P/R 64 report

Just after Thanksgiving I had a chance to build up a 64cm P/R and ride it a bit.

I used a set of 700C wheels that I had been using on an elderly Model F. They are low-end Shimano hubs and Sun CR-18 rims, both 32H.

I use a compact double crank and a single cassette cog w/ spacers in the rear that give me a 50/24 drive that turns into a mid-50s gear which works pretty well hilly Berkeley where this bike lives.

The wheels are shod with 32mm Bontrager Kevlar tires. I tend towards heavy duty tires because I don't have the time to fix flats. The performance suffers a bit but I see it as training for those days when I can get on to lighter tires.

The rest of the build is pretty standard city bike: mountain bars and V-brakes.

Like I said this is my usual setup so it's easy for me to compare apples to apples.

The first thing I noticed was that the uphill performance was not as good as the Model F. I attribute that to the 28.6mm down tube. Then, coming down hill, I looked for wobble.

The wheels have never been trued and when they were on my Model F, I felt a bit of wobble. So I guessed that on the 64 the wobble would be amplified by the light down tube. And it was. So I stopped the bike, rotated the front wheel about its axle 180 degrees and resumed testing. The downhill wobble was attenuated and the ride improved greatly.

When I get back to Berkeley I'm going to have the wheels trued and replace the front rack with a Wald basket (my usual karrier). Then I'll ride it some more and decide if it's a keeper.

We're still waiting on the proper 64s with the 31.8 down tube to arrive. But I don't think I'll use one. The 64 hits me a little to hard in the crotch and I think I'll go back to my ugly, but oh-so-comfortable 59cm 26" P/R.

This 64 is fun to ride on the flats. The extended head tube means that only a 10mm spacer was needed to get my bars where I wanted them to be. I think for folks who wear 34" (and taller) jeans, this will be a very nice bike. I personally would rather see it as a 650B bike but that seems to be a minority view.

Now let's hear from the rest of the kurrent 64cm riders. What do you all think?

-Matthew