New shoes

     After weeks of gut wrenching I caved and bought new tires for the Sam Hillborne. I loved the Rene Herse 44 mm tires I put on the Hunq, it was a trans-formative experience. The Hunq rode like a different bike, faster, smoother, more nimble and much more comfortable.

  I had to see if the same would be true for Sam. The past year I used Gravel King slicks on the bike and, although they were quick and sturdy, the ride quality is stiff compared to the Panaracer Pasela I've aways used.  After mounting the new Bon Jon Pass tires I took a quick 10 mile ride into a really obnoxious wind and came to no conclusion except that they were seated properly. I'm running them with tubes like the Gravelkings and inflating them between 50-60 psi.

    The next day I took a casual ride around town to test them a bit more. I rode a bit through town to get my hair cut, then headed downtown to have lunch at one of the deli's.  

After a great Rueben I headed across town to the mall to find myself a new pair of shoes and meandered through town to get home before the raindrops fell (just in time in fact). So, I put about 35 miles on the tires the last couple days and they feel really good. Not a game changing feeling like I had on the Hunq, but they are as fast as the Gravelkings on asphalt and a much nicer ride than either the Gravelkings or Paselas. The Pasela gum sidewalls are pretty close in ride quality but the Rene Herse produced no vibrations or chatter to my hands, so they were rolling much more efficiently. Bear in mind that Panaracer manufactures all three tires and if I could compare them I would say the Rene Herse Bon Jon Pass combines the tread of the Gravelking slicks with a refinement of the Pasela sidewall.  

     The dilemma is the price. On the Hunq it wasn't such an issue, I was already spending 50-60 dollars a tire on the Hunq, so upgrading to standard sidewalls on Rene Herse was only a $15 jump for a huge increase in performance and pleasure. Pasela's and Gravelkings go for around $40-45, so that's a bigger jump, but I wanted the extra light casing on the Sam for the luxury ride. Rene Herse tires with the xtra light casings are $94. Ouch! They are a little faster and a bit more comfortable than the Pasela's. The question is, "Are they worth twice as much?" We'll see. Time will come to replace them, but you know the life of a bike addict; once you get a sniff, you're a slave.