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General tyres

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General tyres

The world of tyres!
I guess there are those that live and breathe these day to day,

I have tubeless radials on the back of mine, some michelins that I can't find in Australia and must have been fitted in NZ. 125/r12. The tyre experts seemed to think these were good for my rims, even when I suggested they might need tubes.

So who knows if the rims are for tubed or not... can't tell if they're original and so I guess you only find out the hard way if you take a corner fast on some low tyres!
 
BambinoClassic said:
The world of tyres!
I guess there are those that live and breathe these day to day,

I have tubeless radials on the back of mine, some michelins that I can't find in Australia and must have been fitted in NZ. 125/r12. The tyre experts seemed to think these were good for my rims, even when I suggested they might need tubes.

So who knows if the rims are for tubed or not... can't tell if they're original and so I guess you only find out the hard way if you take a corner fast on some low tyres!
Click to expand...

In post #18 above I mentioned a company called Longstone Tyres, they're based in the U.K. and currently stock Michelin X tyres in a 125R12 size, they also have Pirelli Cinturato tyres in 125SR12 size. The reason I mention it to you in Australia is because afaik Longstone either have a branch or some connection with a company of the same name in Australia.

Al.
 
The Whitakers said:
Thanks all, a good informative thread......


Sorted now :)
Click to expand...

Always good to air this topic again as it brings out lots of information but also some misinformation and old wives tales. A lot of the outlets that sell tyres these days have no idea about what tyres are right for these rims. I can tell you that none of the Fiat 500 rims from N to R were ever designed for tubeless tyres. Some 500R rims were 3.5" with the same pattern as the 4" early 126 wheels. All of the 126 models had tubed tyres until the water cooled Bis arrived in the late eighties. I did worry quite a lot about the suggestion that you could remove the internal ribbing in a tubeless tyre to make it suitable for tubeless. If a tubeless tyre stays pumped up on any of those rims it is by luck and not design and if for any reason the pressure gets low you can drag them away from the rims when cornering just like a blowout.
 
This is all good information thanks. It looks like based on the valves I have tubes in my two Michelin 125/r12 but not in the others.
Going to order two new Pirelli and tubes.
At the moment VDLaan is the cheapest at about 140eur for the 2 tyres and 2 tubes plus 70eur shipping to aus. And yes this is still cheaper than getting them locally!

Just wondering if anyone knows another source that might be a bit cheaper? Tyres are a very unexciting (if necessary) way to spend money on the little bambino when she has so many other pressing issues!
 
Ok so I've revived this thread.....


I bought the wheels of Hugh Jarse and they have been fine but alas I need 2 new tyres...…the tyres fitted to these rims are tubed.....


I had an order in with Moto bambino for other stuff so thought I'd throw a set Of Pirelli's 'as originally fitted' tyres in too...…


So they came yesterday and in big letters on the sidewalls state 'tubeless'...….so how can they be 'as originally fitted'...….


Oh the quandary now, I have a set of wheels running tubed tyres but the as originally fitted new tyres are tubeless and apparently illegal if I fit tubes in them…...
 
Hi I checked on Longstone tyres:

https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classic-car-tyres/fiat/500/125sr12-cinturato-cn54.html


And their Q&A states:

Q: Can I fit an inner tube a 125SR12 tyre?
A: Yes, If you want to. The Michelin 12CB13 is the best inner tube for a 125SR12. However it is not compulsory as it is a tubeless tyre. So assuming you are fitting it on a tubeless wheel there is no need to fit an inner tube in a 125SR12 Pirelli Cinturato CN54.


Maybe give them a call ?
Rob
 
I hope this film on here answers your inner tube questions https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classic-tyre-inner-tubes.html

-If you have a tyre that says tube type on it that is easy. you need an inner tube.
-If you have a tyre that says tubeless on the side of it; you do not have to fit an inner tube assuming you have tubeless wheels
-If you have a low profile tyre, lower than 70%, you cannot fit an inner tube.
-if you have a tall profile tyre (125R12, 125/80R12 or 145/70R12), regardless of weather it is a tubeless tyre or not you can fit an inner tube if you want, or if your wheel determins you have to.
-All tyres lower than 70% profile cannot fit an inner tube. (eg 155/65R12 do not fit an inner tube)

When pressed steel wheels were fitst made everyone fitted inner tubes. It was late 1960s when they started making tubeless tyres and fitted them to pretty standard rims, not very long after they started doing that they developed a safety rib to hold the tyre on the rim.

I don't think Fiat 500 rims have safety humps, As a result even though Pirelli now make the original tyre as tubeless, with a proper Fiat 500 wheel i think you shoud fit inner tubes.

I would suggest fitting 125SR12 Pirelli Cinturato CN54. This is now a proper Pirelli tyre, not the old Formula.

Pirelli don't make inner tubes, but Michelin make the best quality tubes i have come accross so just fit them.

