The summer riding season is well under way, particularly for road riders who are taking advantage of the warm weather and long days to commute by bicycle, join evening group rides, and plan longer weekend bike trips. With the added mileage comes incremental wear and tear on the bike, particularly its tires. Since tires are the only point of contact between the bicycle and the road, it’s important to inspect them often.
Depending on a tire’s makeup, the weight of the rider, and whether the tire is positioned on the front or rear wheel of the bike, the life expectancy of the average road tire is between 1,500 and 4,000 miles.
If a customer keeps buying tubes, or mentions that they’ve been getting “a lot of flats lately”, it’s a good sign that the tires are ripe for replacement. Signs of tire wear can be easily missed by the average rider, as they require a somewhat trained eye to notice: reduction in the depth of grooves in the tread (as compared to a new tire), signs of the tire “squaring off”, holes or punctures from past damage, and sidewall cracks.
Once you’ve identified terminal tire wear, it’s time to help the customer understand why it’s necessary to buy new tires. Fortunately with budget-friendly CST Tires, you can offer diverse options at prices starting under $20.
A great option for commuters and road touring riders is the CST Caldera, which is engineered to be both durable and resilient. This tire is available in 700c diameter and widths of 25mm and 28mm. Both of these widths are available in wire or foldable bead, with the primary difference between the two beads being the threads per inch (TPI), and the resulting road feel and weight of the tire.
For the Caldera wire bead tire, the TPI is a relatively low 27, and it weighs between 340 and 385 grams. The Caldera foldable bead, on the other hand, has a TPI of 60 and subsequently weighs less – between 270 and 335 grams, depending on diameter. Additionally, the Caldera foldable bead features CST’s Exceptional Puncture Safety (EPS) technology, making it even more impervious to road hazards. Either way, Caldera is a tire that’s up to the challenge of long miles on the streets of the city.
When your customer’s kit matches their bike and helmet, it’s a great idea to “match” them to the CST Czar tire, which comes in a rainbow’s array of red, orange yellow, green, blue, pink, grey, and white. Offered in diameters of both 650 (black/grey only) and 700c, with TPI choices of 27 or 60, the Czar is as smooth-riding as it is good-looking, making it an ideal tire for roadies putting in long training rides and commuters navigating the roads to and from work.
All eight colorways of the Czar road tire come in widths of 23 and 25mm, with wire or foldable bead. Overall, Czar is a lighter tire than Caldera, with the foldable bead option weighing 240 grams and the wire bead option weighing 285 – 315 grams.
Meanwhile, at 215 grams, the Recourse weighs in as one of CST’s lightest road tires, and its foldable bead version boasts a plush TPI of 120, as well as CST’s EPS technology to protect against flats. Available in widths of 25 and 28mm, Recourse is engineered for road riders who want a superior tire for training and racing.
CST Tires are available from all major bike shop distributors. The Caldera, Czar, and Recourse range in price from $17-$40 – making them a low-cost and high-impact upgrade to offer customers.