regular vs folding tyres - ease of use

saunaboy
saunaboy Posts: 116
edited February 2011 in Road beginners
Hi all,

Just a quick question. Got out today & put 40 miles in, well chuffes..BUT a puncture half way in took 30 min to fix.

I'm thinking of swapping the current standard issue tyres for folding ones. Are they easirt to change seeing that they don't have the steel wire round the edge. It was a total pain in the arse today.

cheers!

Comments

  • rake
    rake Posts: 3,204
    not make no difference. still has an unstretchable bead just that it folds and is lighter.
    be better of swapping your fingers for some stronger ones. loose fitting tyres are dangerous.
  • saunaboy
    saunaboy Posts: 116
    cheers. so they're lighter? I'm upgrading wheels from basic issued ones to mavic aksium in near future. Would you recommend moving to folding types to get best results?
  • rake
    rake Posts: 3,204
    all i can make out is a little more weight to the tyre, and a fair increase in price. thats up to you.
  • pst88
    pst88 Posts: 621
    My one experience with folding tyres (continental gp4000s) was that they were harder to fit than regular tyres because it didn't have anything to hold the shape until it was fully on. YMMV.
    Bianchi Via Nirone Veloce/Centaur 2010
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Folding tyres generally have more supple sidewalls and therefore generally offer better handling and grip that cheaper tyres, which often have stiffer, inflexible sidewalls. The downside of most folding tyres is that the softer sidewalls are more succeptible to cuts.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • mikeyboy12345
    mikeyboy12345 Posts: 187
    I honestly can't think of a reason to go with tyres with a wire bead. I've never had any issues with cut sidewalls, but one advantage of a folding tyre is that you may well be able to take a spare in the saddle pack for long unsupported rides in the middle of nowhere.

    It makes a massive difference to the weight - about 100grams in some cases between a wire bead, and the same tyre from the same manufacturer with a folding kevlar bead.

    I reckon it's likely the actual rims which are making it difficult to mount your tyres. I recently got some cheapo rims for the winter hack and actually had to go and buy metal tyre levers and a tyre jack just to get the tyres ON! The same tyres slip over my Mavic OpenPros with no drama whatsoever.

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