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My FMBs distorted horribly. They saw a lot of wet riding. Some With road salt in the mix. Plus they were on the bike for ages as my off season is long. But the bike was stored in a warm dry enviroment, and I have no recollection of impacting the sidewalls. Probably a rare occurance. But I've fallen out of love With them. My Challenge seem far more robust for a similar ride, weight etc.
Smallfurry-
My FMBs distorted horribly. They saw a lot of wet riding. Some With road salt in the mix. Plus they were on the bike for ages as my off
Its too late but you need to cover their sidewalls with latex-- the light foam from some latex milk-- or Aquaseal if you plan to expose them to rain. Cotton is not as prone to water problems as silk but still have the tendency to distort and rot. Road salt is just adding to the problems-- and these days its not just road salt but a mix of salt and sharp little stones..
Continental and some other tyres that use nylon instead of cotton or silk are a bit better with rain but I've still managed to rot my share of Continental Sprinters and Competitions over the past 20+ years.
EdwardZ
Sounds a lot easier than it is. I've found basetape to horribly distort when pulled from an old tyre. It is enough of a challenge gluing a section of old basetape down on its own tyre. Removing it and transplanting it onto another tyre, I suspect, would be close to impossible. Can't see how one could get it flat and straight. Instead I'd try to find some a suitable new unsized raw cotton strip and use it. The main function of the basetape is to cover the stitches and protect the sidewalls from chafing against the rim. With something like a Conti Sprinter I'd not bother. It is neither rare nor expensive. Given that a brandnew one costs arond 30 EUROs the repair seems hardly "cost effective". Now repairing the NOS Wolber-- depending, of course, upon which model-- might make a lot more sense. Dugast used to put new treads on tyres-- when he started off he was using a lot of the old Wolber casings. Tyres like the FMBs are afterall reincarnations of the Wolber of old.