This custom steel road bike is built around long reach caliper brakes with lots of room for 700x32C tires. The owner will be commuting into Guelph with the bike as well as road riding, so we’ve set the bike up with two sets of wheels – Ultegra SL wheels for road riding, and handbuilt wheels using DT Swiss TK 7.1 trekking rims, DT Competition Spokes and 36H Ultegra hubs for gravel road and commuter riding. The bike is built up with Ultegra SL, Shimano long reach calipers, Selle Italia Flight GelFlow saddle, Salsa 46cm Pro Road Handlears and a Chris King Headset.
Large Tire Road Bike
Jul 15, 2008
Are those Panaracer Pasala’s? After reading your blog (Dave’s) about running 32C Pasala’s on your CX bike I got wondering about seeing what would fit on my own road bike that was built with extra tire clearance in mind (long-reach calipers, etc…). I’m thinking of having an alternative to always riding it on pavement. Possibly even thinking about running smallish CX tires for all terrain riding.
Those are actually Panaracer T-Servs. Same tread as the Pasalas, just a heavier duty, more cut resistant carcass. If you are saying ‘I don’t want to get a flat’ – get the T-Servs. If you are saying ‘I want a fast, comfy tire’ – get the Pasalas. Both come in 700×28, 32 and 35C. The Schwalbe Marathon Racers look pretty sweet as well – I haven’t tried them yet.
I’ve been weighing up all these options myself for dirt/gravel road use on the cross bike. Have you been running the folding or wire bead Paselas? The wire beads don’t even seem too heavy (as touring tires go) and are super cheap, but the folding bead is not that much more. The Schwalbes I’m sure are very nice, but they are not a “value priced” tire by any means.
Just to add, if you’re into a larger tire for mixed surface use, the Grand Bois and Cerfs made by Panaracer for Bicycle Quarterly are incredible. I run the Cerfs, a 28c tire with a minimal tread on my Specialized Roubaix for all my road riding, including fast club rides and dirt road adventures. A few of my saddle mates ride the Grand Bois’, in 32, which are fantastic. Both tires are very high quality and offer a supple, fast ride. Compared to the Paselas I run on my Cross Check, they are much more responsive. Puncture resistance is also very good as far as our experience goes. Tall Tree Cycles in Ottawa carries these tires, and the two owners, Will and Thom run them themselves.
Do you think I could run 700 x 28cm tires on my Cervelo RS? I would like to do a little credit card touring and my Cervelo is so much faster than my heavy touring bike.
Thanks
They are unlikely to fit, but you will have to try it if you want to be sure. A lot of road bikes will not fit anything larger than a 25.
Mike,
You might be able to fit Challenge Roubaix’s in 27c on your RS. They are beautiful tires, and reported to hold up to heavy mileage while offering excellent flat protection for their weight. It seems the fork on the RS is a little tight in height, but the rear end is pretty roomy on account of its long stays. Some digging might reveal that the Challenges were used by RS riders in tubular form in the Roubaix last year…