Haffassa Tempt

I believe you are correct regarding the tire weights. 550g is pretty good by modern standards for a knobby tire that size. A Rene Herse Hurricane Ridge (700x42) Endurance casing tips the scales at nearly the same weight.


The bike I posted originally came with the Panaracer-made Rock 'n Road tires you mentioned. There were a number of other differences when I received it as well. Most notably was the Araya CT-19 rims instead of the Mavic MA40s in the article. The rims were quite narrow and the RnR casings seemed a tad loose, with some difficulty getting the beads to seat properly. I usually inflated them to around 55-60psi though, the sidewall said they could take more. Unfortunately, the front tire blew off the rim on a steep downhill at about 30mph and I rode it out on the rim, with both feet as outriggers and riding the top tube (ouch!). The rim was darn near useless. I got out a quarter and used the edge to file all the burrs on the rim, installed a fresh tube, inflated with the frame pump, and slowly limped home. These are things we did before the advent of cell phones. Wheelsmith tossed the CT-19s and laced up a set of Mavic T217 on the Deore XT hubs. They've been bullet-proof ever since and have worn several different pairs of Rock 'n Road tires over the years, both blackwall and gumwall. They were never as fast or supple as modern tubeless on firm surfaces (you could hear the paddles squirming as you rode), but boy do they hook up in the loose stuff. The DT wheels on CK Classic hubs on there now were recently acquired from a cycling buddy, and the "second originals" are in storage. I may eventually switch over to brifters, but the nostalgic look and feel of the bar-ends have a grip on my sensibilities.