> Jobst suggests that wiping a tire is of little use, but it's one of those
> things that we tend to do.
unfortunately, Jobst is full of crap a surprising amount of the time. If wiping tires were of little use, then I guess all 20 of those Bicycling! magazine articles "Around the world by bike" in the 1970's, which ALL include pix of bikes with tire savers installed (which incidentally, wipe the tires) are staged shots, and tire-savers must not work, because Jobst says that wiping tires "is of little use"... even with tires savers ... sheesh ... what a nitwhit.
I _will_ say that the first time you wipe a tire by hand and something goes wrong, you'll decide that wiping a tire by hand is too much risk for too little reward. This realization will come after you do a 180 degree flip, or a thorn or piece of glass comes through your glove and goes into your hand, etc.
It's best left to the tire savers, which work beautifully in my experience (after 2 non-pinch flats commuting in one month ; I installed tire savers and had no flats for the next 2 years on the same little-groomed route.)
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA