tires

Most of the people I ride with know that I ride exclusively on tubular tires. It is something I am used to and something I am very familiar with. I have weighed the trade offs between using clinchers and tubulars and I am happy with the decisions I have made. This post is not to persuade anyone to choose one type of tire over another. I just want to find a tubular that I can train on that doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (BRAIN)—Michelin North America will be raising bicycle tire and tube prices by up to 15 percent on products sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico. This increase will take effect Sept. 1.

Michelin North American director of public relations Lynn Mann said the increase is steeper than its other product lines because this is the first price hike this year for bicycle tires and tubes. She cited rising raw material, energy and transportation costs as the reason for the increase.

In Part 1 I described the differences in construction of the two types of tires themselves. Building on that knowledge I will explain the advantages and disadvantages of each type of tire construction in regard to actual use. Again, we will start off the discussion with the pros and cons of clincher tires.

Clinchers:

Last week About.com posted an article by David Fiedler about buying bicycle tires. While it has some good advise, there are a few things that are plain wrong. I am surprised that someone who claims to be an expert with hundreds of articles and two books would publish an article like this without even checking his facts first.

Nothing ruins a beautiful day on the road (or trail) like a flat or two. There are a few things that you can do to minimize the amounts of flats you get while riding.

After everything was said and done, here is a summary of the upgrades/swaps that we did on out Cannondale Road Tandem. Nashbar/Winwood cyclocross fork replaces the Cannondale Tandem Specific Fatty fork. Avid SD-7 linear pull brakes replace the Avid BB-7 mechanical disc brakes. Custom wheels built from Shimano M760 hubs, DT Swiss R1.1 rims and WheelSmith DB spokes replaces OEM 40 hole wheels.