27 vs 120 tpi Knard

In an effort to 'lighten' the load on the chubby bike, I have been doing some due diligence on tires and tire weights.  The knobby beauty that is the Surly Nate is an all around kick-butt tire but it comes with a stiff weight penalty.  That weight penalty is in the worst spot for a bicyclist....rotational weight!

Being a tire bike whore (some peeps love shoes, me likey the tires), I opted for the Surly Knard on my recent tire choice for fatbiking.  Santa was kind enough to bring home a 27tpi Knard and of course the geek in me had to immediately weight it.  When I got my hands on the 120tpi version of that, I had to weight it too....

so the verdict is in...tire weights below:

27 tpi Knard weight:  1685 grams
120 tpi Knard weight:  1345 grams
27 tpi Nate weight:  1830 grams

for you math majors our there, that is a whopping 340 gram ( 3/4 lb) difference for the same tire!  for 2 tires, that is a huge 1 1/2 pounds!  that is a lot of weight!  The sidewalls are significantly thinner and the beads don't set quite as easily but still.....

to extrapolate from the 27 tpi version of the Nate is almost a 1/2 kilo heavier than the 27tpi Knard!!!  That is just over a pound of rotational weight on tires alone!

more to come on the Knard performance after a few more rides....

the proof is in the pix:
the Knard up close and personal:

The tread pattern reminds me of a bigger version of the Small Block 8's....maybe these are the BIG BLOCK 8's?

27 tpi Knard weight:

120tpi Knard weight:

 The 27tpi Surly Nate weight...big BOY!