We now stock Grand Bois tyres. These are some of the nicest tyres we know of. Grand Bois is a small Japanese company catering to Cyclotourists with a fetish for nice old French bikes. They offer a very wide range of 650b road tyres as well as some nice 700c tyres, all with a nice old-school look and tan sidewalls.
Sealed Grand Bois tyres
The first Grand Bois we tried was the 650×32b Cypres. It was an amazing tyre. Very comfortable, but still fast and precise-feeling. Their whole range have very supple casings and reasonably thin treads. This results in a tyre that rolls very nicely, even at relatively low pressures.
Newly arrived box
The main reason for the order was a 650b Porteur bike we’re building using a Velo Orange Polyvalent frame. The tyre for this bike had to be Grand Bois’s most-raved-about tyre, the Hetre. It’s 42mm wide, has red/orange horizontally ribbed tread, and constantly gets recommended by anyone who has ridden one (Jan Heine raves about them in Bicycle Quarterly on a regular basis). They are also perfect for the bike we’re building (more on this bike in a later post). Here’s a picture of a pair we sold to one of our customers.
We also got some 700c tyres – the 28c Cerf. One pair was for stock and one pair for is my bike. Like all Grand Bois they are supple and light for their balloon size, they have old-fashioned natural tan sidewalls, and roll beautifully. I’m running them at 80psi, and they feel terrific on uneven road surfaces, taking the edge of all the bumps and feeling hard enough to inspire confidence while cornering.
Hetre on top
The pair for stock sold in no time – to someone who came across town to talk about 650b, buy a Pletscher kickstand and a VO bell. We’re always excited to meet like-minded bike nerds. But no need to worry, because in a few weeks we’ll have pairs of each on the shelf.
They come out at about $80 each, which seems good for a high quality boutique tyre, especially one that comes in hard-to-find sizes. When you think about it, that’s about the same as a Rubino Pro.
If you can’t make it into the workshop to pick up a pair, feel free to give us a call. We’re happy to post interstate. (Here’s a photo of some loaded up for a trip to the post office.)
