In praise of the Kendas
I’m just a low performance biker in the Midwest, but the cheap Kenda K35s do have a place for me. They were what I have used on my old 73 Super Sport for decades. I got a bit more involved in the next rung up of vintage bikes in the last 5-10 years. That put me onto some Panaracer Paselas and Gravel Kings. Nothing pricey, but a notch up.
Anyhow, after updating my old Schwinn including a new crank spider so I could change the front chainrings, I also updated to Paselas. They are the standard 1 1/4” ones and not Pro Tite with the added flat protection. They really transformed the feel and rode nicely except….. City riding here in the Midwest with the poor pavement and patches and cracks was terrible on that bike. I think the frame is quite stiff and has fairly sporty angles. I found myself watching for the tiniest road imperfections.
Back to the Kendas on my SS upright conversion and my 73 stocker and city riding on poor roads is quite tolerable. The Kendas on an upright conversion of a 72 Schwinn Continental was pleasing too. On that bike, one could practically ignore the road surface. Today I did a 15 mile shakedown ride with half being on so so roads on my recent Peugeot UO14 acquisition. The bike had a pleasant neutral feel with the Kendas and the tires and bike complemented each other for the conditions.
Obviously nicer tires for nicer roads equal nicer feel, but there is something to be said for a decent ride over poorer pavement. Other thicker tires would certainly give similar results, but this is my experience. All areas of the country aren’t blessed with fine pavement, especially in the heavier traveled cities.