On Sun, 2010-10-03 at 11:16 -0700, nathan spindel wrote: > Yesterday at the RBW garage sale I picked up a 50cm 650B Saluki frame. > I'm going to build it up as a road bike / occasional light S24O > hauler. The rider will be a lightweight 5'5" lady, so it'll be able to > carry a 10-20 lb load just fine. > > I have much of the build planned out (Noodles w/ bar-ends, XD2, B-17, > rear rack) but haven't decided on: > > 1. brakes (Silvers or Dia-Compe's or Paul center-pulls?)
Paul center pulls are phenomenal brakes. They're also expensive, but in my opinion worth it. > 3. tires (Soma Xpress 38? Pari-Moto? CdlV?) Much depends here on your goals, and how you intend to use the bike. CdlVs last a very long time, are quite sturdy and hold up well on gravel and in commuting service, and they're quite inexpensive. They do make noise, and some people feel they squirm in hard cornering, and they aren't the fastest rolling 650B tires. Pari Motos are light, fast, and corner extremely well. They're also fairly expensive and they wear much faster than either Hetres or CdlVs (I just replaced my back tire at 1650 miles). I've found them quite robust. Peter Weigle used them on the Deerfield Dirt Road Randonnee and on other dirt road rides near his shop, and finds they hold up well on gravel. Hetres will fit - at least, they fit my 60cm Saluki, but in order to fit the 58mm fender between the chainstays I had to cut it down. Hetres are absolutely phenomenal on gravel. There's so much cushion and so much floatation. It gives you a tremendous sense of comfort and control. Hetres are also long-wearing. They do have thin sidewalls, and some people have found the sidewalls to be fragile and easily cut; this seems to depend on what the geology's like where you ride. Here in Northern Virginia, the sidewalls hold up very well. They're not cheap, but they will last a long time, and for a tire that long wearing they're very fast-rolling, too. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
