Last year took us to Scotland (Grand tour of Edinburgh) , Wales (3 wet days loop), Surrey Hills (3 days tour with TEA), Isle of Wight (one small wet ride), Pyrenees (more up hills than you can shake a stick at) and Denmark (flatter than flat rides) and a few more day trips and pootles here and there.

Me and Chutney (a Dahon Speed Pro TT, 2008) on the top of Tourmalet.
Description: (From their site) The Speed Pro TT is the bike for the serious roadie who wants it all: a bike that can take on a century as easily as it can pack into a suitcase for travel. The SRAM DualDrive gearing delivers 27 gears for anything from the steepest hills to hammering on the flats.
As seen on the blog: Label : Dahon Speed Pro TT
I have now had this bicycle for a little over a year …

… will know about me and my tyres by now.
I managed to hunt down some new tyres for my Dahon Speed Pro TT \o/
I had a look at the Schwable Durano and they felt just way too thin and flimsy, really didn’t feel like I could trust them to keep the fairies away.
So I went for the Continental Sport Contact with SafetyGuard, 20″ x 1 1/8″ (HS 28-406). They look and felt much more solid that the Durano, and had a great offer of a free inner tube and one …

… 20″ ?
Ordered some Schwalbe Stelvio with RaceGuard (20″ x 1″ 1/8) at my local bike shop. Only to find out that 20″ x 1″ 1/8 is not 20″ x 1″ 1/8, yes they thickness is the same but my old tyres can easily fit within these new one.
I know that there is this number system, 28-406 (20″x1″1/8) HS 350 …
The 28-406 is the width and diameter of the tyre, a standard which is set by set by E.T.R.T.O – The European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation.
I’m not sure what …

Hi,
I just saw the recall you have for the Schwalbe ULTREMO R tyres. The problem rings a bell to my tyres.
 
This is what Dahon said about the tyres on their website.
Dahon Special Edition Schwalbe Stelvio, Mango/Black, 28-406, foldable Kevlar bead, DualCompound Silica casing, RaceGuard anti-puncture protection, 120 psi
 
I have done just over 1700 miles on them over the last 11 month, they have brilliant grip and are very fast, not scared at all going around corners at speed and you can really lean in.
 
But when it come to keeping the …

Cutting the brake cables down did help, I got much better bite on my front and back brake now compared to before.
Bummer is that I have just seen the Speed Pro TT 2009 version and it have V-type brakes. Ain’t it just so …

So in an attempt to get better braking on Chutney, I cut down the generous Dahon cable routing. Front brake by 2.5″ and the back nearly 6″. I haven’t tried it out on road yet, but there is clearly much less movement/give in the cable and it feels like it is “biting” much better. Tough while fettling around I found out that my front break cable was a little bit frayed.
 
And when I pulled out the cable it was like a cork screw …
 
Never seen that before in my fettling …

Well I have now passed the 1200 miles mark on Chutney, and all I can say I love to ride the Speed Pro TT. Great fun, fast and I do not get any pain in my shoulders or my back when riding around, on long and short journeys.
The only thing that is letting this bike down big time is the rattling noise it makes, I have tried to tie down lose cables with cable ties and soft rim tape in hope to stop the cable outing rattling against the frame. …

My take on the Dahon Speed Pro TT (2008) and what I have changed on it