thumpism 

I mentioned this tire earlier but can't find the thread so am starting this one as an FYI. Most folding tires you find are narrow 23-25C and that seems a bit small for a loaded touring bike. Walmart has a Bell Products folding tire which the box claims fits 32-47C width and which costs about $18. I decided to try one rather than coil up a wire-bead tire. Mounted the tire on a spare wheel yesterday and it looks pretty good. Pretty floppy item to install compared to a wire bead and I would not want to do it at the roadside in the rain, but it works. Only goes to 75PSI but that should suffice if I ever actually put it to use. Compared to my current Continental 32Cs on the bike it looks like a 35C tire, not too big and not too small. Rolled up it's about the size of two tuna cans stacked. Box mentions "Kevlar fiber" but not where it's used and also mentions "carbon steel folding bead." Hmmm.

indyfabz

I have never seen a tire with a width range. How is that possible for a tire to be 32C to 47C? The width is what it is.

mstateglfr 

Width range? mindblow.

chasm54

32-47mm width range? Nonsense.

Anyway, there are plenty of folding touring tyres. Try the schwalbe mondial or supreme, for example. I have a folding Panracer somewhere, too.

GeoKrpan

Did you buy it in a brick and mortar Wamlart or online? It would be a miracle if it were a good tire, but you never know, much hyped tires have turned out to be turds.

You can find folding tires from reputable tire makers for that price. I found 700x28 Vittoria Zaffiro Pro Training for $16 from the UK.

fietsbob

Bell sports in Box stores is Not trying to be 'good', just cheaper.. if you need a tire and thats all you can find then there you go ..

10 Wheels

I bought a 20" folding Bell Tire from them for my trike.$16..Works fine.

mantelclock

I bought a Wally Folder when my tire blew out in the middle of a week long tour. It worked okay and got me home (duh), but it was a bit on the heavy side. They're fine for cheap folding spares.

thumpism 

That is what I was looking for. This came from a real store in the 'hood and might also be available online. I agree about the ridiculous size range but it was made to sell to the masses, like those tubes that have 26" x 1.5 to 2.125 on the box. One more thing about this Bell tire is that the tread is relatively smooth and not a semi-knobby like most of the wide folders I was able to find, and I definitely wanted something wider than a 28C; none of my bikes have tires that narrow.

Also, I'd like to point out that I am no fan of Walmart, just that it was surprising to find this item available at that store and that if you find yourself on tour and needing it that it is available and reasonably priced.

jefnvk

My guess is the ridiculous size range is not so much an indication of what size the tire itself actually is, but there in case someone who knows nothing about bike tires comes in and thinks their, say, 35 width tire has to be replaced exactly with another 35. They see a range that says 32-47, and is able to figure out it'll work.

Just a guess...

veganbikes

It is a Bell Branded product at a Wally Mart. Most of the people buying bike parts there don't understand what tire width is anyway. It comes in a range because they are trying to sell them like tubes because the Wally Mart people know nothing about bikes hence why they sell poorly put together hunks of scrap metal with cheap bits hanging off of it to resemble a bike.

Sure if I were so desperate and there was not a bike shop anywhere around within 10 miles or so (depending on how bad things were) and I could not wait to get a tire shipped in the mail, I might buy a Wally Mart tire and just hope it worked for a long enough period to get me to a bike shop to buy a better tire.

Squeezebox

A spare fold up tire makes sense to me. Even if it only gets me to the next LBS.