Tubeless Tires

S. Anderson

Well I drifted down to a shop today, being the first day above 15C this
year. I was checking out the Michelin tires and was quite shocked to see
the pricing. The Comp S tubeless tire was $94. Does that seem odd to
anyone? The Comp S tube tire was $74. Does THAT seem odd to anyone?? Not
sure what the big deal is with tubeless, but you pay $20 extra not including
different rims. And to me, $94 for a bicycle tire seems a bit much. My
last motorcycle front was $124.

Cheers,

Scott..

--
Scott Anderson

ICBM: 43.41 N 79.38 W

jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org

Scott Anderson writes:

> Well I drifted down to a shop today, being the first day above 15C this
> year. I was checking out the Michelin tires and was quite shocked to see
> the pricing. The Comp S tubeless tire was $94. Does that seem odd to
> anyone? The Comp S tube tire was $74. Does THAT seem odd to anyone?? Not
> sure what the big deal is with tubeless, but you pay $20 extra not including
> different rims. And to me, $94 for a bicycle tire seems a bit much. My
> last motorcycle front was $124.

If you take your bicycling seriously, cost is not an issue,... at
least not one the modern bicyclist mentions. It's like the owner of a
huge SUV complaining about the price of gasoline.

Don't buy that stuff. Admit it, the stuff is way out of line in price
and utility. When are we going to see the demise of all this
extravagance? By the way, my truck is bigger than yours, has more
expensive and larger wheels and has eight exhaust pipes. I can afford
it, but maybe you can't. Ho Ho.

Get tubeless tire$ now!

Jobst Brandt
jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org

psycholist

"S. Anderson" <scott.anderson3@zsympaticoz.ca> wrote in message
news:M9igc.38808$vF3.2472686@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Well I drifted down to a shop today, being the first day above 15C this
> year. I was checking out the Michelin tires and was quite shocked to see
> the pricing. The Comp S tubeless tire was $94. Does that seem odd to
> anyone? The Comp S tube tire was $74. Does THAT seem odd to anyone??
Not
> sure what the big deal is with tubeless, but you pay $20 extra not
including
> different rims. And to me, $94 for a bicycle tire seems a bit much. My
> last motorcycle front was $124.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Scott..
>
> --
> Scott Anderson
>
> ICBM: 43.41 N 79.38 W

I see you've already heard from Jobst. On his recco a few years back I
started riding Avocet Fasgrip TT 30 tires. They were awesome. Had to have
my LBS special order them, but it was worth it since they cost at least $15
less than what other tires were going for at the time. But alas ... Avocet
got on the marketing glitz bandwagon and now all their stuff is sky high. I
can't get the Fasgrip TT 30s here in rural SC anymore.

So I buy up closeouts from the catalogs. My recent favorites have been
Paribas ... made by Vredestein. Nashbar has them in their catalog for $25
but they're only $15 on the website. They're awesome little tires. Oh ...
you've gotta be willing to live with yellow. Still, nice tires --
especially for the price.

I'm a high mileage rider and I'm into having good equipment and all. I'm
not a retro grouch or anything. But paying $50 for a tire, IMHO, is just
stupid.

Oh ... and if anyone is buying those new Giro helmets that cost $189 ...
forget it ... you've apparently already fallen on your head and it's too
late for you.

Bob C.

Werehatrack

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 00:08:38 GMT, jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org, in
a rare moment of humorous intent, said:

>Don't buy that stuff. Admit it, the stuff is way out of line in price
>and utility. When are we going to see the demise of all this
>extravagance? By the way, my truck is bigger than yours, has more
>expensive and larger wheels and has eight exhaust pipes. I can afford
>it, but maybe you can't. Ho Ho.
>
>Get tubeless tire$ now!

At least no one has yet marketed a bike wheel with a free-spinning
decorative disc between the spoke rows.

Of course, having mentioned the concept, I'm sure some style-driven
marketing fool will be on the phone to a manufacturer in China to get
the process rolling before Monday...if it hasn't already begun.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 20:44:40 -0400, "psycholist"
<psycholist@wctel.net> may have said:

>Oh ... and if anyone is buying those new Giro helmets that cost $189 ...
>forget it ... you've apparently already fallen on your head and it's too
>late for you.

Oh, but the merely $189 helmets are so "last week", there's an even
pricier one now.

http://www.nashbar.com/results.cfm?...nit=y&pagename=

The "Lone Star Special Edition" is just $225!

Doesn't that just inspire you to grab one immediately? (As for the
question of "one what?", we'll leave that to individual choice.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Chris B.

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 20:44:40 -0400, "psycholist"
<psycholist@wctel.net> wrote:

<snip>

>Oh ... and if anyone is buying those new Giro helmets that cost $189 ...
>forget it ... you've apparently already fallen on your head and it's too
>late for you.

Amusing to see how the rhetoric has changed over time.

jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org

Miscatonic writes:

>> Oh... and if anyone is buying those new Giro helmets that cost
>> $189... forget it... you've apparently already fallen on your head
>> and it's too late for you.

> Oh, but the merely $189 helmets are so "last week", there's an even
> pricier one now.

http://tinyurl.com/25l6n

> The "Lone Star Special Edition" is just $225! Doesn't that just
> inspire you to grab one immediately? (As for the question of "one
> what?", we'll leave that to individual choice.)

