pros/cons of folding tires
John Coltrane
I wanted to get a new pair of Vittoria tires I find are folding.
Thanks
john
bfd
> what are the pros and cons of folding tires?
> I wanted to get a new pair of Vittoria tires I find are folding.
>
around since the early 80s, I believe, starting with the old
Specialized Turbo tire. Never heard of any problems with folding tires
versus a wire bead one. In other words, I think just about EVERY
bicycle tire mfr makes a folding tire.
If you like Vittoria tires that are folding, get it!
landotter
> what are the pros and cons of folding tires?
> I wanted to get a new pair of Vittoria tires I find are folding.
Pro: lighter by a skosh
Con: floppier when mounting
I don't consider it to be any sort of dealbreaker for non-racing
purposes. If your tire comes folding only, then get a folding tire,
and pay the folding tax.
FWIW, I got my last Rubino Pro for $0 off the discard pile at the LBS.
Someone didn't want to clean it so threw away a near new tire. They're
folding and pretty nice. Really sweet for $0! Mounted without tools,
just thumbs, on a standard box section OP-like rim.
dvt
> On Sep 11, 1:01 pm, John Coltrane <tendenga...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> what are the pros and cons of folding tires?
> Pro: lighter by a skosh
>
> Con: floppier when mounting
Con: cost extra $
Con: can be tough to mount the first time; bead seems to stretch during
the first use, making it easier to mount after the first time.
If the prices were equal, I'd buy the folding tyres for the weight
savings. But I'm unwilling to pay for the difference, since I can't tell
the difference after the tyre is mounted to the bike and connected to me.
--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu
Clive George
news:48c95d7f$0$7356$607e...@cv.net...
> what are the pros and cons of folding tires?
> I wanted to get a new pair of Vittoria tires I find are folding.
They fold small easily, which can be useful when away from the house (easier
to carry spare, whether that's in your car or pannier).
Art Harris
> what are the pros and cons of folding tires?
> I wanted to get a new pair of Vittoria tires I find are folding.
>
When folded, they can be easily carried as a spare (or stored).
They're a little lighter, and a little more expensive. Some find them
easier to mount, some find them harder.
Art Harris
Coltrane
thanks to all
andre...@aol.com
Folding tires have lots of advantages and one disadvantage. The
advantages are:
lighter weight for equal sturdiness
occupy less space and can be carried along
they are easier to mount and dismount into a rim.
disadvantages
more expensive
Jay Beattie
And the best tires are not available with a wire bead. Best meaning
lightweight, magic tread compounds, higher quality casings, etc. It
is also hard to get a wire bead tire in that shade of green that
really brings out my eyes. -- Jay Beattie.
andre...@aol.com
I usually go for less expensive folding beads, sort of like the
nashbar duro folding, the vredestein fortezza, etc. They seem to be a
little heavier which inspires more confidence even though I am not
certain that they last longer. I feel, and this is pure unscientific
guess, that a tire ought to weigh between 240 and 280 grams to give
some reasonable protection. Heavier than that is a little too much.
Qui si parla Campagnolo
Foldables are a little lighter, more expensive and may be easier to
mount.
landotter
Pbbbbbbbt! 350g at least, lest you let a gravel or fire road go
unexplored, for shame! Speaking of which--LBS threw out some perfectly
good IRC "Grip Glides" yesterday which look to be a one--off made for
a Cannondale high end hybrid ten years ago. As usual, the casing is
super fine IRC stuff--and the rubber was preserved underneath the
classique disgusting layer of IRC mold release, now a decade old. Like
a time capsule, it preserved these babies. I scrubbed the 38mm of
goodness up, mounted their square lightly treadedness onto the
Redline, and headed into the local chigger sanctuary last evening.
450g an end for you weenies...
Frank Krygowski
Most of the responses to the OP have been the same. But is there any
evidence of foldable beads giving more blowouts during long, steep
descents?
I ask because I've been on rides where people have had such blowouts,
after braking long and hard to keep speed down. In almost every case,
they've had Kevlar beads, not wire ones. But my sample size is pretty
small.
What's the group's experience?
- Frank Krygowski
Art Harris
> Most of the responses to the OP have been the same. But is there any
> evidence of foldable beads giving more blowouts during long, steep
> descents?
>
> I ask because I've been on rides where people have had such blowouts,
> after braking long and hard to keep speed down. In almost every case,
> they've had Kevlar beads, not wire ones. But my sample size is pretty
> small.
>
Interesting question for which I don't have an answer. Were there
other folks on these same rides using wire bead tires? Similar
inflation pressure, etc.?
