Road Cycling - Folding tires?

I am partial to the Vittorias we have now. No good reason except that they have not given us any trouble yet, and I can match my bike color too. :)

But I am thinking about getting at least one folding tire to carry as a spare when we ride. Which raises several questions.

1. Any reason that is not a good idea?

2. What are the practical differences between wire and kevlar bead tires?

3. Any major disadvantages to kevlar beads?

We are talking about 700x23 tires.

Thanks...Gary

Gary,
I know several people who use kevlar beads satisfactorily exclusively for the weight savings. I use inexpensive Vittoria wire beads because tires get cut up so fast on my commuting. I went through a couple of pair of expensive Continentals and Specialized before I gave up and went to inexpensive tires. I also have a folding tire for emergencies.
Regards,
Raymond

I only use folding tires.
Vredestein Fortezzas are my favorites.

I'm curious about your need to carry a spare(since we are talking about clinchers as opposed to tubulars).

If you are doing long tours and/or cutting your tires frequently you can often get by by carrying a tire boot. A dollar bill or an energy food wrapper can be used in an emergency.

poptart -

You must have missed the thread somewhere about anal-retents. :D

This is a belt-and-suspenders approach to things, which I tend to exercise even more as I age. The extra weight vs the peace of mind seems like a reasonable tradeoff.

Cheers...Gary

as far as i know the only disadvantage to folding kevlar bead is cost - they're usually lighter and just as if not more durable than cheaper wire bead.

i took a spare with me touring - but it also served a second purpose - i had a MTB with slicks and brought a knobby tire to put on the rear for day-trip off-road where a slick is not so good

In my experience, the Kevlar bead stretches a little, so they are manufactured small. It makes them harder to put on when new, so you may have to use tire tools to mount them. Hardly a drawback, just watch out for your tube. Also, because of the stretch factor, you probably only want to mount them on rims with a J-hook (the outer edges of the rim bend inward, and give the tire bead something to catch on). The failure mode is a tire that "blows off" the rim, with a 3 inch tear in the tube. The Nashbar catalog use to have an illustration showing both types of rims, but I haven't seen any rims lately that don't have J-hooks, so it may not be an issue.

Originally posted by roadbuzz
Also, because of the stretch factor, you probably only want to mount them on rims with a J-hook (the outer edges of the rim bend inward, and give the tire bead something to catch on). The failure mode is a tire that "blows off" the rim, with a 3 inch tear in the tube. The Nashbar catalog use to have an illustration showing both types of rims, but I haven't seen any rims lately that don't have J-hooks, so it may not be an issue.

This is a HUGE issue with older rims. Most modern tyres, whether folding or not, are designed explicitly for hook-beaded rims. (Read your sidewalls, everyone!) This is one reason we can have 100-120PSI today, versus 70PSI of yesteryear.