Re: [CR] Modern gumwall clincher

(Example: Framebuilders:Jack Taylor)

Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:07:29 -0700
From: "Fred Rednor" <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: Re: [CR] Modern gumwall clincher


I'm glad Don mentioned these tires, because many people don't realize that there actually were a reasonable number of high performance clinchers available in days of yore.

In fact, the first time I rode an "open clincher" style of tire was actually in 1969. These were made by Hutchinson and came on my Atala. They were interesting tires in that the casings and tread were very thin, very light, very supple, not particularly narrow (i.e. labeled as 27 x 1 and 1/4) and... very delicate.

Perhaps some of the folks who dealt with French stuff in those days remember these tires? I know that Atala is an Italian manufacturer, but they often used rims and tires/tubulars from French manufacturers.
     Best regards,
     Fred Rednor - Arlignton, Virginia (USA)
> In 1977, I purchased a SEKAI 2500 Grandtour with the
> smoking hot
> "Sekai Special" 300 gram gumwall tires, 27 x 1 1/8. 
> That was a very
> light and narrow wired-on tire for that era.
>
> For another $40, which I did not have as I was a poor high
> school
> sophomore, I could have purchased a SEKAI 2700 Grandtour
> Deluxe with
> the 27 x 1" "Sekai Special Ultralight" gumwall tires at
> the
> unbelievable weight of only 270 grams.
>
>   http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~gillies/sekai/77_05_gt_deluxe.jpg
>
> At the time, most gumwall tires were 350 or 400 grams.
>
> Both tires were almost certainly made by IRC or Panaracer,
> and even
> today a wired-on tire in that size is hardly lighter, even
> in the more
> competitive 700c tire.  The main improvement since
> that time has been
> in the kevlar beads available on some times, and introduced
> within a
> year or two of 1977, I think.