Re: Kevlar tire size rant



B

Blair P. Houghton

Guest
(I have no idea what Google's problem is with this thread...)

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
>The problem has nothing to do with the tire having kevlar, whether we're
>talking about the tire (mounting) bead, or in the casing.


Well, most of the talk I've seen about kevlar tires is they run small,
ostensibly because of fear the bead cord is stretchy. I can
pretty much guarantee that it's not.

>The issue is
>apparently a tire that's simply a bit too small, or a rim that doesn't have
>enough depth (a deep-enough inside well) to allow the tire to be mounted
>properly.
>There are kevlar-beaded tires that mount too-loosely, and some that mount
>too-tightly. Same thing for non-kevlar tires. Take it back to the store you
>got it from, along with the wheel, and see what they can do for you.


Seriously. All they could do is say "this must be a mislabled 650..."

On the off-chance it was just a matter of statistics with that brand
and
model, I've given a second kevlar item a chance, and while this one is
tight, it's not nearly as tight as the other. I'd say that
hand-pulling gets
me within 8 or 9 inches of having it on, while with the previous one it
was a good 12 or 14. But the old tire (a Hutchinson*, not a Bontrager,
it turns out...who reads them in the 6 months they're spinning around?)
was more like a 6 or 7. Just barely too-tight enough to give me extra
confidence.

You'd think they'd come up with an ISO standard for these things.

--Blair

* - Hutchinson Fusion Long Distance, highly recommended, and I'd
have just got one if they'd had them at the PerformanceBike near me.
Actually that store is starting to **** me off. They don't have loose
patches and they don't have loose tubes of glue. They have a narrow
selection of tires that look like they're assorted by the manufacturer
instead of according to customer needs. And most of the PB-branded
merchandise is laughable ****. These guys were pretty good as
recently as last year. I'll have to go up to Tempe Bike, which had to
drop its breadth when Supergo and then PB moved into town...