tire research
 

hello all,

After doing my research I have decided to go with these tires http://www.rei.com/product/709110/co...-tire-26-x-175 it has the highest TPI 180 . But on last question is there any tires made in the USA? thanks

No.
Where was your bike made?

Mine was hand-made in Germany, as are most of my colleagues' bikes.

I know wishful thinking .......

Look at a tube and see where it was made.

Continental's tubes and tires are made in Germany last I checked, but that is the only alternative to the ROC or the PRC.

I wonder where Michelin makes their tires, since they have factories all over the world. Bet they have a production facility in France for bike tires.

Jim

Hi, you made me laugh :) Do you refuse anything that is not made in USA? You must own very little then.

Believe it or not, if you look in the right places, most of your daily needs can still be found with things made in this part of the world. Cheap consumer electronics are a exception, but computers are not, many of the "industrial computer" products are made in USA, so are things such as many of Intel's CPU's made in the USA. With Intel having 15 fabs, only 3 outside of the USA at the moment (1 in Ireland, and 2 in Israel), and 2 more being built, one in Arizona and one in Israel.

Jim

And where do the materials and machinery Intel uses come from? Where do you draw the line and decide whether something was made in USA, assembled in USA, manufactured in USA, etc? What percentage of components and materials and tools used must also come from USA for the product to be really made in USA?

I prefer the term Human Made.

I know my WI freewheel is made in USA.

The United States is the 4nd largest producer of Silicon wafers (Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea are ahead today) with Intel having their own facilities to produce them in the USA last I checked, as for the machinery, currently majority is made in the USA (and around 80-90% of American production is exported), with a smaller amount being produced in Japan and Taiwan.

Human made is over rated. :lol:

Machines are better then we are, and typically more consistent in production. Intel's IC's for example since I'm on the topic went from a failure rate of over 75% in the late 1970's where human involvement was more direct, to today, where human interference is minimized a great deal to less then 100ppm (or 0.01%) defect rates, while decreasing the fabrication size from 10um (~0.0004 inches) to 22nm (~.0000008 inches).

Jim

Excellent choice!

Well if I can support an American I will.... I got a felling that there is big changes coming and we will be buying american products again .... But that's another story.

The Continental tires on my bike are made in Taiwan.

I'm in a tech. industry but why do we need talk about stuff like this here? Please save these for tomshardware or anandtech.

Not going to happen. Simply impossible. Manufacturing is way too spread all over the world. Besides "Made in USA" doesn't imply higher quality. Stuff made in Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Japan, etc., is equally good or better. And if we moved all manufacturing back to USA there is a chance we'll be making lots of junk too.

Besides, how do you know you're actually supporting American? Maybe the factory and workers are American but the owner is chilling in Taiwan or Germany. Do you know how many "American" brands are owned by Europeans and Asians these days? Chrysler, an icon of American engineering, is controlled by Fiat now.

Then there is the large picture: OK, so that Intel CPU may be made in USA, but try to find good motherboards, memory and hard drives made in USA? What are you going to do? Frame that CPU and hang it on your wall or build a computer?

Y'all ever heard of the Industrial Revolution? Kinda changed things, at least as far as manufacturing goes. But it was a while ago. Get over it.

Just one of many companies that still build motherboards in the USA ... http://www.chassis-plans.com/industr...herboards.html

RAM Modules are still made in the USA too ... http://www.keystonememory.com/buy.php using chips from http://www.micron.com/ who still produces the DRAM IC's themselves in the USA at their Manassas facility (they have 2 other fab plants as well to produce more products such as Flash chips).

Western Digital makes SSD's in the USA, Crucial uses Micron's US made Flash IC's and assembles them into their cases in Singapore or Taiwan, as does Intel (in cooperation with Micron at their joint IM Flash Fab) produce their SSD's in China using the IC's that are produced in the USA.

You can even buy computer cases made in USA ... http://www.calpc.com/index.html ... the difficult part would be to source a American made PSU, as PC Power & Cooling is off shoring PCB production and population today, and I'm not quite sure how much is American assembly/final packaging today. But if you can live with a rack mount case, there are a few manufacturers of American PSU's for them.

Jim

It seems like some members are against buying american if its possible. Just because you cant buy everything here...doesnt mean you shouldnt buy what you can.
I would gladly use Taiwanese tubes with USA made tires.

Maybe for your Car..

I went to a bike store today, the Continentals tires said "Made in Germany". I don't know how you got Taiwanese Continentals.

Jim

Highest TPI as compared with what cross section of tires? There are many tires out there that have a substantially higher thread count than 180. Beyond that, thread count alone is not necessarily a great way to judge a tire. A tire should also do what you want it to do. Were you specifically looking for a tire that was aggressively side knobbed like the Travel Contact?

Conti still has some production in Germany, but most of their tires are now made in Asia. For the record, all Schwalbe tires are made in Asia. The headquarters, engineering, and design for both Conti and Schwalbe are located in Germany.
I'm not sure about Michelin.

I have Travel Contact on my commuter and my wifes grocery getter. I have been very happy with mine. I mostly ride on streets, and the slick aspect of the tire definitely decreases rolling resistance, but the side tread allows me to cut through off road areas. These tires also perform well on gravel paths. Wonderful all around tire.