Its all on here : https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classic-car-tyres/fiat/500.html
 

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Dougal Cawley said:
I hope this film on here answers your inner tube questions https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classic-tyre-inner-tubes.html


I would suggest fitting 125SR12 Pirelli Cinturato CN54. This is now a proper Pirelli tyre, not the old Formula.

Its all on here : https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classic-car-tyres/fiat/500.html
Click to expand...


This is true but not all as it seems. I recently bought 2 of these from one of the well known part suppliers and embossed on the side was 'Tubeless' which then takes the whole scenario back to the MOT/Insurance scenario of fitting tubeless tyres to tubed rims...…..
 
The Whitakers said:
This is true but not all as it seems. I recently bought 2 of these from one of the well known part suppliers and embossed on the side was 'Tubeless' which then takes the whole scenario back to the MOT/Insurance scenario of fitting tubeless tyres to tubed rims...…..
Click to expand...

Wo Wo-o wo! sweet child of mine!!!!!

You didn't read what i said properly. You are fitting tyres with inner tubes onto wheels that need inner tubes. It doesn't matter that it says tubeless on the side of the tyre. That is irrelaventbecause you are fitting a tube into a 125R12 tyre. It is the wheel that determines that you need an inner tube.

If a tyre is tubeless, that means if it is fitted to a tubeless wheel, then it has the option of being run with out a tube.

Any tyre that is full profile can be fitted with a tube weather it is tubeless or tube type. So for Fiat 500 owners that means 125R12, 125/80R12 & 145/80R12 can all fit inner tubes weather they have tubeless or not written on the side wall.

there is no real difference between a tubeless tyre and a tube type tyre other than a tubeless one has an extra membrane inside it to seal it.

You will not have a problem with an insurance company fitting an inner tube in a 70% or 80% profile tyre. If it is a 65% profile or lower that is different.

If your tyre fitted says you cannot fit a 125SR12 Pirelli Cinturato onto your wheel with an inner tube. Go to another tyre fitter.




You might not beleive me, but put this in perspective, this is a tyre made by Pirelli, specially to be fitted to Fiat 500!
this is not there first time making these tyres. they know what they are doing.

Michelin - they have made a tyre or 2 over the years. They know what they are doing. They also have made a 125R12 X specially for the Fiat 500 - It says Tubeless on the side. but you can still fit an inner tube if you are fitting it to wheels that need a tube, such as for instance a Fiat 500.

https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/tyres/125-12.html

Just fit a tube

If you have a problem contact Longstone tyres, Pirelli or Michelin they will not leave you in the Lurch. the right thing to do is fit the correct 125R12 Pirelli with a quality tube.
 
Wasn’t one of the issues with tubes in tubeless tyres the ribbing on the inside Of the tyre causing wear to the inner tube?
 
Dougal Cawley said:
If your tyre fitted says you cannot fit a 125SR12 Pirelli Cinturato onto your wheel with an inner tube. Go to another tyre fitter.
Click to expand...

Last year when I had a puncture and was over 500 miles from home I had a devil of a job finding any tyre fitter who would even touch a tubed tyre. Admittedly, I also needed the tube repaired so maybe understandable. :D

In the end I found an amicable fitter at a well known national company who refitted the tyre as a tubeless which worked OK for me for a year until I bought a new tyre and tube and fitted it myself,

Local tyre suppliers don't want to touch the proper size tyre for the 500 and it's nigh on impossible to get a good inner tube from eBay. If you go along to a fitter with the two separately bought items they're going to be reluctant to get involved.

Dougal Dougal Cawley, it would be good to see your tyres easily available via a national, eg Kwikfit. Is there a way for them to be able to supply and fit them without them needing to put on a massive premium?
 
After a problem with a local garage because he said he wouldn't fit the Tyres i had bought on the net. He would have charged me for fitting and balance on top of buying from him. The 100€uros for a half hour's work wasn't enough for him greedy bxxxxxd.
So i bought a Tyre fitting Tool from the net and have saved €€€€€€€.
Even when you buy from a garage there is no free fitting anymore like years ago.
Alan
 
fiat500 said:
Last year when I had a puncture and was over 500 miles from home I had a devil of a job finding any tyre fitter who would even touch a tubed tyre. Admittedly, I also needed the tube repaired so maybe understandable. :D
Click to expand...

It is becoming forgotten technology - as is your coil and distributer - etc.



fiat500 said:
In the end I found an amicable fitter at a well known national company who refitted the tyre as a tubeless which worked OK for me for a year until I bought a new tyre and tube and fitted it myself,
Click to expand...

Again it shows how forgotten this is. A tyre fitter should have looked at your rim and thought - "hmm? - no safety hump - maybe this should have an inner tube?" they just don't know any more.



fiat500 said:
Local tyre suppliers don't want to touch the proper size tyre for the 500 and it's nigh on impossible to get a good inner tube from eBay. If you go along to a fitter with the two separately bought items they're going to be reluctant to get involved.
Click to expand...

Don't buy them on E-bay or Amazon. those Fascist bully boys are killing small specialist businesses.

