Any tips for a source for the bars? One23 seem not to list them; Satori list the Smooth Drop but I can’t see a retailer (last time I bought a Satori product I had to go via eBay from the far east, but I can’t find this one on there).

Tyre wise I’m still liking 28mm GP4000s on the proper road bike, but I have some nice 37s on another bike for more versatility without feeling like a big-tyred bike. Once you’re regularly heading away from tarmac it seems quite hard to completely avoid wet terrain even in summer so I’ve never found much need for really big slicks (though I’ve used 2″ Big Apples for the tandem and for commuting). The new Double Fighter III looks an interesting intermediate tread for mixed terrain.

37mm Hypers on my commuter most of the time. Love ’em.

Bez – Member
Any tips for a source for the bars? One23 seem not to list them; Satori list the Smooth Drop but I can’t see a retailer (last time I bought a Satori product I had to go via eBay from the far east, but I can’t find this one on there)…

Found some One23 bars here.

Ah, thanks. Not sure I could ever bring myself to use silver bars, but it’s a start 🙂

Smokey Jo, the Hypers aren’t TLR proper but they go up and stay up a treat. 45-odd psi on my (also non tubeless) crosslights. 70psi!?! not necessary.

It’s a tight enough fit that I’m not worried about running these ghetto.

£12.99 each or something daft at DFS when I bought them.

Bez – Member
Ah, thanks. Not sure I could ever bring myself to use silver bars, but it’s a start

Lighter. None of that heavy anodising. 🙂

Or cure it with bar tape.

Meanwhile Salsa have built my bike…

Just done a very brave thing…

Daughter’s hybrid was dropped off a couple of days ago, so I cleaned it, serviced it, then polished and took it for a ride.

Set of wheels later, 2″ tyres instead of 32mm, swap the straight bar for a short drop, and we have this.

Took it for an appropriate RSF ride 50% road, 50% offroad.

Definitely felt much better with the bigger tyre (although those are a bit less compliant than my 2.35″ Big Apples). It handled some much rougher stuff than shown no bother at all.

So what’s brave about that?

She comes home tomorrow and doesn’t know I’ve hacked her pride and joy… 🙂

I used to use 37c (35mm) Hypers, but for road tubeless, they don’t seat properly, so if for some reason (in my case a loose valve core) the tyre deflated, there’s not a cat in hells chance of getting it inflated again when trailside.

I’m now running Hutchinson Sector 32s which are bloody lovely. Proper tubeless, very comfy, super grippy (the Hypers were always a little sketchy when it was cold…not wet, but cold) but definitely faster.

32s seem to be a sweet spot between comfort, rolling resistance and drag…for my rides/commutes anyway.

Up to 35mm on my commuter (although they are Schwalbe marathons that come up quite small – not much bigger than my 28mm contis I run in summer).

I think a big tubeless tyre would probably run faster though (based on how fast my summer knobblies are on the HT, obviously I wouldn’t need knobblies on the commuter), and give less punctures. It would require a new frame to fit mudguards and have big tyres though – and I couldn’t go to 60mm plus even without mudguards on the current frame I’m sure.

29 x 2.35 Apples.
No point wearing out good knobblies when its dry.