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When did tires become directional?

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When did tires become directional?

Old 01-31-11, 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by 3speed
Hmm... If it makes you feel any better and more "off the hook" for doing it the "right" way, I haven't been into the whole road biking thing very long and have never really cared or worried about it. However, now that it was mentioned, I do think it might look a little more put together to put the labels opposite the valve stem. Just to balance out the look. I've thought about it for a split second when reading about it before and am actually slightly opposed to the whole label with the stem thing simply because I think it makes the tire look visually unbalanced.
I've noticed that, but bent my will to conformity.
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Old 01-31-11, 12:58 PM
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I don't think that water is much of an issue on road bikes like Sheldon says because bike tires are so narrow. I run a set of Kenda 838's on my Mt. Hood during the summer months because they are smooth and roll with very little resistance for their width while still not jarring you to death. They are wide almost like a motorcycle tire and at higher speeds I guess they would hydroplane if they weren't grooved. But all the Kenda's I own are not marked for a rotation direction and say Kenda on both sidewalls.

I can imagine some tires with blocky and taller/thicker tread segments which may squirm around a little bit under extreme cornering and/or braking at some lower pressures. If they are shaped a certain way to avoid squirm going one way they may squirm a hellalot spinning the other way. If a manufacturer wants a tire to go a certain way then one should probably follow it or risk some adverse handling effects. I know with motorcycle tires if you run certain tread designs backwards the tire squirm is scary/nasty in the wrong direction.

I do like those Kenda 838's They excude stickiness in the corners right down to dragging pedals lean angles. I suppose us crazy sportbike riders shouldn't be riding bicycles like they are motorcycles
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Old 01-31-11, 01:55 PM
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Originally Posted by mandrake
What about on a mtn. bike with knobbies? I have some tires where reversing the tread pattern look like it would decrease traction and not ride as well on smooth surfaces and maybe wear out prematurely. I always go with the direction stated on all tires. There is no apparent reason not to.
IIRC, the Tioga "Farmer John" was the first directional-tread mtb tire, followed closely by the Panaracer "Smoke" and "Dart", and the WTB "Velociraptor" (the best mtb tire of all time, IMO).

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Old 01-31-11, 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Amesja
I suppose us crazy sportbike riders shouldn't be riding bicycles like they are motorcycles
Why ever not??

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Old 01-31-11, 02:15 PM
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I had a directional MTB tire mounted in the wrong direction for years. When I switched it to the correct direction, it became much quieter on pavement.
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Old 01-31-11, 02:20 PM
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I think, since Don't Ask Don't Tell is no longer valid, you can openly run your tires either way,
and not have to worry about labels.
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Old 01-31-11, 02:34 PM
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The tire pressure thing would work for me, if only I could read it. And if I carried a tire gage. Sometimes I remember to take my reading glasses along on rides. Generally, I just mount the tire, paying no attention to labels and such. I pump it up til it feels hard to the thumb, and ride on. But then I've always been a rebel.
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Old 01-31-11, 03:27 PM
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Originally Posted by jimmuller
My original post was asking "When did it become traditional?" Maybe it was traditional back in 1972 when I started riding but I sure didn't notice, and wouldn't have noticed one way or the other anyway. But, umm, isn't "tradition" a form of conformism?

Tradition includes steel frames with horizontal top tubes, does'n'it?

[I'm just pulling a few chains here.]
I think it probably started, out of someone getting tired of hunting for flat causing objects looking at the whole tire, then they noticed that the label was a point of reference, which made it easier, and they told others, who started doing it, until pretty much everyone was doing it. That is when it became tradition, not following the tradition makes people think some clueless idiot installed the tires.

As for directional tires, road tires, it doesn't matter much, although, if the tire maker puts a direction arrow on the side of the tire, and you ignore it, then when people notice it, they will think some clueless idiot installed the tires. It's common to have a direction of travel on off-road tires, sometimes it's same front and rear, sometimes they go one way on the front and the other on the rear, sometimes the front and rear tire are different, but don't have a direction of travel, sometimes they are different front and rear and do have a direction of travel. In the case of off-road, putting the proper tire on front and rear in the stated direction, can make the ride, much more enjoyable.
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Old 01-31-11, 03:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Wogsterca
I think it probably started, out of someone getting tired of hunting for flat causing objects looking at the whole tire, then they noticed that the label was a point of reference, which made it easier, and they told others, who started doing it, until pretty much everyone was doing it. That is when it became tradition, not following the tradition makes people think some clueless idiot installed the tires.
I agree with everything you said here.

