Have been riding 1970's Schwinn 10-speeds forever; motorized ones since 2008. A few years ago I decided to replace the 27 inch rear wheel with 700c, mostly because 27" tires come only in one width (don't argue), have thin tread, and aren't held true by the lipless original steel rims.
So I built up some wheels on the original hubs and bought half a dozen different 700c tires online (mostly from niagaracycle). You can't beat the internet for selection and price, but I hate not seeing and feeling the tires I'm buying. You can't tell tread thickness and rubber hardness by looking at images.
My previous experience with Bell (Walmart) 27" tires was mixed. The quality seemed good and consistent. Most were the "tread alert" type with a green patch that would turn red when the tread wore down. Silly system, but the colored patch didn't affect the tire negatively. You could ride those tires way past the red, almost until the nylon threads were exposed (like tires in the old days). But the rubber was soft and thin for a friction-drive MB.
After switching to 700c, I saw that walmart had Bell road bike tires in my size. At 20 bucks, they are about double the price of my online choices. The craziest thing was the tire width. Search the entire box and all that's shown is 32-45; "will replace sizes 32c - 45c". That's nice. You need to tighten a nut? What size wrench is that? Somewhere between 8 and 11 millimeters.
I tear open the box to check the sidewall for size, but the tire is all folded and rolled up with a plastic zip-tie around it. After hacking through the tie, and feeling like a criminal, I can see on the sidewall that the tire width is 35. Narrower than I wanted. Stuff it back in the poor, tattered package for the next poor, tattered walmart customer.
The batch of tires I bought online was also a mixed bag. Two of the tires from Niagaracycle I would buy again.
VEE Rubber Vrb159 Urban product # 819080. The rubber was hard and lasted long.
Kenda/Sunlite Hybrid K847 Kross Plus Tire product # 8040. It has useless nobbies on the sides, but the tread in the center is nice and thick. Since it is made by Kenda, the belts will most certainly go bad before the rubber tread wears thin.
But I found a way to buy one of those Bell/Walmart tires for 15 instead of 20 dollars, so I got one. On the rim, it is about the exact same width (about 34mm) as a 27 x 1 1/4 tire. It has a reverse-tread pattern; thick rubber with grooves cut in. Good for a friction drive roller. The pic might look blurry if you aren't drunk.
It might be about 6 months until I can say how long the tire lasts. Winter sucks.
So I built up some wheels on the original hubs and bought half a dozen different 700c tires online (mostly from niagaracycle). You can't beat the internet for selection and price, but I hate not seeing and feeling the tires I'm buying. You can't tell tread thickness and rubber hardness by looking at images.
My previous experience with Bell (Walmart) 27" tires was mixed. The quality seemed good and consistent. Most were the "tread alert" type with a green patch that would turn red when the tread wore down. Silly system, but the colored patch didn't affect the tire negatively. You could ride those tires way past the red, almost until the nylon threads were exposed (like tires in the old days). But the rubber was soft and thin for a friction-drive MB.
After switching to 700c, I saw that walmart had Bell road bike tires in my size. At 20 bucks, they are about double the price of my online choices. The craziest thing was the tire width. Search the entire box and all that's shown is 32-45; "will replace sizes 32c - 45c". That's nice. You need to tighten a nut? What size wrench is that? Somewhere between 8 and 11 millimeters.
I tear open the box to check the sidewall for size, but the tire is all folded and rolled up with a plastic zip-tie around it. After hacking through the tie, and feeling like a criminal, I can see on the sidewall that the tire width is 35. Narrower than I wanted. Stuff it back in the poor, tattered package for the next poor, tattered walmart customer.
The batch of tires I bought online was also a mixed bag. Two of the tires from Niagaracycle I would buy again.
VEE Rubber Vrb159 Urban product # 819080. The rubber was hard and lasted long.
Kenda/Sunlite Hybrid K847 Kross Plus Tire product # 8040. It has useless nobbies on the sides, but the tread in the center is nice and thick. Since it is made by Kenda, the belts will most certainly go bad before the rubber tread wears thin.
But I found a way to buy one of those Bell/Walmart tires for 15 instead of 20 dollars, so I got one. On the rim, it is about the exact same width (about 34mm) as a 27 x 1 1/4 tire. It has a reverse-tread pattern; thick rubber with grooves cut in. Good for a friction drive roller. The pic might look blurry if you aren't drunk.
It might be about 6 months until I can say how long the tire lasts. Winter sucks.
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