Worst I ever encountered were the synthetic-casing Japanese tubulars in the late 70's/early 80's. Sold under a number of different names. Almost didn't need rim cement, if you ever got them stretched onto the rim, the pressure would hold them on.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
Eric Goforth <ewgoforth@earthlink.net> wrote:
jeffrey piwonka wrote:
> my continental that doesn't want to fit is 74"
> circumference measured around the inside of the tire.
> i found this site.
> http://www.bikecult.com/
>
> and going by the 20-630 the circumference should be
> about 1978mm which i think is 77"
>
> no way that tire will stretch 3", right?!?!
> i put some vittoria rally tubulars on my other bike
> and had not too much trouble getting them on. i
> compared this continental to another vittoria that
> hasn't been on a rim in a few months. there looks to
> be about a 3" difference in circumference between the
> two.
>
3" sounds like too much. That works out to a wheel diameter that's about 1" smaller (say 26" vs. 27").
I've probably put 40+ different makes and models of tubulars on my bikes over the years and I've always found the Conti Sprinters to be the most difficult to fit. The cheapie Conti Giros aren't too difficult.
The Sprinters seem to be the most tight fitting and I think that the synthetic casings aren't as stretchy as cotton tires. I've never used any of the really high end Conti tires, so I don't know how they compare, but their casings look similar to the Sprinters.
--
Eric Goforth
Raleigh, NC USA