When Beth speaks, I listen. Times are hard. New product development expensive, risky. RBW recognized a way to revive frames with narrow clearances, to be used with fenders and bigger tires, and championed the 650B wheel diameter. And, tiny but savvy groups of connoisseurs in France, Japan, and a few spots in North America wanted a revival. Not to mention the Country Bike concept. But then it became clear that big, supple tires are fast and good, which I suspected, but never appreciated that much until...the past few years...but this knowledge can be transmitted to the future, when conditions may change. Supple has meant somewhat delicate in the past, and big tires don't fit all sizes and styles of frame as well as narrow... still: imagine a tough puncture proof gossamer membrane, a pneumatic suspension of minimal mass and high friction, yet with no rolling resistance... I don't think, for the right size frame, the diameter is so critical, subject to experiment, of course. The small folks will find small diameters sympatique, the big folks will find the wide wheels simpatico, don't give up the dream just yet. I still hope for custom cottage manufacturing in the USA with the aid of the electronic computer and robots. And some hand crafting by local crafters. How do folks make tires by hand? I've seen a youtube of the Panaracer machines.
I wrote all that before Jim chimed in, and now I wonder if Sheldon would agree... On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 6:42 PM, Jim Cloud <cloud...@aol.com> wrote: > > > On Aug 15, 3:19 pm, Steve Palincsar <palin...@his.com> wrote: >> > >> There's no Consumer Reports of bike tires, either. So if there was a >> diamond out there amongst all the hybrid tires, who would ever know it? > > Well, I think that Jan Heine has done a pretty good job of testing > bicycle tires and this has certainly led to a greater demand for 700C > tires like the Gran Bois Cypres 30mm (which Vintage Bicycles also > sells). > >> Then there's pricing. The cheap wide 700C tires basically set the price >> the market's willing to pay. Could you sell a tire that costs 2-3 times >> as much as the competition? > > Again, the Gran Bois 700C Cypres tires are selling for $58.00 from > Vintage Bicycle and others. The demand for these tires, while > limited, certainly exists. I know several dedicated cyclists who ride > these tires and they definitely attribute almost magical qualities to > the Cypres (I haven't tried them myself, but I'm considering them in > lieu of the Jack Browns). > > >> There is no 700C bike that's built like a 650B >> randonneur, why should there be a tire for one? > > The Boulder Bicycle randonneur bicycle is produced in sizes from 51cm > to 61cm for either 650B or 700C tire sizes. I believe, from any of my > reference material (which included some Rene Herse brochures) that > 650B tire size wasn't traditionally the size of tire that was used by > French Randonneurs, they were generally 700C size. The 650B was the > size that French constructeur builders primarily used for "Camping" > models. > >> Why should they? Those passionate about wonderful supple fast wide >> tires are in the 650B arena. > > I suspect that the availability of the 650B size tire in the wide > sizes has something to do with their origin in Japan, and the Japanese > infatuation with French bicycles. This demand is geared to > domestically produced cycles in a range of frame sizes that would > rarely exceed 56cm that are ideally suited for a 650B tire size. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- Bill Gibson Tempe, Arizona, USA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