From that page:

| The latest statement of Texas pride (or Lance envy) on the lightest
| thing to come out of the wizard works of Giro Helmets, yet. A huge
| lone star adorns this bright red, white and blue brain
| cage. Featuring 26 wind tunnel vents, new carbon reinforced shell,
| interior strap anchors and RocLoc 4 fit system topped off with a 5
| piece in mold shell. Helmet Pod included.

It's nice to see we have returned to the pre 1970 "hairnet" helmet or
its equivalent. I thought there was some test these things had to pass
but that must be a drop test, one in which you drop the helmet on the
lawn to see if it falls apart.

http://tinyurl.com/3cp5c

Jobst Brandt
jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org

Werehatrack

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 03:57:34 GMT, jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org may
have said:

>Miscatonic writes:
>
>>> Oh... and if anyone is buying those new Giro helmets that cost
>>> $189... forget it... you've apparently already fallen on your head
>>> and it's too late for you.
>
>> Oh, but the merely $189 helmets are so "last week", there's an even
>> pricier one now.
>
>http://tinyurl.com/25l6n
>
>> The "Lone Star Special Edition" is just $225! Doesn't that just
>> inspire you to grab one immediately? (As for the question of "one
>> what?", we'll leave that to individual choice.)
>
>From that page:
>
>| The latest statement of Texas pride (or Lance envy) on the lightest
>| thing to come out of the wizard works of Giro Helmets, yet. A huge
>| lone star adorns this bright red, white and blue brain
>| cage. Featuring 26 wind tunnel vents, new carbon reinforced shell,
>| interior strap anchors and RocLoc 4 fit system topped off with a 5
>| piece in mold shell. Helmet Pod included.
>
>It's nice to see we have returned to the pre 1970 "hairnet" helmet or
>its equivalent. I thought there was some test these things had to pass
>but that must be a drop test, one in which you drop the helmet on the
>lawn to see if it falls apart.
>
>http://tinyurl.com/3cp5c

I have begun to hope that perhaps the reasoning behind the pricing is
that in a case where the purchaser is willing to pay the price for the
helmet, the likelihood is smaller that there's anything to protect.
(I think somebody else had a similar observation.)

As for the testing, I think it's restricted to this:

If dropped, will it achieve these two results:

1. Hit the ground.
2. Not break.

I didn't go out and watch the start of the MS150 this morning, but it
might have been amusing to see if there were any of the subject item
atop riders.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Marty Wallace

"Werehatrack" <rault00@earthWEEDSlink.net> wrote in message
news:5a74801i5heeu04ro1ife5ac4r63pkflqs@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 03:57:34 GMT, jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org may
> have said:
>
> >Miscatonic writes:
> >
> >>> Oh... and if anyone is buying those new Giro helmets that cost
> >>> $189... forget it... you've apparently already fallen on your head
> >>> and it's too late for you.
> >
> >> Oh, but the merely $189 helmets are so "last week", there's an even
> >> pricier one now.
> >
> >http://tinyurl.com/25l6n
> >
> >> The "Lone Star Special Edition" is just $225! Doesn't that just
> >> inspire you to grab one immediately? (As for the question of "one
> >> what?", we'll leave that to individual choice.)
> >
> >From that page:
> >
> >| The latest statement of Texas pride (or Lance envy) on the lightest
> >| thing to come out of the wizard works of Giro Helmets, yet. A huge
> >| lone star adorns this bright red, white and blue brain
> >| cage. Featuring 26 wind tunnel vents, new carbon reinforced shell,
> >| interior strap anchors and RocLoc 4 fit system topped off with a 5
> >| piece in mold shell. Helmet Pod included.
> >
> >It's nice to see we have returned to the pre 1970 "hairnet" helmet or
> >its equivalent. I thought there was some test these things had to pass
> >but that must be a drop test, one in which you drop the helmet on the
> >lawn to see if it falls apart.
> >
> >http://tinyurl.com/3cp5c
>
> I have begun to hope that perhaps the reasoning behind the pricing is
> that in a case where the purchaser is willing to pay the price for the
> helmet, the likelihood is smaller that there's anything to protect.
> (I think somebody else had a similar observation.)
>
> As for the testing, I think it's restricted to this:
>
> If dropped, will it achieve these two results:
>
> 1. Hit the ground.
> 2. Not break.

It's not hard to search for info.
Try this URL for a bit of info on helmet testing.
http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/regsumbicyclehelmets.pdf

Marty

>
> I didn't go out and watch the start of the MS150 this morning, but it
> might have been amusing to see if there were any of the subject item
> atop riders.
>
> --
> My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
> Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
> Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Kevin Cullen

S. Anderson wrote:

> Well I drifted down to a shop today, being the first day above 15C this
> year. I was checking out the Michelin tires and was quite shocked to see
> the pricing. The Comp S tubeless tire was $94. Does that seem odd to
> anyone? The Comp S tube tire was $74. Does THAT seem odd to anyone?? Not
> sure what the big deal is with tubeless, but you pay $20 extra not including
> different rims. And to me, $94 for a bicycle tire seems a bit much. My
> last motorcycle front was $124.

I've had both of those tires, and neither one cost nearly that much.
($25 and $38 respectively) I think that shop's got too much markup.

As for tubeless tires costing more money, I look at it this way... I
rode my first pair of tubeless mountain bike tires for two years before
getting a flat. In the previous two years, riding the same places and
mileage, I probably went through at least eight tubes on each tire.

8 x $4.50 = $36

That $36 savings in tubes per tire justifies the usual $15-$30
difference in price between the tubeless and tubed version of most tires.

--Kevin