Caution on Armadillos

In my previous post, I forgot to mention one downside to Armadillo Tires. They have trouble staying on old rims that don't use a "hook bead" configuration - and their pressure advisory specifies "with hook bead rims." No other tires I have say anything about hook bead rims. Most any bike that Doohickie gets by dumpster diving will not have "hook bead" rims. An old Motobecane, such as discussed here will probably not have "hook bead" rims. Most any bike built in the last 20 years will have hook bead rims. Frankenbike, true to its nature, has one wheel with hook bead rims and one without. ChipSeal's bikes certainly have hook bead rims.

There's a good discussion on "hook bead" rims in Effective Cycling. I have never had a puncture with Armadillos due to road debris or anything involving riding. I have, however, had three blowouts with them on non hook bead rims. The most recent occurrence was with a tire that had been mounted for several months, and had over a thousand miles on the tire. This failure is distinctive, since it typically occurs when the bike is not being ridden and the bead winds up outside the rim when the failure occurs (which sounds somewhat like a small caliber gunshot). It usually occurs soon after mounting if the tire isn't fully seated. I am extra careful when mounting any tire on such rims because of this.

I'm building up a new front wheel for Frankenbike. I saw more of sidewalks this morning on my return from a visit to Dallas than I want to see for a long time to come. Frankenbike will no longer have any non hook bead rims, but it will have acquired a French front hub.