Balance mark for Avons??

[Barabus]

Got a new rear Avon Storm St installed by a knowledgeable guy at Cycle Gear today. I asked him how he intended to balance my Avon using minimum weights and lacking a balance mark. He mentioned that the "E" with a cicle and two dash marks was a balance mark. This mark is molded with all the other sidewall info, so it cannot be a balance mark, right? In any event, he balance my tire without any wieghts. Whatever works!! He also mentioned that the new, future Bridgestones would not the balance mark either. He seemed to be indicating that this is a trend.

I think this information is suspect at best, but cannot be sure.

 

[Ignacio]

Seems a bit fishy to me.

Goes counter to what I remember the Avon rep. saying last year. The equipment to determine and place that mark is expensive and not something Avon had seen worthwhile enough to buy.

He have any documentation of his claim? It would seem if an "e" is the mark....there would be some documentation somewhere.

 

[Barabus]

Seems a bit fishy to me.
Goes counter to what I remember the Avon rep. saying last year. The equipment to determine and place that mark is expensive and not something Avon had seen worthwhile enough to buy.

He have any documentation of his claim? It would seem if an "e" is the mark....there would be some documentation somewhere.

I don't disagree, but this guy must change more tires than anyone in SoCal. Both Fairlaner and I have been impressed with him. Besides, he is the manager of this Cycle Gear! LOL. I will post a picture of the "E=" as soon as I can.

 

[bmac]

This does not make any sense. My understanding is that variations in production can lead to a tire that is unbalanced to different degrees. For them to have a spot marked on the tire during production would mean that they dilliberately build a tire that is out of balance.

 

[borrec]

I call bullshit because I just checked mine! I balanced my rims first and found the light spot on the storms and it is no where close to the Ell.

:dribble:

 

[dcarver]

my Avon's go on in 2 hours.. I wonder what fun I'll find?

 

[Ignacio]

For them to have a spot marked on the tire during production would mean that they dilliberately build a tire that is out of balance.

Not true.

There's a little piece of fundamental production reality that there's a point that the belts overlap and that no tire will ever be perfectly balanced.....unless you want to pay many times what tires currently cost for tighter specifications. They build a tire as close to spec as they can for the price point , and some manufacturers then go to the additional effort and expense to identify the heavy spot. Those go to eleven!

 

[Barabus]

I call bullshit because I just checked mine! I balanced my rims first and found the light spot on the storms and it is no where close to the Ell. :dribble:

Well, the seems conclusive to me. Thanks for this info- it was exactly what I was looking for.

 

[MCRIDER007]

I mounted a rear Storm last week and balanced the rim to find the light spot. The heavy spot on the rim was about 6 inches from the valve stem and took 10 grams to balance. The tire was 53 grams out of balance and the actual light spot was about 2 inches from the circle E -- which I would not trust to be the light spot on future tires.

 

[sanqhar]

My rear Azaro AV46 ST took 60gms to balance so I emailed Avon's UK Customer Service.

The reply was:

" Dear Mr. xxx

...With regards to the wheel weight issue, we have at this time three 2006 FJR1300 on our test fleet, and we have found that the wheels alone are quite excessive for balancing, to reduce the amount of weight needed when the tyre is fitted, we rotate the tyre on the rim, inflate and check until the tyre counteracts that of the wheel to an acceptable level.

Best Regards.

K. Tucker.

Customer Service Co-ordinator

Tel: 44(0)1225 357750.

Fax: 44(0)1225 791921.

E-Mail: [email protected].

The information given above is without prejudice and does not imply any form of liability.

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You see there is no mention of a balance spot. They just keep moving the tyre around the rim and re trying.

 

[Wolfhound]

The Wheel Shop here in Phoenix gets pretty close usually by using the "stamped" on the inside mark used as final inspection mark. . . .

 

[Bounce]

balance marks are seldom accurate anyway. people who use them often assume that the valve stem is the heavy point of the rim and that too is often not the case. best method is to balance the rim and mark the real heavy spot. then mount the tire using the marked rim and the assumed light spot mark on the tire. balance the assembly and tear, down/rotate tire/balance assembly until you find the best allignment without weights. THEN add your balance weights. using this, it's not uncommon to get a balance without any additional weights.