why do you prefer a wire bead?

its heavier and more difficult to bring along.

Because they're cheaper and easier to mount, wiseass.

They're easier to mount if you don't know how to mount a folding bead.

How often do you need a spare tire riding around in the city? Foldables are useful for centuries or bike trips, but not for everyday commuting.

Wire beads keep the tire in round and make changing mindless; foldables have good stretch, but situating the tube/tire/rim takes more time than with a standard wire bead. The price difference is the biggest factor though.

Honestly that's what sold me. Continental Ultra-Sports on a Deep-V isn't really going to benefit from a folding bead. Even the employee at the bike store agreed. Saved me 9 bucks!

actually....no, I don't, last sets of tires I bought were for my Derby cruiser, Schwinn Super Sport, and Schwinn Sport Tourer, that was like two? three years ago? all Kenda, set of 26 inch white wall cruiser tires and two sets of skin walls, and all still like new, :thumb: I'm looking for a decent set of blue tires for my Maddy, but I'm not going to hand over $50.00 for one tire. :twitchy:

get randonneurs for $15.

Where can I get randonneurs for 15?

I'd like to know as well.

Mine was $32 from the LBS.

Undoing the thumbscrews that hold my "thread resurrection tool" from the useless water bottle mounts on my fixie, I now ask, "What say ye about the Fyxation tires now that they've been out there a few months?"

Anybody got any useful new data to input? Wear? Traction? Stickiness of the compound?

I haven't ridden a set yet, so I have no first hand experience. But I do know that they've been sponsoring plenty of events, which is one of the reasons I posted about them.

http://www.fyxation.com/blog/iminusd-quantum-trick-comp

http://www.fyxation.com/blog/pista-de-tierra

http://www.fyxation.com/blog/ace-metric-catcompparty

http://www.fyxation.com/blog/hallowe...o-match-london

Also Australian National Polo Championships. Perhaps someone that attended one of these events could comment.

Does anybody run 28mm on their fixed gear bikes?

No one. Not one single person.

:lol:

Bigvegan, I'll take that as a serious question and answer it. Brian is right in that there is NOT a single person who also posts on the Weight Weenie forum riding them, but LOTS of people DO run 28's. They are actually a better choice for urban assault riding.

As for the "penalty", between 23's and 28's we're actually talking about a 2 tenths of an inch difference, and a "heavier" 23 can actually outweigh a "light" 28. Again, just for reference, a 28 is also SMALLER than the old standard for clinchers, the 27 X 1 1/4.

But ..... tire needs depend on a wide variety of factors, so 23's are the "right" choice for many, 28's for others, and some might even need 38's, (think: 2 miles of dirt trail that gets you into town a half hour faster)! There is no one tire that is right for all fixies in all geographical locations with all size riders doing all kinds of riding.

How have you not already heard of these?

EDIT: Didn't know this was semi-old

I know there are a variety of tire sizes for various needs, but it just seemed a little odd to me that someone would introduce a new line of $50 fixie tires in 28mm, instead of the far more common 23mm-25mm size.

I'm guessing that the 23-25mm tire size would be 80+% of the fixed gear market, and of that remaining 20%, only a small percentage would be willing to pay $49.95 for a tire (despite the attractive color choices), so it seems like a pretty limited customer pool, hence my question about how many people actually use the 28mm tires.

Well, while we're guessing, I would guess that to be wrong. Why? BECAUSE the Fyxation tire is being introduced in a 28c size!

Somebody else posted on this thread previously that "the guy" wasn't making the tires, but having them made. It had nothing to do with the argument, but I'm sure that's the case. So, let's you and I try that! Let's go to a tire manufacturer and tell them WE want to introduce a new kevlar belted tire to the market in a size that only 20% of a given market wants, and at a price point that only 20% of that 20% is willing to pay. Now, how much do you think they want right up front to even begin to DESIGN the tooling?

As long as we're guessing, my guess would be at least $100,000. So OK, we have to cough up 100k right up front. Are we going to do ANY market research up front to make sure there is a market for this product, or do we just fork over the pesos?

Alternatively, let's say we're better salesmen than the average bear, and we sell the Taiwanese tire company on the idea of "you make `em, we'll sell `em, and we'll both make a lot of money". So now the tire company has to come up with all the money to design, tool up for production, and produce the first 10,000 tires. Do you think THEY are not going to do some serious market research before they agree to that?

You don't really have to answer any of these questions. They're retorical, you see.

Now, the reason I was asking about the Fyxation tires is because *I* ride 28c tires on any utility/commuter/trick/tandem bike, as do many others. I also run belted tires exclusively, which is to say that I'm used to paying $50 a tire. They are well worth it to me, as flats are no longer on my radar.

To some, that's not a big deal. They don't ride in urban areas, and for the amount they ride, they maybe get 2 flats a year. But for a while there a few years ago, I was getting a flat about every 250 miles, and that's only a week's milage for me when I'm riding the way I want. So ... a flat on the average of every week. (But actually TWO flats a week I had to change, since my wife rides too.) So we switched to belted tires and now flats are not even on my radar. Now I'M back to two flats a year, and I'm actually surprised, (not unprepared, mind you, but surprised!), when I get a flat!

So, if the Fyxation tires are everything they are cracked up to be, I welcome them. As a matter of fact, I'm ordering two pair today, one in orange for my fixie, and one in lime green for my wife's NEW fixie that FedX is supposed to show up with today, (but that's on another thread).

I'll post pics and let everyone know what I think of them.

I know it would be really easy for me to just ask them why they've chosen a specific size, but I'd rather guess first. Seeing as how they sponsor polo and trick events, the wider size makes more sense to me. And from what I've read here, most guys that commute, rather than racer wannabees, prefer the wider tire for comfort and flat protection over speed.

[edit] I sent them an email.

Between riding on a lot of fixie heavy group rides here in L.A., and working in a bike co-op where I'm regularly helping people convert old road bikes to SS/FG, I RARELY see anyone ride a 28mm tire, unless they came with their ebay bike, despite what would seem to be their advantages on the pothole filled urban streets of Los Angeles, so it would be interesting to know why they chose the 28mm size.

Let me know what you find out, and how well they're selling.

hehe! LA? OK, here's where geography comes in. It might interest you to know that LA has some of the widest, cleanest, and nicest roads of any true "urban" area in the nation!

Pack up your bike and head to New York, Boston, Pittsburgh (OMG!), Cleveland, Chicago ... basically, anywhere back east and up north, and you'll find out how good you've got it.

Brian, please do let us know what they have to say, and I just ordered 2 orange and 2 green from Universal, so I'll let you know how my wife and I like `em.

I have to agree - LA doesn't have bad roads compared to what I've seen in other states. Especially states with extreme heat/cool cycles. And yes, we're counting on you for a review.

You guys clearly haven't spent much time in the City of Los Angeles. Some of our nicer suburbs have glorious black ice asphalt, but the City proper is a mess of potholes and patches and delayed maintenance.

Which begs the question - if the roads are so bad, why do you insist on running such a skinny tire?

Because I wanted cheap white tires, and the CSTs came in 23mm for $19 or so per tire. I'm not sure why nearly every other SSFG rider in L.A. does so as well though. Probably because they're cheaper, perceived to be faster or maybe, as with anything SSFG related, it's just the aesthetics.

Not having seen anyone here, except for a handful of older commuters, express any interest in tires wider than 25mm for their singlespeeds or fixies, a $49.95 28mm tire sounded like the SSFG version of "Jump to Conclusions", which is why I questioned the market for these tires as a company's sole product.