On 05/31/2004 05:54 PM, "Cushdelmar@aol.com" <Cushdelmar@aol.com> wrote:
> Since I am a distributor for Tufo Tires, my favorite brand of tires is no
> surprise. I wanted to give some logical reasons but while thinking about
> tubulars, I was stumped by this issue:
>
> Most experienced riders of tubulars like to feel the sidewalls: the more
> supple the sidewall, the better the feel and in theory, less rolling
> resistance. The feel test is a substitute for knowing the thread per inch
> count of the tire. And, in theory, the higher the thread count, the more
> supple the tire.
>
> It seems in my research the highest real thread count is around 290 tpi.
> Victoria's tires seem to have the highest thread count followed by Tufo
> which has a 220 tpi series of tires. You have to be careful about thread
> counts. For instance, Continental says their thread count is 430 tpi for
> their top of the line clincher tires but they note that is total thread
> count of five layers! The same is true of their tubulars.
>
> So before I tout Tufo's, some riders will feel a Tufo sidewall and
> correctly determine that is isn't a supple as a Victoria. And for good
> reason: the Tufo tire is tubeless but the inside of the casing is
> vulcanized with a butyl rubber compound. So you're feeling both the tires
> and sort of a tube. On other tires, you don't really feel the tube.
>
> If you pumped up a Victoria and a Tufo, they would feel close to the
> same. So perhaps the feel test isn't fair. On the question of rolling
> resistance, however, there seems to be general agreement that a tubeless
> tire has less rolling resistance than a tire with a separate tube. My
> thinking is this is why Tufo tires have a good reputation of low rolling
> resistance but not quite the feel of a traditional tubular.
>
> Since I'm not an engineer and hardly a good mechanic, I'm wondering if my
> thought process is correct?
I'll tell you what ...
I've ridden Vittoria exclusively for the past several years, from their cheapie Nuovo Pro and Rally tubulars on an old track bike (stolen in 2000, major pout), to their newest Corsa EVOs on my Richard Sachs.
I've got 3 full sets of wheels between my Cooper, my Sachs, and a spare set ...
So here's what I propose:
Send me a few pairs of the various models you have, and I'll pull off all my Vittorias and give the Tufos a fair test on 2 different bikes, with 3 sets of wheels, and I'll post my findings here.
Deal?
<GRIN>
Steven L. Sheffield Not expecting anything in Midvale, Utah.
--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea aye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [four word] slash