The tire on the left is at 80 PSI, the one on the right is at 70 PSI.



These are both cheap-o Kenda 26X2.125 whitewalls, rated at 40 pounds by the nonsense on the sidewall.

The secret? Nothing earthshattering. The tires are mounted to aluminum hooked-bead rims - with a high polish for good luooks:



The rear is a Caloi if I'm not mistaken. Seems to fit the bill quite well, even though its still a bit of a cheapie single-wall rim.

A good tip to keep in mind if you're ever looking to turn your ballooner into a performance machine - get some rims with a nice sharp hooked bead, and pump your tires up to 80 PSI. Those who want to be adventurous might try taking it up to 100 PSI - but I haven't tried bringing it up that much yet for fear of blowing out a nice new tube that has already proven itself at a satisfactory 80 PSI...

-Kurt

Nice timing - take a look on the vintage MTB thread, where I finally got around to putting up the Raleigh Seneca. I'm using Bontraeger 26x2.125's running about 70 lbs, and have had a surprisingly good time with the bike. Way more than I expected to enjoy when I picked it up. By the way, the Bontraegers are rated at 45-65 on the sidewall, so it wasn't much of a stretch.

So I have a 2005 Cannondale 50/50 w 26 inch wheels, Continental Town & Country tires and Sun RhynoLite rims. The current max PSI is 70 lbs. Would you say (and I am absolving you of all liabiltity) that I could go to higher PSI and not fret?

With one exception - the Bontaraegers were probably designed for hooked beads as opposed to these ballooners, which are marketed as straight-wall-only fare.

Wish me luck when I mount these on my '80s repop Western Flyer.

Take care,

-Kurt

Possibly. I do not know if this might have adverse affect on the rubber, but if it doesn't blow off, it might work.

-Kurt

Kurt, I know you're a little bigger than me, but I run a Trek MTB with 1.9" tires at the 65 psi max rating. They run great on the road, and I have a hard time imagining that 15 psi more would make them any better. Might be apples and oranges, but I'd hate for one of your balloon tires to blow on you and cause you an accident. Please be careful.

I hear you on that - hence why that WF is going to get a few test runs before any long rides. At my 220lb average weight though, the extra PSI comes in handy.

-Kurt

Not sure about those particular Kendas, but the 130's are known for splitting where the whitewall meets the black tread. Someone told me that, but who knows how old their tires were. I have those exact Kendas in gumwall on my Bridgestone. I might try the 80 pounds and see how it goes. Not sure I could take the ride for long,,,,BD

I ran Conti T&C's (2.125 In) on on Mavic 231's on my Miyata TrailRunner at 80-85 psi for years.on pavemant,Az singletrack,over glass,cacti thorns,goat heads,you name it. The trick I found...Those cheap Bell double thick tubes!!! One flat in 6 years of owning that bike, Great combo!!

I've had a few beat-up examples of this tire in both gum and whitewall - they've held up fine even after having sat, dryrotted, and got covered in mold for god knows how many years in someone's backyard before I got to 'em.

The Contis, again, a tire designed for hooked-bead. My main point of filling these particular tires up to 80 PSI was to see if a tire not specifically designed for hooked-bead service could hold the extra pressure when used in comination with a hooked bead.

Those thick Bell tubes work well on cantankerous wheels - my Raleigh Twenty would bust tubes every week, no matter how clean the rims or tires. Probably some rim defect though that I couldn't find. Stuck a pair of thick Bell tubes in there, never had another problem.

-Kurt

The Kendal gumwalls on my Collegiate are rated at 60 lbs, but I run them as high as 75 lbs with no issues. No hook edge on those old Schwinn rims! But, I'll admit the tires were hardest non hooked-non bead tires I ever had to massage onto a rim, especially a steel rim.

Kurt, nice looking set of wheels. We should name you the "Polish Meister."

Why would you assume that higher PSI means "higher performance"? A tire provides its best performance (balancing shock absorption, handling, braking, cornering) at about 15% deflection. That 15% deflection is measured by measuring the distance from the rim to the pavement before you get on the bike, and then measuring it again after you get on the bike. The distance should be reduced about 15% when your full weight is on the bike.

On a super-fat tire, such as those traditionally supplied with beach cruisers, a 150 pound rider might obtain 15% deflection at about 30 PSI. A 180 pound rider might obtain 15% deflection at 40 PSI, and a 200 pound rider might obtain 15% deflection at 50 PSI.

If you inflate a "super fat" beach cruiser tire to 80 PSI, it is likely to have zero deflection, even under the weight of a 200 pound rider. That means the sidewalls won't flex as you go over rough pavement, the tire will not absorb shock, the contact patch is narrower than intended, and cornering, handling, and braking are impaired.

And, of course, when you hit a pothole at high speed, you are gonna have a really sudden loss of pressure in your tire. High performance? High performance is running a tire at the correct PSI for its design and construction, and running it at the correct weight for its rider.

I do the same with EA3 tires on Raleigh, Sturmey or Dunlop badged Endrick and Westrick (never on Westwood) rims. - 75 PSI as opposed to 60. The performance gain is remarkable, and of course, the Raleigh rims have such a tight fit that there's little chance of them blowing off.

-Kurt