Surly & Tired

What a small example of a Knard looks like.

Surly Bikes have many tires to sell you. One of their models is called the "Knard". Yeah.........okay, it's a name of a tire, that's all. I wouldn't go reading too much into that name.

Anyway, there is a 26" X 3.8" model for fat bikes, a 700c X 3" model that Surly calls "29 +", and now this- a skinny Knard. Underfed probably. Stunted possibly. Well, anyway.....

They call this one a 700c X 41mm. I got to ride on a pair of these at Interbike which were mounted on one of those sparkly, light purple Straggler bicycles. I rode the skinny Knards on the gravel and loose surfaces up into Bootleg Canyon a bit and was duly impressed with these tires. So, I figured I would look into buying a pair when they came out with a proposed 120TPI version with a folding bead.

Well, that happened recently, the tires became available. I put my name in to order up and buy a pair, and well.....here they are! So I have them at home and mounted up on the HED Ardennes+ wheels. Here's the numbers on them for those who care....

Mounted.......

The pair of Knards I have weigh 490gms and 470gms each. The tires mounted to the HED rims, which are 21mm wide inside, at 40 psi measured out at 39.6mm.

Okay, so not 41mm, but these are new tires just mounted. I'll reserve judgment on width until they have had time to stretch a bit, if they do stretch at all. They probably will.

Compare and contrast: Clement MSO's are about 39.2mm wide, and Kenda Happy Mediums, marked as 40's, are measuring out at 42.2mm on the Viaje I am testing.

38mm to 42mm is a pretty good range for size for any road/all road/mixed terrain riding. Yeah.....you can ride skinnier stuff, but I think this range is a good one for everything from dirt, rocks, roots, and busted up pavement. I was having a blast the other day, as an example, when I was launching off curbs and bashing through some branches on the aforementioned Happy Mediums. Skinnier tires would probably get pinched, or damaged. But more importantly, the bigger volume tires absorb more energy, and roll over things better, than skinnier treads. That's a big deal on some roads and trails. Bigger tires are waaaay smoother too. Far more comfortable than any skinny road tire I've ever test ridden or owned.

So the Surly tires fit the bill in that regard and should be decent, at least they seem to be well made from my view. I'll be riding them and I'll find out soon enough.......