If you read Jan's account of the OO in BQ you would find he says a roadish tire of ~50 mm would be the optimal tire for most of the dirt sections. As you know, he is the developer and sells the Compass tire line (that he used) and therefore has a bit of bias towards those tires (understatement!). The developers of the route have said many times that a 50 mm tire is recommended. Others that rode the entire route on Hetres have said they are a sub-optimal choice for the ride. The Hillborne with 44mm tires can certainly complete the ride. But, from all the accounts I have read, a wider tire would be better. Perhaps the 50mm Big Ben or my choice, the 2.1" Schwalbe Thunder Burt would make the ride more enjoyable.
As far as your bike dilemma, I would buy a rigid bike that fits fatter tires then some fancy wheelset. Suspension forks are great for fast descending, but for dirt road touring a rigid fork with fat tires is a better choice. Lighter, less expensive and far easier to maintain.Perhaps a Salsa Fargo, Surly Ogre or a Hunqapillar would be better choices for this type of ride. ~mike Carlsbad Ca. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
