fish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (05/16/84)
(oo)
I've had a couple of people ask me about these, so I'm posting a copy
of a letter I sent recently:
--
"Tire savers" are little loops of wire that ride gently on
the surfaces of your tires and knock off little fragments of
glass, rock, debris, etc. They attach to the frame via the
brake pinion bolts opposite the brakes.
They are very inexpensive, but they are worth their weight in
diamonds. To look at them, you wouldn't think they would do
much to prevent flats, but they do. You can get them at any
bike shop, and they can be installed in a few minutes with
a small wrench. Adjusting them is easy. They consist of
four parts: a mounting bracket, a wire yoke, and two short
lengths of plastic tubing which supply all the pressure that
is necessary to keep the yokes on the tires. Gentle pressure
of only a fraction of an ounce is all that is needed to maintain
contact.
They last up to 2500 miles. They should be replaced when they start
to wear thin, about half their original thickness. As for their
function, I have had only one flat in the last 4000 miles of riding,
that being from a staple that went into the sidewall as I rode over
a crack in the pavement. I have ridden right through broken glass
numerous times without incident, and I've worn out three or four
back tires without a single puncture. Before I started using tire
savers, I only had to think about a broken bottle and I'd get a
flat. By all means, get a set. If you never buy another bike
accessory, get these.
--
Bob Fishell
ihnp4!ihu1g!fishdsn@umcp-cs.UUCP (05/17/84)
Regarding Bob Fishell's rave review of tire savers: do you have tubular
tires or clinchers? I had the (possibly erroneous) impression that tire
savers only made a significant difference for people who used tubular tires.
(For those who don't know: clincher tires are the "normal" bicycle tires.
Tubular tires are more exotic. They don't have inner tubes, and you mount
them on the wheel by gluing them on. Supposedly they provide less rolling
resistance, but I've never been convinced of that. Disadvantages are that
they need to be pumped up more often, and that they are more vulnerable to
punctures--hence the use of tire savers.)
--
Dana S. Nau
CSNet: dsn@umcp-cs ARPA: dsn@maryland
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!dsnfish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (05/18/84)
(oo)
Tire savers are just as effective on clinchers as they are on tubulars.
And at $1.98 per pair, the best bargain in biking.
--
Bob Fishell
ihnp4!ihu1g!fishjoe@fluke.UUCP (Joe Kelsey) (05/18/84)
Tire Savers are great, but when I equipped my bike for commuting in the Great Northwest, I had to put fenders on and take the tire savers off. Sigh. /Joe
wunder@wdl1.UUCP (wunder ) (06/01/84)
Tubulars (sew-ups) do have innner tubes. It just takes two hours of sewing to replace the tube (careful with that needle, now). Well, actually, the Wobler Liberty doesn't have an inner tube, but it is weird anyway. wunder
powers@noscvax.UUCP (William J. Powers) (09/05/85)
I have always used tire savers because I believe that they do reduce the number of flats. Whenever I go through any sort of debris (including water) I usually rub both tires with my hands. Now the winter approaches. For those of us on the West coast that means rain. I have been storing a pair of fenders for over a year now. I have hesitated to install my fenders because with fenders it becomes difficult to rub the tires with your hand (the front tire can be fairly easily rubbed) and because tire savers cannot be easily used (if at all). If rubbing your tires and using tire savers has any merit, it will be especially important in the rain when all sorts of debris will be picked up. The question is: does anyone have any thoughts or know of any studies on the merits of tire savers and/or rubbing your tires. Some advocates of fenders have claimed that the relative benefits of tire savers are minimal. Others claim that a Mr. Tuffy works just as well. As far as I know, no studies have been made on the relative value of any of these methods has been made. I'm sure that this has been discussed before, but I must have missed it. Bill Powers.
kds@intelca.UUCP (Ken Shoemaker) (09/07/85)
I don't know how scientific it is, but I have been riding all year with
a tire saver on the rear tire and none on the front tire. The results?
No appreciable difference in the incidence of flats on either tire
in > 1000 miles. Notable, these were mainly in the Santa Cruz mountains,
not in the city, where I would expect there to be more "tire dangerous" stuff.
Also, there is no problem using tire savers with fenders, in fact, that
is the reason for my current setup (I have a rear fender but no front
fender). All you need do is attach the tire saver to the end of the
fender instead of wherever you have it attached now. My fenders convienently
have a hole right in the center that can be used for this purpose.
--
...and I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody outside of a small circle
of friends...
