Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 19,379
Likes: 5,524
From: Rochester, NY
Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
Originally Posted by
maddog34
... Bike tires are hand built Not in my experience. Most tires are molded/vulcanized in a very expensive mold, This mold might be partially hand formed (it is amazing what CNC can do these days) and there is almost ALWAYS some tread wobble Agreed a very few mms at most (excepting actual defective tires)... meh... the most common example is the reflective stripes some commuter tires have,,, they dance around like a happy calf after a nice sunny nap.
ride it.
There are what I would call truly hand made tires but they are generally the very high end models. Sew ups/tubulars and "open" wired ons (what most will incorrectly call "clinchers") have the tread cap hand laid down and the tire is "cold glued", which does reduce the amount of wobble compared to a hot vulcanized sew up (the cheap ones) most any sew up will have more wobble then a wired on will as there's no mold to control the shape and placement of the parts.
I'll add, to the reflective stripe not being concentric, that the addition of the stripe effects the casing's durability. I've seen so many reflective stripe edges being where the tire's cracking can be seen first. What a great location for a reflective surface, barely an inch away from the grit/grime of the road/trail
Andy
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