Hi ,
Had a wonderful time ( 18 months ago - could it have been that long ago ? ) with my brand-new-to-me , great-looking , 1973 Schwinn P10 Deluxe Touring 10-Speed . Before I bought it , the bicycle had just been overhauled & tuned-up . Which explained why it wouldn't shift properly , etc . Minor adjustments were fun to do .
The seller had been extremely careful to be extremely honest about nicks & scratches & cheap tires , etc . It looked fabulous to me . But the brand-new tires , inner tubes , & rim strips , really were cheap-cheap modern 27 x 1 & 1/4 inch .
The rims were ( & still are ) the correct original Weinmanns . Are these the same as the "Alesa" model rims that Hilary Stone is selling right now ?
These rims are easy to identify at a glance . When looking at them with tires mounted & ready to ride , the exterior of the rim , toward the spokes ( the inner part of the exterior , if you know what I mean ) , has a bump at each spoke nipple , and what I'll call very small shoulders where the sidewalls of the rim begin . Some people would say that these rims have dimples & shoulders . Actually I think that they are quite elegant looking , once you get used to them .
The point - These rims are NOT "hook bead" rims . These rims are NOT "straight side" rims . These rims actually flair-out just a little bit ! They allow the tire to slip off rather easily .
( ever blow a tire off of a 20" plastic "Tuff-Wheel" ?? but that's another story )
I played with my new bicycle all evening , and well into the night . By the time I got around to putting air into the tires , I'd forgotten what I knew about those rims . The cheap tires had something surprisingly large written on their sidewalls , like maybe 105 p.s.i . I can't remember what I put in them , but I had sense enough to check that the beads were evenly seated , before I put 5 more p.s.i. into the rear than into the front . I hopped on , to ride around in the basement . I was just checking saddle height . There was the strangest creaking noise , like the tightening of old ropes on an old sailing vessel . Hmmmmm . . . What was that interesting sound ? BOOM!!!!
I knew better , and yet I still did it .
Some while later , I fitted that bicycle with wonderful new Panaracer Pasela 27-inch x 32mm tires , & new top-quality rim strips , and new inner tubes ( o.k. , so the new tubes were still cheap ones ) . I took it along on a long automobile trip , which included a lovely group bicycle ride , in the hills East of Dallas , Texas . Everything was great , until I arrived home again , days later . I arrived late at night , and only pulled a few essentials out of the car . The next day the bicycle sat in the parked car , on a mild and comfortable Summer day , with the windows closed , in the sun . That evening , I unpacked everything including the bicycle .
I had put something like 85 p.s.i. into the front , and 90 p.s.i. into the rear . In the oven-heat from the sunshine , the rear had blown off .
I always knew that you were not supposed to put more than about 85 p.s.i. into anything mounted on those rims .
They are wide rims , with slightly flared sidewalls , that don't hold all that much pressure . So , buy wide tires . My 32mm Paselas are top-quality , with Kevlar beads , and no belts . So , these tires are wide , light-weight , and flexible . And yes , as I've mentioned before , in a group of well equipped tourists , I was out-coasting everybody else - very much ! ( Love those 1973 Campy Record hubs too ! )
Those rims are just like those wonderful & inexpensive ( "cheap & cheerful" ) 1977 Hutchinson SuperSprint sew-up tires that I loved .
They work perfectly at 80 to 85 p.s.i .
Don't push your luck .
Be happy .
: - )
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
> Yes, I confess, it was my Carlton that blew a tire right outside the
> parking lot at the beginning of the ride. I reached into my pack for my
> mini-tool, necessary to remove the wheel nuts, and discovered that I'd
> forgotten it. So, I sheepishly told everyone else to go on, tucked my
> tail between my legs, and shuffled back to my car. I saw the whole crew
> glide across Fair Oaks Avenue as I waited for a traffic light on my way
> home, the humiliated Carlton hanging on my bike rack. Sigh. Maybe next
> month...
>
> Today a remarkable thing happened. I drove south to Carlsbad to pick up
> yet another bike I bought on Ebay, an early 50's Olmo with the old,
> single-jockeywheel Campagnolo rear derailleur (I forget what it's
> called) and suicide shifter in front. Part of my search for a bike
> that's almost as old as I am. It was at Pacific Coast Cycles on
> Roosevelt St. in Carlsbad, and, wow, is that a great shop! The owner,
> Chuck Hoefer, is extraordinarily friendly and helpful, and the shop is
> full of wonderful old bikes and parts. The kind of place that has a
> whole wall of tiny, mismatched plastic drawers, each loaded with small
> parts. Exactly the opposite of the squeaky-clean, modern shop filled
> with clothes and mountain bikes. One of his bikes was a mid-70s Cinelli,
> all Super Record, and I came soooo close to asking the price. Only the
> image of my wife waiting at home with a new cast-iron skillet stopped me.
>
> Anyway, I mentioned that my current project in a late 50s Allegro, and
> Chuck started to tell me the story of a local person who had one. Hmmm,
> interesting; the original owner of my bike lived in Carlsbad or
> Oceanside, the next town north along the coast. The bike was stolen
> once, and he just happened to see someone riding it as he was
> test-riding a new tandem. He followed the culprit, got his address, and
> reported it to the owner. The owner called the police, and the bike was
> recovered. We started comparing notes, and it became obvious that it was
> my bike (unless there were two red 59-cm Allegros without decals and a
> thick, gunky paint job in Carlsbad, California at the same time.)
>
> On the way out with my "new" Olmo, I noticed that Chuck had quite a nice
> selection of 27" tires, so I bought a new pair of Continentals to
> replace the cheapo tires on the Carlton. The old rims on the Carlton do
> not hook the bead, like modern ones, so the tire can slip off the rim,
> causing a blowout. Perhaps the better tires, with stronger bead wires,
> will help. (Anyone have another suggestion?)
>
> Afterward, I took a pleasant ride south along the coast, turning around
> just north of La Jolla. Not on the Carlton though; it's sulking in the
> garage with its wheels off.
>
>
> Steve Maas
> Long Beach, California, USA