vrkelley

As I mentioned in a previous post, the 06 Armadillo All Conditions seemed thinner - OK cheaper than say the 2004 All Condition or Turbos.

This morning was the first time I rode in a steady rain with these tires. They tend to loose traction easily especially on the turns. The back end of the bike tends to skid.

Just wanted to give other riders a heads up! These tires 'aint what they used to be'

Jarery

I HATE when they feel the need to 'adjust' something thats working.

This year is bad, they've alread ruined shimano sandals, and now they buggered up armadillos.
Im onto cheap 20 buck mec conti sport tires and tuffy liners if these armadillos ever go belly up.

Thanks for the heads up and saving me cash

slvoid

Just use all conditions with flak jacket, its good enough.

vrkelley

Problem is the Armadillos have a shelf life...so it's probably ungood to get some old used ones on E-bay!

max-a-mill

also maybe since they aree new they still have a slick coating on the outside?

i made the mistake of riding my conti toptourers too hard right in their break in period once.... ONCE! now i'll not try any hard turns till i can see the initial shine has worn off the tire.

Stacy

What's the normal life expectancy for Armadillos? After about 3000 miles I just noticed a couple of small "slashes" in the sidewalll of my rear tire so I guess it's time to ante up again.

Stacy

vrkelley

Sorry Stacy, When I said shelf life, I meant unused....my LBS said that if they sit too long unused, the sides blow out when ypu put air in the tube (causing the tube to flat-out).

max-a-mill How many miles is the break-in period??

Bekologist

wow, getting an armadillo all condition to fail thru the sidewall is going to be some catastrophic failure, wowsers. who the heck is pushing that info? 15 year old, cheap Kenda gumwall tires, maybe.

were the tires already 'scrubbed' by riding on them, but still real slick, VR? I've heard the durometer on the armidillo all conds is a bit slick in the wet. As oppossed to riding tires with that slippery mold release compound still on them.

I've actually washed new tires with soap and water before, to get off a particularily pernicious coating of mold release coating.

Map tester

I just got a pair of All Condition Armadillos (27x1 ¼) and mounted them on my fair-weather commuter last night. They didn't seem all that thin. I have been using Infinities (700x32) on my main commuter and have been pleased with them, until they get too worn out (I'll keep a better watch on them now).

I'll try to report back after I have ridden them for a while.

vrkelley

Greggs in Bellevue confirmed that shelf life thing on a tire that I bought 2yrs ago as a spare...When I put it on last week, the sidewall bead sortof bulges itself off the rim while you're inflating it (or while you ride it at full inflation). It's a large noticable bulge, so I suppose if you rode it anyway the tube would pop.

They sold me the 06 All-Condition that doesn't have good traction on turns and wet steel grates. Most of us know that wet turns and steel grates are slippery when wet. By 'bad traction', I mean even when slowing, the back tire skids out slightly and you have to comnpensate not to fall. Slowing, on those same stretches of road, with the older Turbos and All Conditions, there was no sliding.

Just the same, I'll try your soap idea.

joejack951

The issue with the sidewall bulging sounds like a bad tire or possibly a bent rim. Armadillos have such stiff sidewalls that I couldn't imagine one getting weak just from sitting for 2 years. I've had the same set of Armadillos on my road bike for almost two years now and aside from the center of the rear being really worn, the sidewalls look like new (I think I'm up to 6000 miles on them by now, ZERO flats). I keep them inflated to 125 psi so it's not like I'm going easy on them either.

Bekologist

i'm asking first, vr, are your new, '06 armadillo tires already pavement scrubbed and still slippery?

And I mean "wash," not "Soap"..... critical emphasis difference, VR.....

2manybikes

Doesn't the flak jacket get hot in the summer when riding hard?

vrkelley

No soap Bek, just about 50 miles of solid rain.

Bekologist

this is very basic, and will rely a lot on your personal interpretation, VR do you think your tires are already scrubbed, and the mold release layer has worn away, or not????


this is not rocket science, VR. do you think the tires are too hard, or are they still slick from being new and still slick from the molds?

Stacy

My bike came with Flak Jacket All Condition which were fine for the first 700 ~ 1000 miles. After that I was getting flats every 10 miles!

Switched to Armadillo All Condition just about a year ago and (knock on wood) I haven't had a flat since.

Stacy

filtersweep

What exactly did they used to be? Rock hard tires that had such still sidewalls that they would practically ride flat? They were never grippy tires. They always rode like garden hoses. They were really only good for flat protection-- not performance.

cgchambers

I swear by my Armadillos, but they are a slicker tire. I am trading some grip and speed for flat protection, to me it is worth the trade.

derath

I have been running 700x2506 all conditions on my road bike. I can't compare since it is the first set of armadillo's I have owned. But thinner or not, I have run over fields of glass without any problems. Good enough for me.

They sure are a )(*&)(@_)(*# to get on the rim though.

-D

slvoid

I've had flakjacket through NYC streets on my old bike for about 3500 miles, 1 humongous gash on the rear tire, that was about it.

slvoid

It is 100% necessary in NYC...

2manybikes

vrkelley

Bek,
Back from biking at Lopez. Yes they appeared to be coated with something. After washing, them, we'll have to see on the next rain.

Also the tread depth and style is differant than the older tires. Older tire was more dome shaped and the thickness of kevlar was several mm thicker, weighing about 55g heavier per tire. The newer tires are V shaped and have a smaller contact patch with the street--also seem smoother and harder. Probably to improve rolling resistance.

Time will tell whether there's a break-in period for these tires.