Bike mechanics might not look down their noses at you if you put your tires on "any old way" but they will look down their noses at you less if you have them installed the "traditional" way. You get a small shot of instant credibility and "belong" when they realize that you know a little something.

This goes double for the hipster kid fixie-riding bike mechanics who look down their noses at just about everyone.

We are all clueless idiots to one degree or another. Some of us are more aware of our limitations and seek to minimize them, and some of us are better at hiding them (for good or ill).
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Old 01-31-11, 06:18 PM
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Originally Posted by jimmuller

[I'm just pulling a few chains here.]
If you don't mind - it's traditional to 'yank' a chain, not 'pull' it.
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Old 01-31-11, 06:32 PM
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TRADITION!

If I were a rich man...
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Old 01-31-11, 07:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Old Fat Guy
That go for cars, too?

I guess it all depends on the speed that you use the tires at.
The purpose of tread is to move water away so the rubber can grip the road. With no tread on a car, it will hydroplane at about 45 mph. This varies due to the width of the tire.

A bike tire is so narrow that I believe Sheldon Brown estimated you would need a speed of 100+ mph for one without tread to hydroplane. So again, directional treads are just plain silly.
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Old 01-31-11, 07:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Old Fat Guy
It doesn't make any difference if you never ride over 100mph.
fify
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Old 01-31-11, 08:19 PM
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Originally Posted by sciencemonster
If you don't mind - it's traditional to 'yank' a chain, not 'pull' it.
Ah. Yes, okay. Got it. Will try to remember.

Originally Posted by Wogsterca
I think it probably started out of someone getting tired of hunting for flat causing objects looking at the whole tire, then they noticed that the label was a point of reference, which made it easier, and they told others, who started doing it, until pretty much everyone was doing it. That is when it became tradition, not following the tradition makes people think some clueless idiot installed the tires.
A very cogent answer giving a reasonable evolution of the tradition. Thank you. Of course it didn't really answer the question of when... When I bought my first bike tires didn't have easily visible multi-color labels. Instead they had just a string of embossed lettering and such. T'warn't no label to line up with anything, as far as I remember. (Will have to check the old wheels hanging on the garage wall.) Some time between then and now we all became either experienced conformists or clueless idiots.
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Old 02-01-11, 12:21 AM
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Originally Posted by RobbieTunes
I think, since Don't Ask Don't Tell is no longer valid, you can openly run your tires either way,
and not have to worry about labels.
Nice.
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Old 02-01-11, 01:22 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by jimmuller
And when/why did it become "compulsory" to mount them with the label at the valve stem? A directional tread at least requires the label be on a particular side (and on the right only if the manufacturer made it that way). But I see no reason for the position other than style and perhaps convenience of reading the pressure when pumping up.
for racing tires, the thread is a design thing - they could be bald, but bald tires don't sell for some reason. (it's not only me who is saying that, but also a Conti engineer..). So "directional treads" are pretty dispensable, too.
(The "aquaplaning" effect encountered on cars is due to the patch -contact area between tire and road- being way bigger and way, way wider than on a bicycle, and the speed being potentially higher. A bicycle tire's patch is very narrow, it will just cut through the water, unless you reach speeds of 150+)
About the "label at valve stem" thing i don't know; possibly came with clinchers becoming more popular. Bike mechanics love those tiny details, which have no effect on the way the bike actually rides, but show it has been built with the utmost attention to detail.

Last edited by martl; 02-01-11 at 01:28 AM.
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Old 02-02-11, 02:19 PM
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black tie

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and post my first rant on BF. I've been thinking about the direction this thread is taking, and I'm finding it upsetting. What ever happened to cycling for the pure pleasure of it? When did it become a matter of conformity, or tradition (or keeping up with the Joneses) to line up the tire label with the valve stem, because it might otherwise reflect poorly on one's mechanical abilities, or vanity? If I'm out there on the road with a group of riders, and one of them looks down at my wheels and thinks less of me because of where the tire label is, whose problem is that really? Certainly not mine. Now, it seems, we have to dress our bikes up in black tie in order to be accepted by the other black tie riders.
I guess this has been going on for some years now, and I've been so far out of the loop that I haven't noticed it.
I ride because I enjoy riding. Please don't invite me to your black tie affairs.
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Old 02-02-11, 02:24 PM
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Did you attend your wedding in ripped jeans and a stained t-shirt? How bad was your BO?

