[shiggy]

2Mellow started the ball rolling with Hutchinson for a Python 29 x 2.1. They were receptive. Later Gary Fisher stopped by and asked for the same thing.
I would like to see a 29" Spider, too, but Hutchinson is big on being sure the market justifies the expense. Python first, Spider later (I will suggest dropping the 26" Scorpion).

I told Schwalbe they "would kick @$$ with a 29 x 2.25..." and Steve finished my thought "...Racing Ralph." We have friends in Canada. Need to convince Germany.

Nokian was asking bike company reps and me if they should make the NBX Lite in 29 x 2.2, 29 x 2.4, or both. I said both - 2.2 first.

 

[donkey]

2Mellow started the ball rolling with Hutchinson for a Python 29 x 2.1. They were receptive. Later Gary Fisher stopped by and asked for the same thing.
I would like to see a 29" Spider, too, but Hutchinson is big on being sure the market justifies the expense. Python first, Spider later (I will suggest dropping the 26" Scorpion).

I told Schwalbe they "would kick @$$ with a 29 x 2.25..." and Steve finished my thought "...Racing Ralph." We have friends in Canada. Need to convince Germany.

Nokian was asking bike company reps and me if they should make the NBX Lite in 29 x 2.2, 29 x 2.4, or both. I said both - 2.2 first.

Great news. I'd be very excited to see any of the above come into fruition!

Thanks Shig,

B

 

[ozlongboarder]

Great work Shiggy, keep the pressure on them!!

 

[Carl Mega]

Oooooooooo Ahhhhhhhhh.

Good new, indeed.

 

[OneGearGuy]

awesome news

that is just great! shiggy, you are our greatest ambassador. thanks.

i will tell those companies right now that they have customers who are ready to buy those tires when available.
if they build them, we will come!!

OGG

 

[shiggy]

You guys should send nice, supportive emails to the companies, too. Good for them to hear many voices.

 

[20.100 FR]

Now my next step is to convince Huchinson to make an UST 29er
Rims are already ready, just have to create a nice bead.

PS : For hutch, i asked for a 2.0 first (before the 2.3), as light as possible with strong aramid beads.

 

[ozlongboarder]

You guys should send nice, supportive emails to the companies, too. Good for them to hear many voices.

Shiggy, any chance you can provide us with the email addies for the specific people at these companies who need to hear from us?

 

[2melow]

It seems like the 2.1" will happen before the 2.0". It was explained to me more air volume with very little weight penalty. I seem to remember their product delelopment guy saying a sub-620 gram 2.1" Python was very possible.

 

[~martini~]

Yeah, that would make love(begging?) notes much easier to send along!

 

[CBaron]

Awesome news!

This really is great news. It adds alot of validation to the general riding public..and other companies looking in "from a far".

My question is...(trying not to hi-jack)....At what point will our niche market be saturated w/good tires? Or to put it another way...what volume of multiple tire options can our (29er) population sustain?

I would think that at some point in time, having our market saturated w/quality tires would not be a good thing (for the manufacturers). Therefore coming to the table early w/the right tires, by the right companies would be very important to garner a competative advantage (obviously think WTB here). But unless our (niche) market expands rather quickly, can it keep up with the supply of up-and-coming tires?

**If this is too off topic I'll be happy to take it to another thread.

 

[slim_pickens]

I would think that at some point in time, having our market saturated w/quality tires would not be a good thing (for the manufacturers). Therefore coming to the table early w/the right tires, by the right companies would be very important to garner a competative advantage (obviously think WTB here). But unless our (niche) market expands rather quickly, can it keep up with the supply of up-and-coming tires?

It's fashion driven - A reasonable new tire will sell until it becomes an old tire. There are hundreds of nearly indistinguishable 26" tires and the ones that sell are the new designs from the trendy manufacturers (right now, Schwalbe/Kenda, last year Hutchinson/Maxxis, Continental/Geax a few years ago and Specialized waaaay back). They'll be only tires to have for a while, then they'll get speced OEM on some bikes and fade into obscurity. See: WTB Velociraptor

 

[shiggy]

It seems like the 2.1" will happen before the 2.0". It was explained to me more air volume with very little weight penalty. I seem to remember their product delelopment guy saying a sub-620 gram 2.1" Python was very possible.

At Interbike I was told the change to 2.1" from 2.0" was simply for marketing and the casing size of the tires is the same.

Hutchinson tires have always been "big" compared to most other companies. For OEM some bike companies would not spec the Hutch 2.0 tires (even though they are bigger than many 2.3 tires) because they wanted 2.1s for marketing reasons.

 

[shiggy]

I will dig up some addys.

 

[20.100 FR]

yep, python 2.0 are not far from bontrager XR 2.2

Python 2.3 are huge.

 

[GlowBoy]

2Mellow started the ball rolling with Hutchinson for a Python 29 x 2.1. They were receptive. Later Gary Fisher stopped by and asked for the same thing.
I would like to see a 29" Spider, too, but Hutchinson is big on being sure the market justifies the expense. Python first, Spider later (I will suggest dropping the 26" Scorpion).

I told Schwalbe they "would kick @$$ with a 29 x 2.25..." and Steve finished my thought "...Racing Ralph." We have friends in Canada. Need to convince Germany.

Nokian was asking bike company reps and me if they should make the NBX Lite in 29 x 2.2, 29 x 2.4, or both. I said both - 2.2 first.

Wow, that's great Shiggy! Thanks for the info, and for promoting bigwheel tires. I agree with you, getting a 29" Spider would be a major coup for us, though I'm reasonably satisfied with the Klaw and it would be best for the market to get the Python first anyway. Also glad to hear at least someone at Schwalbe understands the demand for a fast, light race tire.

I heard a rumor that Nokian might be working on a 29" studded tire (i.e., bigger than the 700x45 Hakkapeliitta). Did that come up in your discussion by any chance?

- Dan