The biggest difference between the Grand Bois tires (standard model) and the lesser Panaracer tires (Pasela, Col de la Vie) is the angle of the casing layers. Zero degrees would be a radial tire, but that doesn't work without a steel belt to hold it all together. However, the closer you get to a radial, the more supple the tire gets. As others pointed out, when you get closer to the edge, you have to work much more carefully, since the margin of error is smaller. That – and the cost of the mold – are the main reasons the Hetre is more expensive to make. The tread rubber is a little different, which adds to the cost, too.
For the Extra Leger version, the casing is made of finer threads (higher TPI), but that alone doesn't account for the better performance. There are a few other, proprietary things that make that tire even more comfortable and fast, but unfortunately, also more expensive. In the car world, the Pasela would be a BMW 3 series, the standard Grand Bois a BMW M3, and the Extra Léger one of the race-optimized special editions of the M3. The basic 3-series costs about 1/4 of the most expensive versions, even though they look the same from the outside... Jan Heine Compass Bicycles Ltd. www.compasscycle.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
