Tag Archives: 559 tires

Compass Elk Pass vs. Panaracer Pasela, Part II

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I promised to update my experience with these Compass Elk Pass tires after riding them for at least a few hundred miles.  Well, I’ve only put about 60 miles on these tires and I’ve already had my first flat.  That experience led to some other important realizations about these tires and the Schwalbe tubes I purchased with them from Compass Bicycles, a few months back.

Schwalbe tubes vs. Qtubes – 26″

To say that I am in a good mood this evening, after walking my bike home (rather than repairing the flat on the road – to be explained later), and then spending nearly two hours attempting to repair my flat rear tire at home would be incorrect.  First, though, I’ll talk about how these tires handled out on the road – before the flat.

These tires are lightweight – significantly so in comparison to the Pasela’s I had been using.  That reduction in weight, and the nature of the tire’s properties led to an enormous increase in my enjoyment of cycling on my Terry, which features 559’s front and rear.  The Elk Pass tires are fast and responsive under acceleration.  Accordingly, I found myself riding more aggressively than normal (but maybe that’s not such a good thing).  They are comfortable tires, and while narrower than their advertised width (32mm vs. actual 28 mm on my rims), the plush ride they provide feels like 38 mm tires or more.

The flat I had today occurred on pavement, and without any observed road detritus such as broken glass or thorns.  Within seconds of hearing a strange noise while climbing, my rear tire was flat.  This fortunately happened while I was cycling at  low speed.  The tire went TOTALLY flat – something that really can’t happen with regular clinchers that have more robust sidewalls.  The sidewalls on the Elk Pass tires are so supple that once the tube lost air, the tire had nothing to support it.  These tires are very much like a tubular in that respect.  Since I was only about a half mile from my house, I tried inflating the tube to see if I could simply coast home before the air made its way out.  No luck there.  The tube would not hold air at all.  So I removed my bags and walked the bike home with the rear wheel elevated, so as not to further damage the delicate sidewalls.

Once home, I examined the tire.  I couldn’t see any obvious cuts or sidewall cracks.  But, that’s not unusual when assessing a bicycle’s flat tire.  When dealing with flats, I normally unseat one side of the tire’s bead, take out the tube and then inflate the tube to determine where the puncture occurred.  That way, I can see where the tire is compromised, and if a projectile needs to be removed.  This tube went flat so quickly as I tried to inflate it that I ended up removing the tube from the wheel and closely examining it for the source of the puncture.

I hadn’t used the tubes that Compass had recommended for these tires – Schwalbe SV12 tubes which are wide and heavy in comparison to the Conti 650c tubes which have worked well for the 559 Paselas I had been using on this bike.  Since my existing tubes were good, I re-used them when installing the new Compass Elk Pass tires.  Upon close examination, I determined the source of the leak and then searched the tire for that location.

And, voila, here is the tiny little cut in the tread area.  Although very small, the cut bulged out once I had a new tube installed, so I booted this area with a folded dollar bill.  This experience made me want to mount the heavier and wider Shwalbe SV12 26″ tubes which are recommended (and I think this is due to the delicate nature of this tire’s construction), but after hours of trying to make these too large tubes fit into my tire and rim, I gave up (and remember that I recently mounted at 700c tube into this rim, with success).  The Compass recommended Schwalbe tubes are simply too large in diameter and too wide to enable them to work with this tire and on my Mavic X221 rims.  I tried dousing my hands, tires and tubes with some carcinogenic talcum powder to see if I could get these tubes to flatten out and not bunch up inside the tires.  NO SUCH LUCK.  And now, I am probably radioactive…

Compass Elk Pass vs. Pasela Tourguard, Part I

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I recently had an experience involving a flat that restored my faith in Portland cyclists, and maybe in humanity itself.  I was riding to work on my beloved Terry Symmetry, which is equipped with 26″ (559) wheels front and rear.  While crossing the Tilikum Bridge, I experienced a flat, so pulled over to get out the tools needed to install a new tube.  Unfortunately, the tube I was carrying would not hold air.  As I contemplated my fate, thinking I would walk the bike, or take the Max train, a friendly cyclist rode up to ask me if I needed anything.  I mentioned that my replacement tube was compromised, and she reached in her bag to offer her spare tube.  Taking a quick gander at her bike, with its flat bars, I mistakenly assumed that she was riding 26 inch wheels.  She rode off before I could even offer payment for the tube she supplied, and that is a favor I intend to pay forward.  However, the 700c tube (622 mm) I had in my hand needed to go into my 559 mm rim.  Well, it did.

I barely inflated it, and gingerly installed the Pasela TourGuard folder back onto the rim, and was reminded why I carry FOUR tire irons in my tool kit.  The Paselas are a tight fit on these Mavic X221 rims, both on and off.  While I was underway with getting the bike back on the road, using very low pressure for the too large tube, a nearby construction worker asked me whether flats are a common problem.  To which I replied, no.

I have had more flats on my Terry, with its Pasela Tourguards than on any other tires I ride, but that is too say only once every year or two.  Even so, as I was thinking about the fact that the only tires I ever have flats on are these Paselas on the Terry, maybe it was time to consider something different.

Compass Elk Pass 559s

Pasela TourGuard 559s

Based on Georgena Terry’s recommendation, I ordered a set of Compass Elk Pass tires.  As you can see above, these tires have no tread at all, and have a kind of cross-hatch pattern on the very flexible side wall.  The logo is understated relative to the Pasela’s.  Both tires are made by Panasonic.

Elk Pass width – a little over 28mm

Pasela width – a little over 30mm

I was hoping that the Elk Pass tires would be at least as wide as the Pasela’s, but that was not that case.  The Elk Pass tires mounted at a little over 28mm on the Mavic rims, whereas the Paselas are a little over 30 mm in width.  Both tires are marketed as 32 mm tires.  I suspect that the Elk Pass tires will widen over time, but probably they will never be 32mm on my rims.

I also questioned my sanity when I read this warning on the Elk Pass packaging:  “This tire is made of very sensitive material.  Never use the tire when you drive on unpaved road, mountain trail and waste land.  Please be careful of flat tire due to side wall cutting by fallen rocks…”  Hmmm…are these tires so delicate that commuting on them will rip them to shreds?  I am not sure, and hope that this is just a wacky result of over zealous product liability advisors.

Now that I have the Elk Pass tires mounted, which involved over-inflating them so that they would seat properly on the rims, then bringing the pressure back down, I am going to test them out on my Portland commute, which includes occasional rough roads and some gravel riding.  I will follow up with a second post once I’ve ridden these tires for a few hundred miles.  As far as tire pressure goes, I am going to start with 70 psi rear and 60 psi front, which is the tire pressure I have used on the Pasela’s.  We will see how that goes.