When I originally pulled the Fatty Rumpkin tires out of the box with the YiPsan I reviewed I thought, oh great, a fat, slow tire.  How am I going to review this bike against a standard 700c road bike when the tires will be so slow?

Boy was I surprised!  This tire is made for Rivendell Bicycles by Panaracer.  The 41mm (or so) wide tire has inverted circle & half moon tread which suprisingly handles well in hard pack dirt.  There are rumors of a guy that has modified by hand the tread to be a bit more aggressive.  I would assume more cuts in the the tread to grab slightly better.  A tan side wall makes it class up any steel frame steed.

Running at 60 psi most the time I had a swell of a time on the YiPsan and now the Salsa.  The psi ran well on the road but the volume of the tire really showed up when going over cracks in the pavement.  Lowering the psi to 40 on dirt made the bike not skirt so easily around in the rear end.  The low air pressure did allow for a couple good cuts in the sidewall of the beautiful tan walls.   Thankfully it was the rear so I simply booted the tire (a few times) and continued on.  I wish the tires were made a bit more flat resistant, but that would lead to more weight so its a lose - lose situation.  I guess I would prefer more weight for less sidewall fails, but it isn’t anything I can’t deal with.  I might even put in a liner to protect the precious tubes a little better.

These tires I will be highly recommended.  Fatty Rumpkin, what better name could you get for a tire that reminds me of the land of Hobbits and gently rolling green hills.