Rolly Polly tires we meassured were closer to 26mm than to 28mm. The Michelin Axial Pro 25mm is only 1mm or so narrower than the Rolly Polly but is a good bit lighter. For most folks, the Michelin seems to give a better overall balance - but the Rolly Polly is still very nice.
Bottom line is that nobody is making a good clincher above 23mm. Veloflex 22's are great (and ride better than many companies badly meassured 28's), the expensive Vittoria open 23's are good - but nobody is making a clincher with a tubular tire type casing in a wider width.
In the old days this was not true - the french makers constructed hand-made tires that had tubular style supple casings but with a bead (the open tubular concept). Giant 650b tires were made like this too - the best of all possible worlds. Performance very much like a tubular, but with clincher convinience.
An amazing clincher in a 24-28mm width would virtually transform many bikes - but nobody has the brains to make it. Veloflex was asked, but they declined - they said they couldn't keep up with demand for their current product.
There is a market nitch out there - Mike Kone in Boulder CO
At 08:25 AM 6/21/02 -0400, Rich Rose wrote:
>
>
>Chuck Schmidt wrote;
>Years ago there was an interview with a Continental tire engineer in
>VeloNews and he said that to equal the feel of a 23mm sewup you needed a
>28mm clincher. Recently as a reaction to $60+ clinchers I decided to
>try 28mm Continental Ultra 2000 with wire beads (the things are really
>inexpensive). This is the size tire people use for performance riding
>on tandems from what I understand.
>
>You know what? I like them. They hum like a sewup and with a lower
>tire pressure than a 23mm clincher. They roll nice, no pinch flats
>ever, and they are amazing on descents. AND, you can ride offroad even
>(shades of Jobst Brandt). I put them on my De Rosa and my Colnago.
>They don't feel super "lively" (maybe the extra weight and gyroscopic
>effect) but they are very confidence inspiring on the descents.
>
>They are so cheap I'd suggest everyone at least try a set once; you may
>even love them like I do (yes, I still run sewups and hi-performance
>clinchers on some of my bikes).
>
>Reply: Wouldn't the Roll-Y-Poly be very similar?
>Richard (28's won't fit on my bike), Rose
>Toledo, Ohio