Art Harris
jobst....@stanfordalumni.org
>>> What are the pros and cons of folding tires? I wanted to get a
>>> new pair of Vittoria tires I find are folding.
>> Folding tires have lots of advantages and one disadvantage. The
>> advantages are:
>> lighter weight for equal sturdiness occupy less space and can be
>> carried along they are easier to mount and dismount into a rim.
I'll disagree on "easier to mount" for two reasons. They are flat and
therefore don't have a shape into which one can readily place the
inner tube. Because they are more elastic in girth, they must be
stretched to fit onto the rim, something that is not required for wire
bead tires because they do not stretch.
>> disadvantages
>> more expensive
> Most of the responses to the OP have been the same. But is there
> any evidence of foldable beads giving more blowouts during long,
> steep descents?
> I ask because I've been on rides where people have had such
> blowouts, after braking long and hard to keep speed down. In almost
> every case, they've had Kevlar beads, not wire ones. But my sample
> size is pretty small.
That is not my experience, the cause of tire blow-offs is loss of
clinch when the tire bead softens and becomes more lubricious from
heat. I have seen mainly steel wire bead tires blow-off and amongst
those have been tandems where more heat is generated for a given
descent. It is the "clinch" that makes clinchers stay on the rim, not
the circumferential elasticity of the bead. That tires can be mounted
on a rim shows that adequately in my estimation.
Unfortunately I have read about two fatal crashes (Metcalf Road, and
Hicks Road) on which the accident report cited in the newspaper
claimed the riders had missed a curve because they were going too
fast. Knowing these roads, I am sure that the rims of these rider's
bicycles had pavement scratches on them to prove they had blown a tire
off the rim.
In the days of tubulars, rim glue melted to honey-like consistency on
such descents with tires piling up on the valve stem so that when
stopped, the tire raised off the rim in a large arc next to the stem.
We repositioned the tire and let the rim cool before continuing.
Jobst Brandt
Peter Cole
The modulus of Kevlar does go down significantly in that temperature
range (perhaps 25% in 75-300F), but I don't know if Kevlar bead stretch
is a significant factor in blowoff (at any temperature). You could take
a stab at the amount of bead elongation with pressure, but you'd have to
know the denier of the Kevlar cord (I suppose that could be estimated
from the diameter). Even with elongation calculated, I'm not sure you
could link it to blowoff (pro/con), since you'd need to know that
relationship -- IOW, how much elongation is too much?
http://www2.dupont.com/Kevlar/en_US/assets/downloads/KEVLAR_Technical_Guide.pdf
andre...@aol.com
There is a steep one mile hill about a mile from my house. It is one
of my training routs. for a while I'd do this hill several times a
week. Coming down you'll easily hit forty mile an hour w/o trying much
and fifty is you tuck and pedal fast. The fastest part has a turn.
I used to wonder what would happen if I had a front tire blowout going
into that turn at 40 mph. It never happened, thank god. I most likely
ride on kevlar beaded tires and haven't had problems. I am sure that
if I had a blowout at that speed I would roll out both wire and kevlar
bead tires equally. Both seem to stretch after a while.
Andres
Hank
>
> - Show quoted text -
Never had a blowoff on a descent, thank God, but every blowout I've
ever had has been on a wire-bead tire.
landotter
Did you yoose one uf those Dootch top bar child seets mounted
backwards??
Sorry, Eenglish not so good today...
John Forrest Tomlinson
<frkr...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Most of the responses to the OP have been the same. But is there any
>evidence of foldable beads giving more blowouts during long, steep
>descents?
Not that I ever heard of.
Tim McNamara
Peter Cole <peter...@verizon.net> wrote:
> The modulus of Kevlar does go down significantly in that temperature
> range (perhaps 25% in 75-300F), but I don't know if Kevlar bead
> stretch is a significant factor in blowoff (at any temperature). You
> could take a stab at the amount of bead elongation with pressure, but
> you'd have to know the denier of the Kevlar cord (I suppose that
> could be estimated from the diameter). Even with elongation
> calculated, I'm not sure you could link it to blowoff (pro/con),
> since you'd need to know that relationship -- IOW, how much
> elongation is too much?
Well, shortening the bead by 2 mm (something Panaracer did with one of
their tire lines) makes a tire extremely difficult to mount or dismount;
lengthening it my 2 mm would make it significantly easier. If the bead
can stretch by 2 mm over the ~1954 mm of a standard bike tire bead due
to rim heating, then I suppose it's possible. Would there be enough
force on the bead to cause it to stretch?
I also recall reading something in the newsgroup a few years back that
rim heating reduces the friction between the tire and the rim.
Hank
Family newsgroup, buddy.