Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[reed scott]

The Winter Has Come...

View attachment 108298
I hate that part involving pulling the last centimetres of the tyre bead onto the rim...

There are 'tricks' for this that make it easy peasy. Go down to your local bike shop and watch them change a few tires. You think bicycle tires are a _itch. Motorcycle tires can ruin your day.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Go down to your local bike shop and watch them change a few tires.

Any tech has very strong hands in the first place Do you swap tyres by yourself?

 

[reed scott]

Any tech has very strong hands in the first place Do you swap tyres by yourself?

Yeah. It's not really about strong hands. It's a lot about getting the opposite side from that last few inches down into the center of the rim. A second person to pinch the sidewalls in 180 degrees across from the last difficult section can make all the difference in the world.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

A second person

That's why I asked you Reed whether you were replacing tyres by yourself

 

[Chargeride]

Ive done a lot of motorcross tyres in the past, yes its all about getting the bead deep into the rim, a bit of soap and a lot of technique.
You can put fattyres on one handed while typing a post on ebr.
They are so loose, Im amazed they stay on

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Ive done a lot of motorcross tyres in the past, yes its all about getting the bead deep into the rim, a bit of soap and a lot of technique.
You can put fattyres on one handed while typing a post on ebr.
They are so loose, Im amazed they stay on

Not to derail the thread: I have found narrow tyres as the most nasty to replace. We're talking about road bike tyres on a (technically speaking) "tubeless ready" rim.

 

[Chargeride]

yes, I think the tolerances are tighter that's just an assumption, but the wifes inch wide road tyres are absolute buggers to get on without pinching the tube.

 

[Chargeride]

last derail,
what do you think about this?
warning, slightly confrontational..
I can actually see both sides of the argument if you imagine other factors not presented in the clip.

 

[RandallS]

Yeah. It's not really about strong hands. It's a lot about getting the opposite side from that last few inches down into the center of the rim. A second person to pinch the sidewalls in 180 degrees across from the last difficult section can make all the difference in the world.

It's all in the setup. Strong hands help, but tools help too.

I use a plastic garbage can as my workbench so rotor and cassette don't get damaged.


And I use cheap plastic C clamps to assist in centering the bead - this picture doesn't tell the whole story, but you should get the idea.



Finally, the amount of air left in the tube can be tricky. Too little and pinches are too easy, too much and you can't get the tire on. I suppose I will get better at it over time, but there is certainly a degree of satisfaction in doing it yourself. If I could find a reasonably priced set of wheels - I would have a winter set and a summer set and simply swap wheels for conditions. The search continues.

I swapped out tires (on rims) on my Volvo Wagon yesterday - It's December here and it's time. It's the latest wheel swap I've ever done - we usually get winter tire season starting the end of October here.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Great job Randall! Studs were vital yesterday when we took to the trails, specifically the local MTB Park. We were unexpectedly caught off guard by the amount of ice on the trail where the other runs were dry and we received excellent traction. It appears that the recent warm weather turned the once navigable hard pack at the park into stretches of frozen leaves embedded into layers of ice making sections of the single track virtually indistinguishable from the dry portions. Moral of the story, 360 studs/tire are no guarantee that you are assured maximum adhesion.

Man down. Ryan takes one for the team. Fortunately, neither he or his new bike suffered any serious damage. Proper body protection (knee/elbow pads) are standard gear for this trio.

My turn to lose it. Yikes!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Quick trip into the country…

Fortunately there was another break in the wet weather and I was able to head inland on the rail trail and local roads. Here are a few views from this morning's ride. There's no real 'story': it was simply a fun ride before the next shower!

Edit: On reflection, there is something to add by way of a comment: that two-thirds gate on the rail trail. Providing there are no cattle (or camels!) to keep in their place, this system works well. Cyclists zoom through but cars are kept out.

Crossing Wanora Road
Brisbane Valley Rail Trail​

Savages Crossing
Brisbane River​

 

[Chargeride]

Great job Randall! Studs were vital yesterday when we took to the trails, specifically the local MTB Park. We were unexpectedly caught off guard by the amount of ice on the trail where the other runs were dry and we received excellent traction. It appears that the recent warm weather turned the once navigable hard pack at the park into stretches of frozen leaves embedded into layers of ice making sections of the single track virtually indistinguishable from the dry portions. Moral of the story, 360 studs/tire are no guarantee that you are assured maximum adhesion.

View attachment 108353

View attachment 108354
View attachment 108355

Man down. Ryan takes one for the team. Fortunately, neither he or his new bike suffered any serious damage. Proper body protection (knee/elbow pads) are standard gear for this trio.

View attachment 108356

My turn to lose it. Yikes!
View attachment 108357

very nice, the bears are sleeping...right?

 

[Prairie Dog]

very nice, the bears are sleeping...right?

Tucked them in myself and read them a classic bedtime story....Goldilocks!

 

[kahn]

It's all in the setup. Strong hands help, but tools help too.

I use a plastic garbage can as my workbench so rotor and cassette don't get damaged.
View attachment 108351

And I use cheap plastic C clamps to assist in centering the bead - this picture doesn't tell the whole story, but you should get the idea.

View attachment 108352

Finally, the amount of air left in the tube can be tricky. Too little and pinches are too easy, too much and you can't get the tire on. I suppose I will get better at it over time, but there is certainly a degree of satisfaction in doing it yourself. If I could find a reasonably priced set of wheels - I would have a winter set and a summer set and simply swap wheels for conditions. The search continues.

I swapped out tires (on rims) on my Volvo Wagon yesterday - It's December here and it's time. It's the latest wheel swap I've ever done - we usually get winter tire season starting the end of October here.

Hard to drag all of that along on a bike ride - garbage can and c-clamps, etc

 

[mschwett]

i was down for the count for around 12 hours about a day after my third pfizer. back on the bike the next day

 

[Chargeride]

The UK has just bought the 4th and 5th doses, Im starting to get suspicious.

 

[RandallS]

Hard to drag all of that along on a bike ride - garbage can and c-clamps, etc

What I was replying to was the tire swap question - not repair. You don't carry extra tires to swap over mid ride do you?
Back to the original purpose of this thread - sorry for the distraction...no pics to share...

 

[DiggyGun]

Another dusting of snow in Buckinghamshire this morning. Temperature is 1oC, but with wind chill is -3oC.

Roads and paths are a bit too slippery to venture out on the bike, so looks like another walk today.

 

[Chargeride]

I'll give it a like, but we need more

 

[RabH]

After a week of horrid weather it was good to get out again, it was around -2C when I set off but the roads were dry (at first)...a few miles to the east and even the main roads were sketchy! I think that is the slowest I have ever ridden downhill for a very long time! Mostly straight roads due to the conditions and I made it home in one piece! The local loch was looking nice in the morning sun!

My bike looks very lonely down there!

Lovely cloud formation at 1000ft up!

Its supposed to be above zero tomorrow and dry so I might get out again, hopefully in safer conditions! I did enjoy my ride today but hopefully tomorrow will be a much better cyclibg day!

@Prairie Dog I'm glad you and your mate weren't hurt, loved your video!