Campagnolo Wheels & Tires

[P. de R. Leclercq]

Huib, I am very interested in your hi-fi experiences. Where do you source your KT 66s these days?

From 1997 - 2005 I was building valve hi-fi amplifiers partly to my own designs, for my own amusement.

The valve is king (as is vinyl - I had a Garrard 301).

Paul

[Steve Katzman]

Maybe some Flaminia owners, but with my PF Coupe would I'd like to see some 175x400 tires available. Fat chance.

[Huib]

The 175x400 is no longer available. But you can choose between 165x400 and 185x400 depending on the weight you operate the car. Cars are like humans. For some reason they become heavier over time.

[Huib]

Paul, I did build tube amplifiers up to 1965. I used line output tubes as I got them for free from the TV repairshop. Tubes which were no longer good for the high voltage of the TV line output stage where still perfect for building audio amplifiers up to 180 watts which drove the neighbours crazy. Every time I went out the front door I had to run to avoid the neigbouring ladies with their carpet-beaters. I wonder how many readers of the forum know what an electron tube is or a carpet-beater.

I have no principal preference for vinyl or CD. I have perfectly good music on CD which was first released on CD. The point I tried to make is that the original release is usually well in balance, either in vinyl or CD. In some cases even on tape cassette. If a perfectly good recording, first released on vinyl, is released again on CD, someone apparently finds it necessary to"improve" it, which always turns out to be a disaster. Same is true for Fulvia's. This is my personal opinion of course.

While we are on the subject, I am still looking for an original release on 33 rpm LP vinyl of "This one's for Blanton" by Duke Ellington and Ray Brown recorded in 1972. I have it on tape cassette, which is surprisingly good even without the Dolby. I also have it on CD. One of the few which is very very acceptable. But still I would like to have it on first release vinyl. If anybody has it for sale or knows where I can buy it, please, let me know. I can recommend it to all Lancisti. Two true giants . Total harmony. Perfect balance. One mind and a million minds playing at the same time, matching seamlessly. Like driving a Fulvia on French country roads. If "La Lancia e' uno stile di Vita", this should be part of it.

[P. de R. Leclercq]

Ah yes; PL509 has been a popular choice.

When I was building, the popular valves were for the purists, directly-heated triodes such as 2A3, 300B and for the rich, 845.

Eschewing fashion but loving triodes, I would triode-strap various beam tetrodes: these included 813, 13E1, 6146 and double beam tetrodes such as 829B and YL1071. I prepared characteristic curves for most of these types. At least they were cheaper than the popular types.

I also collaborated with Morgan Jones, the writer of the popular "Valve Amplifiers" books and indeed proof-read some of them.

A great hobby, but expensive!

I liked at the time to boast of my commitment to mechanical fuel-injection, manual cameras (black and white of course) and valve amplification...

Good vinyl is unbeatable for me - especially recordings made in the very late 1950s and 1960s

Paul

[Huib]

The 185 is indeed too wide for the 4,5J wheels. On the US roads as I know them you will probably do all right. Even the 165 is a bit wide for the 4,5J wheels for precise steering. Increasing the width of the wheel ruins your scrub radius.

http://www.mytyres.co.uk lists over 60 versions of the 165/70R14 tire from a few dozen manufacturers. Strange that none of them is available in the US.

I have never tried the 165HR14 XAS on a Fulvia. It is also a long time ago I used the XAS tires. That was on a Flavia coupe iniezione and a Flaminia Touring convertible. On these cars the tires did well. I have to dig deep, but my feeling says they may not do well on a Fulvia. These tires have a character of their own. I liked the Cirtoen DS with these tires but the Peugeot 404 was definitely better on the normal X tire. If someone tried them on a Fulvia, I would certainly like to hear what his experience is.

I belief you when you say the Fulvia is the best steering car of your "fleet'. Last weekend I went to Trieste, Italy with a friend to pick up the S1 coupe he bought. I belief it is a sin to return from Italy with an empty car. To avoid having to go to confession, we loaded both the (new) Mercedes and the Fulvia up with wine, cheese and salami. Nevertheless I had to do penance as I had to drive the Mercedes home. It was more like sailing it home. I felt like a helmsman at the rudder. Near Karlsruhe I gave up for the day and checked into a hotel. With the Fulvia the 12 hour trip is easy.

The speakers I have had for 25 years or so are also the ESL63's. Last time I bought the modules from our freund Manfred near Koblenz, Germany. He restores the modules on an exchange basis at realistic prices and much better quality than the original ones. It is not that difficult to do a better job than Quad itself as the company is now run by managers who thought it a good idea to transfer production to China. Even before the transfer the quality was less than optimal.

[Sam Danenberger IV]

Peter-

I am aware of the $164.00 Michelin from Coker.
Outrageous! if it was a 145 I might pay the price
Five years ago, I must have bought the last 4 145/14 X Michelin they had.
They failed to tell me it was going out of production!!!
Unfortunately one tire has developed a bubble or blister that is most likely a defect.
I do not wish to drive it far until this is rectified
I wish I had gotten that fifth tire now!!!!
So I am left with three almost new Michelin X 145/14 and one defective one.
I think I will go with the Vredestein Sprint 165 again, it is half th price of the Coker Michelin tire and
actually worked pretty well on another Coupe I once owned.
Thanks for everyones input!!
I really appreciate it.
Best Regards,
Sam

[Peter Cripps]

Sam, thanks for the pointer on the Vredesteins -- looks like a reasonable option when the time comes to replace my present tired. Could I ask where you bought them?

Thanks,

Peter

[Huib]

Those 145R14 's must have been the MX then and not the original X.
My advice is to buy 6 tires if it is a rare size and put one under your bed. Flat tires happen, a bit more with tubes than tubeless. If the size is rare it also means you won't be able to buy a new one quickly when travelling. It is a good idea to have the spare tire in order.
If you ruin a tire you are back to five if you bought six. Most of the time one does not ruin tires which means you can put the spare on the car and the one from under the bed when the front tires have worn.

The only Fulvia size Vredestein has at present is the 165R14 snow tire.

The Fulvia sizes are:

145R14 (145/80R14) for S1 coupe's and Zagato's.
Available from Bridgestone (summer and winter tires) and from Conti (only winter tires)
Alternatives are:
165/70R14 on the standard 4,5J14 wheels. Steering precision might suffer.
165R13 (165/80R13) on 5,5J13 wheels. Scrub radius suffers and the tires interfere with the rear wheel arches.
The last two are available from almost everybody.

155R14 (155/80R14) on all berlina's
Available from Toyo

175R13 on 1,6HF

165R15 (165/80R14) on S2 coupe's and Zagato's
Available from Toyo and Uniroyal (both summer tires)

[Sam Danenberger IV]

Peter-

They came from Universal tire. They're on the web.
Huib says Vredesteins only come in a snow tire that size, that also might be true in europe, but the Vrdestein tires I bought four -five years ago were a Sprint model I believe, 165/14 and were definitely an all season tire. They are still available I've checked.
About $78-80.00, each so they are at least resonably priced.
This discussion originally started out about my Campys and tires for them, but it quickly morphed into the universal problem of all Fulvia owners.
Where do find a 145/14 tire??? and........... Why won't Michelin make it again??
Send me a photo of your Fulvia, I'm at sddiv@aol.com. Love to see it.
Ciao!
Sam