Oo but they are cheap i hear you say.

they are cheap because they sell cheap tat. If it is cheaper it isn't he Michelin tube. and they are just being flogged by someone who has no idea what it is for and will happily sell you a wrong tube.

Why would you not just contact the right people? Why would you not contact a specialist tyre dealer? They will sell you the righ thing at the right price. rather than some thing that doesnt cost as much because it isn't as good or is the wrong size?



fiat500 said:
Dougal Dougal Cawley, it would be good to see your tyres easily available via a national, eg Kwikfit. Is there a way for them to be able to supply and fit them without them needing to put on a massive premium?
Click to expand...

Tell your local tyre dealer to contact Longstone Tyres, or any of the world wide Pirelli Collezione distributers off this web site https://www.cinturato.net/ where you also get to watch a very cool advert where a lorry driver drinks a magnum of red wine while driving and smoking fags. they don't make adverts like that any more.

Or the Pirelli Collezione web site https://www.pirelli.com/tyres/en-ww/car/collection

A failing with the classic car world is their obsetion with being cheap. A pre war car club i am involved in had some engine blocks made, and within their obsession to get them done cheap the blocks ended up being pourous. I have bought so many electrical components for classic cars over the years where the manufacturer has obsessed on the being cheap and the have let me down immeiately. and you spend hours trying to fix the car because it can't possibly be the condenser. I've just replaced that with a new one.

Dont be tight. Buy the right thing off the specialist who understands your car. You cannot, for one minute, think this is expensive https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/tyres/125-12/125-sr-12-cinturato.html
 
Dougal Cawley said:
It is becoming forgotten technology - as is your coil and distributer - etc.





Again it shows how forgotten this is. A tyre fitter should have looked at your rim and thought - "hmm? - no safety hump - maybe this should have an inner tube?" they just don't know any more.





Don't buy them on E-bay or Amazon. those Fascist bully boys are killing small specialist businesses.

Oo but they are cheap i hear you say.

they are cheap because they sell cheap tat. If it is cheaper it isn't he Michelin tube. and they are just being flogged by someone who has no idea what it is for and will happily sell you a wrong tube.

Why would you not just contact the right people? Why would you not contact a specialist tyre dealer? They will sell you the righ thing at the right price. rather than some thing that doesnt cost as much because it isn't as good or is the wrong size?





Tell your local tyre dealer to contact Longstone Tyres, or any of the world wide Pirelli Collezione distributers off this web site https://www.cinturato.net/ where you also get to watch a very cool advert where a lorry driver drinks a magnum of red wine while driving and smoking fags. they don't make adverts like that any more.

Or the Pirelli Collezione web site https://www.pirelli.com/tyres/en-ww/car/collection

A failing with the classic car world is their obsetion with being cheap. A pre war car club i am involved in had some engine blocks made, and within their obsession to get them done cheap the blocks ended up being pourous. I have bought so many electrical components for classic cars over the years where the manufacturer has obsessed on the being cheap and the have let me down immeiately. and you spend hours trying to fix the car because it can't possibly be the condenser. I've just replaced that with a new one.

Dont be tight. Buy the right thing off the specialist who understands your car. You cannot, for one minute, think this is expensive https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/tyres/125-12/125-sr-12-cinturato.html
Click to expand...



...quite a lot to take on there Dougal.:eek:

I was trying to be constructive and see if there is an easier way to work with our local garages, which is basically Kwikfit, National Tyres etc in this part of the world, in order to get tyres and tubes supplied and fitted for the Fiat 500 in particular and classic cars in general.

"My" tyre fitter understood about tubed rims but kindly helped me out of a fix.

We buy tyres where we get a good deal and service and I disagree that it is for the end consumer to actively choose a more expensive and possibly less convenient supplier as a charitable nod towards small or specialist businesses.

A Pirelli Cinturato tyre from the cheapest supplier will only be "tat" if it's a fake or a reject. I agree that some cheap inner tubes are rubbish and won't buy them.

For me, the "right" price for a tyre is not the highest price. I have been quoted some joke prices at local garages for unusual sizes such as the 125-12,. Wouldn't it be a little bit nutty to pay well over the odds just to get the tyres from a specialist....call me tight (oh I just noticed you did ;)) but I spend money in proportion to the value or benefit I get from the product or service. We know more about what we want than the guy at Kwik-Fit so aren't needing too much advice.

What I'm saying is it would be good for owners and distributors if there was a more efficient mechanism to have tyres supplied, tubed and fitted at non-specialist garages and at a price which isn't Longstone Garage retail + KwikFit "classic car owner...add on a couple of noughts" prices. ;)
 
Last edited:
plasticpig1972 said:
After a problem with a local garage because he said he wouldn't fit the Tyres i had bought on the net. He would have charged me for fitting and balance on top of buying from him. The 100€uros for a half hour's work wasn't enough for him greedy bxxxxxd.
So i bought a Tyre fitting Tool from the net and have saved €€€€€€€.
Even when you buy from a garage there is no free fitting anymore like years ago.
Alan
Click to expand...


I replaced mine too, my old mans tyre levers came in useful
thumb.gif
 
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