and it's definitely faster and more sporty but I keep getting drawn back to the cushy ride of my 40mm Schwalbes so I'll probably put those back on soon. I REALLY wish the Devil would take Big Apples but the guys at Handsome said they don't quite fit.
Hey Chris thanks for stopping by. I really like the cushy ride of the 47mm contis - its heavy and I am slow but it sure smooths out the ride. I do think I could probably get a 50mm tire on there possibly but then again I am don't think my 47cm tires are truly 47cm. Any way its a cheap way for me to get a "Fat" bike ;-) I did notice on biketiresdirect that Schawble makes a Marathon in 700x45mm -not a big apple but still pretty wide.
ReplyDeleteRyan,
ReplyDeleteI've seriously considered getting some of those 45mm Marathons or some 47mm Conti's. Right now I'm really intrigued with this whole "gravel grinder" concept so wide tires fit right into that. I'm also ready to take the plunge and convert my Devil to drop-bars! I'm excited to see how it goes!
I think your devil will make and excellent gravel grinder with some 45-47mm tires. I have a "someday" plan to find some nice national forrest gravel roads and do some long gravel rides on my Devil.
DeleteAnd to be honest it wasn't like having a bike with fenders was ... fatbikefenders.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHyazinth thanks for the comment and link those look like some good options and I like PDW stuff, looks like just enough to keep the "skunk stripe" off.
Delete