On Sun, 2010-08-15 at 18:42 -0700, Jim Cloud 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).
Let's not forget, the Cypres is a 30mm (true 31-32) NOT a 38-42mm tire. It's targeted at a different demographic, and there's no way to confuse it with a hybrid tire. > > > > 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. BQ has published enough material from old French catalogs to disprove your statement. > > > 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. And why would a 59 or 60 cm frame be any less ideally suited to the 650B size? Because some people think the wheels look too small? Funny how those same people will often recommend a 559 wheel instead, and that's even smaller. -- 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.
