At 10:10 PM -0800 11/4/08, ternst wrote:
>Jan: I haven't read the charts and statistical results.
>When the test were done, did you keep tires the same pressure?
>Or, did you try to compensate for compression factor?
>Was materiel factored, silk, cotton, polyester.nylon, kevlar
>difference in protector strip composition.
>How about rim weight and flexibility?
We tested a variety of tires, at a variety of pressures. The results are reported in the article. I really can't post all this to the list... if you are interested, we do sell back issues of the magazine ($ 10 check for a single issue, multiple issues available at our web site).
Somebody else asked about the different glues. We did not test this. The tires we tested were glued on with standard red Vittoria glue, and the glue had hardened for a few years.
You may speculate whether one glue is faster than the other... that is possible, and we did not test it.
As it was, we spent many days testing tires, and we haven't exhausted the variables that could be tested, nor tested all tires that are of interest. I hope that the autumn winds calm down soon, and we can test the new Challenge Paris-Roubaix 27 mm clinchers (actual size: 29 mm), as well as some other new tires.
One thing about track tires: Would it even be possible to make a clincher tire with a superlight casing, like those used for the hour records? You'd have to reinforce the interface with the rim somehow... So in that case, the superlight, superflexible tubulars still may be the fastest tires available. Obviously, we did not test any of those on our "averagely rough" pavement...
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com