I personally think these would be fine - the greatest problem might be lack of grip in the wet or on a wooden track as the tread rubber has hardened. And unless the tread rubber has hardened really significantly they are going to ride just the same as they did when they were new.
Hilary Stone, Bristol, England
> From: John Thompson <JohnThompson@new.rr.com>
> Organization: The Crimson Permanent Assurance
> Reply-To: john@os2.dhs.org
> Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 10:36:39 -0600
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]Tubulars and sidewalls
>
> Todd Kuzma wrote:
>
>> on 2/8/05 9:25 AM, John Thompson at JohnThompson@new.rr.com wrote:
>>
>>> If they were generic tires, I'd probably just replace them as you
>>> suggest. But not these; they're keepers. Besides, where can you get new
>>> Campionato del Mondo Setas these days without spending and arm and a leg
>>> and a first born child?
>
>> But they will now ride like generic tires or worse.
>
> I guess I don't understand why you feel that recoating the sidewalls
> will ruin the way they look or ride. I've done it before, and properly
> applied new latex on the sidewalls does neither, in my experience. All
> it does is restore the original look, and protect the sidewall from damage.
>
>> If you are going to show the bike, goop on the sidewalls ain't gonna look
>> pretty. If you are going to ride the bike, the cheapest of modern sew-ups
>> will likely ride better. So, what's the point of keeping an old crusty
>> tire?
>>
>> These tires might be "keepers," but it's probably best to keep them on a
>> nail in the garage as a reminder of the good old days.
>
> These aren't crusty old derelicts; the sidewalls are just a little dry:
>
> http://www.os2.dhs.org/
>
> What do other people here think? Am I deluding myself in thinking that
> all these need is a little TLC and some new latex?
>
>> This reminds me of a friend who is a Corvette mechanic and restorer. I
>> might have mentioned him here before. He is very meticulous in his work and
>> would fit right in with the KoF gang in the bicycle world. He constantly
>> has customers who don't want to repair certain things on their vintage
>> Corvettes because they are "original." He always points out that the cars
>> didn't "originally" come with rust or worn-out components. What's the point
>> of driving junk?
>
> Does your friend ever wax his car?
>
> --
>
> -John Thompson (john@os2.dhs.org)
> Appleton WI USA