There are levels of conformity in everything. Some take it to a higher level, some don't. Why is being a reverse snob (you) better than being a snob?
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Old 02-02-11, 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by seedsbelize
I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and post my first rant on BF. I've been thinking about the direction this thread is taking, and I'm finding it upsetting. What ever happened to cycling for the pure pleasure of it? When did it become a matter of conformity, or tradition (or keeping up with the Joneses) to line up the tire label with the valve stem, because it might otherwise reflect poorly on one's mechanical abilities, or vanity? If I'm out there on the road with a group of riders, and one of them looks down at my wheels and thinks less of me because of where the tire label is, whose problem is that really? Certainly not mine. Now, it seems, we have to dress our bikes up in black tie in order to be accepted by the other black tie riders.
I guess this has been going on for some years now, and I've been so far out of the loop that I haven't noticed it.
I ride because I enjoy riding. Please don't invite me to your black tie affairs.
Because we have a bit of OCD within us.

Last edited by oban_kobi; 02-02-11 at 02:28 PM. Reason: I've been post jumped!
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Old 02-02-11, 02:38 PM
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Originally Posted by seedsbelize
I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and post my first rant on BF. I've been thinking about the direction this thread is taking, and I'm finding it upsetting. What ever happened to cycling for the pure pleasure of it? When did it become a matter of conformity, or tradition (or keeping up with the Joneses) to line up the tire label with the valve stem, because it might otherwise reflect poorly on one's mechanical abilities, or vanity? If I'm out there on the road with a group of riders, and one of them looks down at my wheels and thinks less of me because of where the tire label is, whose problem is that really? Certainly not mine. Now, it seems, we have to dress our bikes up in black tie in order to be accepted by the other black tie riders.
I guess this has been going on for some years now, and I've been so far out of the loop that I haven't noticed it.
I ride because I enjoy riding. Please don't invite me to your black tie affairs.
I see your point, but for me, it's the build rather than the bike that moves my spirit. I don't care what kind of machine it is, as long as I get a chance to take it apart and put it all back together without too many pieces left over. Getting the tires on a bike the right way is a part of that - it's not some keep-up-with-the-jones thing. It's the same result, but a different motive.

I'm sure everyone so obsessed with tire label placement has some whacked motivation, but maybe some of them aren't black tie.
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Old 02-02-11, 02:51 PM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by iab
Did you attend your wedding in ripped jeans and a stained t-shirt? How bad was your BO?

There are levels of conformity in everything. Some take it to a higher level, some don't. Why is being a reverse snob (you) better than being a snob?
+1 It's why I have different bikes. Many are vintage period correct roadsters, a couple of race worthy speed bikes with labels correctly positioned, one is a rusty, fixed gear franken bike with a bad attitude, etc. For me, that's non-conformist

I think we all enjoy riding for ridings sake.
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Old 02-02-11, 03:09 PM
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Originally Posted by martl
(The "aquaplaning" effect encountered on cars is due to the patch -contact area between tire and road- being way bigger and way, way wider than on a bicycle, and the speed being potentially higher. A bicycle tire's patch is very narrow, it will just cut through the water, unless you reach speeds of 150+)
In that case I'll have to remember to keep my speed down when it's wet. ;-)

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Old 02-02-11, 03:11 PM
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Originally Posted by martl
About the "label at valve stem" thing i don't know; possibly came with clinchers becoming more popular. Bike mechanics love those tiny details, which have no effect on the way the bike actually rides, but show it has been built with the utmost attention to detail.
For me, it just makes it easier to track down the cause of a puncture, tho' to be honest the tire doesn't move much on the rim when I remove the tube (and I almost never remove the tire from the rim when changing a flat), so that "fixed" reference point is of debatable utility.

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Old 02-02-11, 03:37 PM
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IIRC in most cases tubulars have the lable by the valve stem. Not much choice excet which side the labe is on. Labels on rims are to cover the joint.
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Old 02-05-11, 04:47 PM
  #50  
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I just checked the tires an all 3 bikes(two of which are vintage), and none of them have labels. That's a relief.
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