Originally Posted by peripatetic
Wildjim, what do you mean here? The spare that would be used to replace a flat?
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I just realized that along with this wheelset this guy gave me, he also included a pair of used but still-in-decent-shape Wenkobar tires. The tread's completely unscathed, so it looks like the tires are just a little dirty, probably from storage. Anyone know anything about these?
re Wildjim's - 'pre-glue' - the spare I usually take along is a prior used tire that is serviceable (and was prolly used). I'm not sure what you mean by pre-glued, otherwise. On the road, and replacing a 'flat' usually means I'm just slipping the spare on the rim and riding it that way. As a long time user of Tubasti and Clement, I've found that both remain suffcient tacky to be able to ride on the spare for considerable distances as long as I don't try to 'rail' corners or turns...
I re-glue tires at least 2x a year...
Pre-glue? Clue me in, pls...
Tubasti was hellacious stuff, and the worst if you botched the jo, but also the most tenaciously tacky for the long term.
I seem to only be able to buy Continental around here, and have not built any confidence in it yet... - goes on much to cleanly...
peripatetic - the idea is to have a spare 'folded' and carried under the seat. Can be done just with a 'spare' toestrap (for the toeclippy guyz) or carried in a tire sock, which was the ancestor of the current miniseatpacks. Course you can add all your other emergency goodies as well. Longer than the current seatpack, these socks allow you to fold the spare into about a 6 inch length. There is a 'special' way to 'fold' the spare to reduce creases and also safeguard the valve area. If anyone has a good pic of this folding, they should post it - otherwise I'll pop my spare out this eve and post a pic of the fold.
Finally - went to nashbar site this weekend. Noticed that the Clement Criteriums were on sale for $50, down from $80. Now that may not seem like a great price, but they are considered by many, to be the ultimate medium-MDlite weight performance tire. These being cotton crits, not the setas. And as a point of comparo, they sold in the mid $30s (bestest price...) in the early 80s. These are 230 gram (consider that this is both TIRE and TUBE wt.) Were prolly the most used tire in the Pro Peleton, and may still be. Team Disco still uses tubulars, and I imagine that many, maybe most, of the other teams are also on sewups. These used to be with latex tubes, which are the ultimate in ride/performance but do lose air quicker than butyl. Meaning that over a period of a couple of days you'll notice a softening - not a flaw, just the nature of latex. They would 'ride' well for any ultra-long day ride though.
After riding I would bring these 'down' to 'lightly firm' pressure anyway and pump up again before using. This is another Old-Guyz thing that I was taught, but seems to have no real basis in fact. The Olde Italian Guyz (they may not all have been Eyetalian either...) would tell us Yutz to 'air them down' after racing...
So at $50, these Clements Crits are a good value.
Wish I hadn't spend so much money fixing the 7 odd bikes I've rejuvenated these past months... I'll just hope they do this price again sometime in early '06, so I can stock up on 4 or so.
These are Blackwall! so not likely to be the call for a real 'vintage' look.
Mhendricks - the Ventoux is also listed at $55 reg and down to $40 - so prolly a quite good tire.