So much of it depends on your weight and riding style. Compass tires are fantastic but I personally think they're wildly inappropriate for loaded touring unless you're very lightweight, enjoy constantly looking out for obstacles & are very experienced. I've used Compass tires, Schwalbes, and Rivendell's tires. I'd say if you're looking for an all around, smooth rolling, don't want to worry about flats/hyper-diligent debris spotting, hop up on some curbs for fun, run over some sharp stones without cutting your casing, decent enough off road tire that lasts a long time go with the Little Ben. They feel less sluggish than the HS420s. I've commuted through a lot of weird junk on Big Bens and they feel indestructable and very quick for the size/structure. If you rode Compass tires you know how good they ride. The casing can also cut if you give it bitch face for long enough. Anyway, all that rambling aside, I don't think you could go wrong with the Little Bens.
On Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 9:48:54 AM UTC-5, WETH wrote: > > My Cheviot has room for 700x40 tires with fenders according to Riv specs. > The Cheviut will be used for daily commuting and loaded touring/s24o > trips. Riding will be mostly done on pavement with some non-technical dirt > and gravel trails. I value flat protection highly, as I loath changing > flats on the way to work! > > I am coming from 26" wheel bikes (Atlantis and LHT) where I had phenomenal > success with Big Apples 26x2.1 and Compass 26x1.75 tires. > > Rivendell has two options in the close to 700x40 size: Schwalbe Little > Big Ben wire, RaceGuard Performance line, HS439 - 700c x 38 (40-622, > 28x1.5) - 10128 > And > Schwalbe Marathon GreenGuard HS420 tire > > Compass has the 700C x 38 Barlow Pass. > > Jack Browns seem too narrow (about 33.3333mm) when I have room to approach > 40mm. > > I would appreciate learning the merits of these tires and which would work > better for me. What is the difference between the Marathons and Little Big > Bens besides weight? Do the marathons give greater flat protection? Do the > Barlow Pass have the flat protection of the Schwalbes? Are there other tire > options I should be considering? I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by options > and a bit clueless especially in comparing marathons to Lil Big Bens of > almost identical size and price. > > With appreciation, > Erl > > -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