Ken Shoemaker, Microprocessor Design for a large, Silicon Valley firm
{pur-ee,hplabs,amd,scgvaxd,dual,qantel}!intelca!kds
---the above views are personal. They may not represent those of the
employer of its submitter.dupuy@columbia.UUCP (Alex Dupuy) (09/09/85)
Although I have a set of tire savers, I've never had the chance to use them, so I can't say whether they're worthwhile. This summer, though, I got some of the new Kevlar belted tires (Specialized K-4s) before touring in Europe. I did a fair amount of it on dirt roads and worse, and didn't get a single flat -- a first for me. They aren't noticeably heavier than ordinary touring/city tires, and a racer I met in Germany told me that they have very low rolling resistance, because of their stiffness. A Kevlar belted clincher was tested as having lower rolling resistance than silk sewups. I don't know what a Mr. Tuffy is; perhaps one of those solid/non-inflated inner tubes? K-4s might be worth considering instead; they are only a dollar or two more than the other good touring/city tires (about $9 where I got them, at discount). @alex
fred@gymble.UUCP (Fred Blonder) (09/10/85)
> From: kds@intelca.UUCP (Ken Shoemaker) > Message-ID: <65@intelca.UUCP> > > I don't know how scientific it is, but I have been riding all year > with a tire saver on the rear tire and none on the front tire. The > results? No appreciable difference in the incidence of flats on > either tire in > 1000 miles. . . . I've been riding a year and a half ( > 2000 miles) with ``Mr. Tuffy'' PVC plastic tire inserts, which go between the tire and inner tube, in both tires. So far, no flats in either tire. (Of course, now that I've mentioned it publicly, Murphy will probably take note. ;-) ) I ride mostly on public streets, and believe my tires are exposed to the same amount of crud as everyone else's. Tire liners were discussed in this newsgroup about a year ago, and some people reported that those of European manufacture were too stiff, and tended to slice through the tire wall. Mine are made in the U.S. I don't know the internal condition of my tires since I've had no reason to take them off the wheels. -- All characters mentioned herein are fictitious. Any similarity to actual characters, ASCII or EBCDIC is purely coincidental. Fred Blonder (301) 454-7690 Fred@Maryland.{ARPA,CSNet} seismo!umcp-cs!fred
bill@utastro.UUCP (William H. Jefferys) (09/10/85)
> I've been riding a year and a half ( > 2000 miles) with ``Mr. Tuffy'' > PVC plastic tire inserts, which go between the tire and inner tube, in > both tires. So far, no flats in either tire. (Of course, now that I've > mentioned it publicly, Murphy will probably take note. ;-) ) I ride > mostly on public streets, and believe my tires are exposed to the same > amount of crud as everyone else's. > > Tire liners were discussed in this newsgroup about a year ago, and some > people reported that those of European manufacture were too stiff, and > tended to slice through the tire wall. Mine are made in the U.S. I > don't know the internal condition of my tires since I've had no reason > to take them off the wheels. Better check out the rear tire (usually the first to go). Both I and my wife installed "Mr. Tuffy" on our bikes and after about a year, Mr. Tuffy sliced through the rear tires on each one. The bicycle dealer I go to has had similar reports. I have gone over to Kevlar belted tires with much better results. -- Glend. I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hot. Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call them? -- Henry IV Pt. I, III, i, 53 Bill Jefferys 8-% Astronomy Dept, University of Texas, Austin TX 78712 (USnail) {allegra,ihnp4}!{ut-sally,noao}!utastro!bill (UUCP) bill@astro.UTEXAS.EDU. (Internet)
peters@cubsvax.UUCP (Peter S. Shenkin) (09/10/85)
In article <> dupuy@columbia.UUCP (Alex Dupuy) writes: > >Although I have a set of tire savers, I've never had the chance to use them, >so I can't say whether they're worthwhile. This summer, though, I got some of >the new Kevlar belted tires (Specialized K-4s) before touring in Europe. I >did a fair amount of it on dirt roads and worse, and didn't get a single flat I got a flat on my K-4's the first time out; the tread picked up a piece of glass which slowly worked its way in. So I got tire savers. Now it sounds like there's a canary perched on my front wheel. Then I found out that real cyclists wipe their tires with their gloves; I think I've mustered enough courage to try this on the front wheel, so my front tire saver is coming off. (They do seem to work, however....) Peter S. Shenkin philabs!cubsvax!peters Columbia Univ. Biol. Sci.
powers@noscvax.UUCP (William J. Powers) (09/13/85)
> > > From: kds@intelca.UUCP (Ken Shoemaker) > > Message-ID: <65@intelca.UUCP> > > > > I don't know how scientific it is, but I have been riding all year > > with a tire saver on the rear tire and none on the front tire. The > > results? No appreciable difference in the incidence of flats on > > either tire in > 1000 miles. . . . > > seismo!umcp-cs!fred Because the rear wheel must bear a greater amount of weight than the front tire and is also the driving wheel, the rear tire tends to get more (in my experience, much more) flats than the front tire. Consequently, this information has very limited value. I ride tire savers on both front and rear tires. I average a flat about every one thousand miles on the rear tire; whereas, the average distance between flats on the front tire is approximately 5000 miles. Bill Powers.
hammond@noscvax.UUCP (John A. Hammond) (09/16/85)
> Because the rear wheel must bear a greater amount of weight than the > front tire and is also the driving wheel, the rear tire tends to get > more (in my experience, much more) flats than the front tire. > I've heard it said that the front tire loosens up the small items that cause punctures and they then stick into the rear tire and eventually penetrate. The tire saver prevents them from making more than one trip around. -- ARPA/MILNET -- hammond@nosc UUCP -- ihnp4 \ akgua \ decvax > !sdcsvax!noscvax!hammond dcdwest / ucbvax /
sasaki@harvard.ARPA (Marty Sasaki) (09/20/85)
You know its time to go home and rest when you find yourself trying
to play songs on your tire savers by varying your speed...
--
----------------
Marty Sasaki net: sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp}
Havard University Science Center phone: 617-495-1270
One Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138kds@intelca.UUCP (Ken Shoemaker) (09/24/85)
> > Because the rear wheel must bear a greater amount of weight than the > > front tire and is also the driving wheel, the rear tire tends to get > > more (in my experience, much more) flats than the front tire. > > > > I've heard it said that the front tire loosens up the small > items that cause punctures and they then stick into the rear > tire and eventually penetrate. The tire saver prevents them > from making more than one trip around. I guess I'm just wierd (or maybe lucky?), then, since all things equal, I was having many more front flats than rear flats... -- ...and I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody outside of a small circle of friends... Ken Shoemaker, Microprocessor Design for a large, Silicon Valley firm {pur-ee,hplabs,amd,scgvaxd,dual,qantel}!intelca!kds ---the above views are personal. They may not represent those of the employer of its submitter.