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rene herse chinook pass road tyres
the following anecdote has probably overstayed its welcome several times over, but my admittedly narrow-scale observations would appear to support its repetition here. for in the early days of my reviewing career, such as it is, i had the great good fortune to receive a pair of carbon sports lightweight carbon wheels, to which the factory had fitted a pair of competition standard tubular tyres. those tubs featured a simple, cross-hatch, bobble tread, sandwiched each side by a chevron pattern. to the best of my knowledge, those particular tubulars still feature that selfsame tread today. given the effectiveness and aesthetic of the pattern, i had hoped to avail myself of a pair of clinchers with similar tread.
many years past, at the tour of britain start in glasgow, the manufacturer happened to have a stand in george square, featuring what appeared to be every single tyre in their entire range, though earnest searching by yours truly, failed to turn up the very tread (other than their tubulars) for which i was looking. in case the very item was staring me in the face without me seeing, i repeated the essence of my query to one of the company representatives present.
according to this gent, the tread pattern was exclusive to their competition tubulars, because neither professional riders nor professional mechanics held any specific opinions on such matters. since the tubs had been ridden with great success for many a long year, there was no desperation or need to effect any change. consumers (you and me), however, were a different kettle of fish, apparently always looking for something new, hence the variation of treads available on the clinchers on display.
there is a certain ring of truth about this, otherwise bicycle manufacturers would feel no pressure to alter the colour of their bicycles every year, and the same would surely apply to the builders of groupsets. and discussion in yesterday morning's peloton centred around the black, yellow and red colours of the belgian national champion's jersey, which has pretty much remained unchanged for as long as i can remember. the same can be said about belgium's national team jersey, yet year on year, britain seems hellbent on cycling (pardon the pun) through an endless series of variations, none of which are memorable or collectable. so it seems perfectly believable we'd be looking for a new tread pattern at regular intervals.
over the years, i have shod my wheels with quite a number of different tyres, some delivered specifically for review purposes, others purchased, either on the basis of one of those reviews, or for any number of other reasons (at one time, colour being a salient factor). i have come across one or two examples of the sort of tread pattern described above, which have worked particularly effectively, despite a disintegrating island road infrastructure that has necessitated tyre replacement at more frequent intervals than was once the case. however, i feel i have found the equivalent of my ancestral home, as far as tyres are concerned, in the specific shape of rene herse chinook pass clinchers.
distributed in the uk by dorset's sven cycles, these are available only in a 28mm width, with either black or tan sidewalls. if, like me, you're still intent on giving a professional impression, the tan sidewall is really the only option. the central tread is made up of a cross-hatch pattern, but with the all-important chevrons on each side. i've been running these for a lengthy period, more recently across less than favourable road surface dressing, apparently specifically designed to increase tyre wear, and their resilience has been quite impressive. available in either extralight or standard guise, i opted for the latter, particularly for their strengthened sidewalls, though the more performance oriented amongst you, might prefer the 19 gramme saving per tyre of the extralights.
i should, however, probably point out the downside, pretty much the only one i've found: they're a flipping nightmare to fit. tired of having sore thumbs for a week, i bought a topeak tyre-jack to reduce the number of swear words that resonated around the neighbourhood. however, it appears to be a house style, for i've experienced the same difficulty when fitting rene herse gravel tyres to differing sets of cyclocross wheels. my only fear would be having to repair a puncture when out and about, though impressively, that has not yet happened. for that sole reason, i always carry the tyre jack with me at all times.
there are specific fitting instructions available both along with the tyres and on the sven cycles website; each tyre features a raised line around the circumference of the sidewall, a line that must sit just above the wheel rim; at no point should it sit below that point. it can take a few attempts to manage it, but i've found that slightly over-inflating the tyre tends to be successful, more often than not, offering minutes of entertainment as you watch that line animatedly show itself around the tyre's circumference. these are not listed as tubeless compatible, which suits me fine.
the tyres are not particularly cheap. the standard option as reviewed is priced at £72 each, but the best commendation i can offer is that when the current pair eventually wear out, i'll be buying another set.
monday 28 june 2021
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