Re: [CR]27" tires

(Example: Framebuilders:Brian Baylis)

In-Reply-To: <3B125136.648F6133@penn.com>
References: <65.14f9e4f7.28439d01@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 11:22:38 -0400
To: Jerry & Liz Moos <moos@penn.com>, RALEIGH531@aol.com
From: "Sheldon Brown" <CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]27" tires
Cc: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org


Quoth Jerry Moos:
>Be aware, however, that the IRC "27 x1" sold by Nashbar are really about 22 mm
>wide, not, 25 to 26mm as their nominal size would imply.

This is true.
>The Japanese tire
>makers have a long tradition, going back to the 70's, of marking tires as
>wider than the true width. I think this started as an advertising ploy to
>allow them to claim a lower weight for the same nominal size.

This is also true, but I don't think the blame rests with the Japanese, rather, with the American importers/trading companies that marketed these Japanese tires: Avocet, Specialized, Schwinn. They all played that game in the '70s and into the '80s. Sometime in the '90s, Specialized "got religion" and re-marked their tires, but nobody is introducing new models of high-performance 630 mm (27") tires any more, so nobody wants to spend the money to change the molds.
>Continental and most other European makers mark tires more accurately.

At the time the "lightness race" was running, Japanese tires were the undisputed quality champs, and the only question for a cyclist who wanted good tires was which Japanese brand to buy.

In recent years, manufacturers in Germany, France and Taiwan have begun to close the gap, though I still consider Japanese tires the best all-in-all, even though they often have misleading markings.

Sheldon "Grew Up On Dunlops" Brown Newtonville, Massachusetts +------------------------------------------------------+ | If a man does not keep pace with his companions, | | perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. | | Let him step to the music which he hears, | | however measured or far away. -- Thoreau | +------------------------------------------------------+
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