There is indeed a difference. For us, a Big Apple or Marathon is 20-25 euro inclusive of sales tax (i.e. 25-31.25 dollar). A Pasela is at least 25 euro/31.25 dollar (so we moan over the Pasela's). An even remotely decent Chinese tyre such as from Cheng Shin is at least 10-15 euro, or 12.50-19 dollar. Last time I bought a cheap 12 euro tyre it disintegrated (dried out with cracked sidewalls) within 15 months, not to mention the world of difference in ride quality and speed. For us/ me, the difference is thus simply not worth it. I don't want to get a phonecall from my daughter at the other end of town that she is stranded with a failed tyre (could you please pick me up daddy?). And as with my car's timer belt, I replace them well before they are likelly to fail.
I have lived and worked in the US, so I follow the US market a bit. My impression is that the cheaper stuff is by and large a lot cheaper in the US, and that the more expensive stuff is quite a bit more expensive in the US. That probably reflects the different position of cycling in American culture and society (a Huffy or a Richard Sachs, to exaggerate), compared to for example Holland with its large market for good intermediate quality. best wishes, Willem On 14 nov, 19:52, landotter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Nov 14, 8:14 am, WillemJ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > We are a cycling family, and both my wife and I and our two children > > commute to work or school on our bikes. I have long since stopped > > using anything other than Schwalbe Big Apples and Marathons for this. > > They are fast enough for commuting, last quite a long time (6000-10000 > > km) and suffer virtually no punctures. > > The drawback for Norte Americanos with Scwalbes is simply the obscene > pricing over here. The mail order house "Performance" makes a Marathon > clone that's currently on sale for $12: > > http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=24205&subcategory... > > I've used enough of their tires in the past to be confident in their > Taiwanese tire contractor. It's Probably Cheng Shin (Maxxis). --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bicycle Lifestyle" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
