The cost of modernity....
 

After cruising around the county on my not so squishy but highly flotational and nicely performing Pasela 32's for a month, I decided to put some Ruffy Tuffies (27mm) on my steel "fast" bike. Man, let me at those chip/seal, potholed roads! No more bounce and rattle.

BUT, I hadn't figured on the short reach limitations of my old Superbe Pro brakes. There is not enough tire clearance with the Ruffies to avoid rubbing against the bottom of the brake bridge and skim the bottom of the calipers.

I don't agree with Grant on everything, but the longer reach brakes and frames to match them make sense..... some of the best roads around here that carry you to the best places are often the "worst" roads in terms of maintenance and condition.

The fast bike frame looks cool with tight, minimum clearances everywhere. But, in this case, "cool" can be a pain.

My guess is Grant would cringe at the idea of cheap V brakes, but that's what I ended up resorting to in a similar situation. Work just fine. BTW, Ruffy-Tuffies and Roly-Poleys rokk for the dirt and gravel roads in these parts.

Actually, I think Grant does a lot of cringing! No reason for V-Brakes to get off scot-free!

Given the unique shape of the Ruffy, I wonder if I could find a pair of standard 28's that wouldn't stand as "tall" when inflated and give me a bit more clearance.

This is probably my aging bones speaking out...10 years ago I would have ignored the jolts of this very upright, relentless frame...but it turns on a dime and is fun to ride up to 30-40 miles.

That's what I use on my Retro Grouch bike. The frame is a Bridgestone RB2 with standard reach 105 brakes. I'm using 28mm Continental Gatorskin tires @ 90psi. With the brake cables set on the loose side, but not so loose that the lever bottoms against the handlebar, the tires will just clear the brake calipers with the quick release open.

Retro, I always suspected you of being OCP: an Obsessive Compulsive Pragmatist

I'd say that's a fair discription. I like that!

Glad they work for you. My problem is a bit different. I don't mind deflating the tire to pass the brake pads when mounting a wheel. My problem is that when the wheels are in place, the tire actually brushes/rubs the bottom of the brake bridge as well as grazing/rubbing a bit the underside of the brake calipers where they join at the mounting bolt. It's not the width of the tire so much as the "height" that challenges my frame.

I think I'll write the staff at Harris and see what they suggest. Or anyone here. But no, I'm not taking a razor blade and shaving off 2mm of tread-- though it sounds good in theory. ;)

Blues....a little late tonight, but I'll gladly put up some pics tomorrow evening. I was descending on my 32's this evening on a bad one lane poorly surfaced road going noticably faster with the lower pressure, bigger contact patch, more shock absorbing tires. Less bounce, more sense of control. I am intrigued with what they can do; the rotational weight penalty I mostly notice in a minor way when riding in a group and things suddenly accelerate. Conservative bike guru Jobst Brandt may well be right in criticizing narrow tires.

+1
I've evolved from 25's to 35's over the years, and my average speeds have gone up, not down.

What is the bike that has the interference problems?

I am a bit confused. Is a 32mm pasala a lower profile than a 27 mm Ruffy Tuffy? I currently run the 27 mm R.Ts, and could not be happy with them. I have over 200 miles plus quite a bit of trainer time, they still look great. They seem to have decent rolling resistance, and I have had no flats that can be attributed to the tires. Did have a couple flats due to rim strip problems. All-in-all, the Ruffy Tuffy is a very good tire for general riding. I am also glad I bought a frame with enough clearence so I have to use the longer reach brakes. A preformance note on the brakes, is that they are about twice as powerful as the old Campy Record sidepulls frothe 1970's, even in the rain.

I understand. The "section" of the Gatorskins is roughly round so, as long as it will squeeze past the pads, it should clear the underside of the brake caliper too.

That's what was making me scratch my head too. I think, though, that CrossChain was describing two different bikes. He liked the 32mm Paselas on one bike so he wanted to try the Ruffy Tuffys on another bike with narrower tires. Hopefully he can clear that up for us.

A fairly recent Rivendell Reader had an article with photos ranking many current and vintage forks for their ability to acommodate fatter tires. As I recall, placement of the brake mounting hole in the fork bridge often made as much or more difference than the width or height of the opening.

Having gotten over my hysteria, I might have a possible answer to my tire clearance problem. My rear dropouts are horizontal and each has an adjusting screw which allows some adjustment of the angle of the wheel (to center it), as well as varying a little your wheel base length. I don't know if contemporary bikes offer this.

Anyway, by backing off the screws to their limit, I can pull the wheel back in the dropouts just enough to give myself, kid you not, perhaps 2mm of clearance. The front comes in about the same. Irregularities in the tire or sudden shocks may deform the tire enough to cause occasional rub and make this unworkable. I'll try it, see what happens.

But, I'm still left with an appreciation for versatility as one important point in bike design-- you just never know where your evolving cycling style will carry you. Bikes built primarily for racing, or to mimic racing, are not the best vehicle for many of us... while they may "liberate" your potential for speed, they also can narrow your cycling experience.

***Yes, the Paselas and Ruffies are on two different bikes.