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When to replace a tire

04.13.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

My saga of the hard-to-seat tire got me thinking about tire replacement in general.  As I said, I felt it necessary to buy a new tire because of my upcoming MS 150, and I wanted it in time for last weekend’s 52-miler.

The original tire was new in February.  Because of its kevlar tread, I was hoping for some puncture resistance.  But I don’t think anything could have survived the piece of glass that got this tire.  It was kind of a fluke, too, because the cut was duplicated halfway around the tire.

They weren’t even cuts, exactly — more like a hole, about an eighth of an inch in diameter. When I ran my fingers over them, I could feel a slight bulge right around the hole itself.  It didn’t affect a larger area around the holes.  Because the holes weren’t big, I decided to keep riding on the tire.

The next day, I did a club ride for 38 miles on city streets and rural country roads.  No tire problems.  In fact, I didn’t even think about the tire.  It’s been on several rides since then, for a total of a bit over 200 miles.

When the replacement tire arrived in the mail, I didn’t change it immediately.  I was even considering doing the 52-miler on the damaged tire, since it seemed to be performing fine.  But I happened to be  sitting in the living room reading a bike book, and it said, if the tire is cut, the cut could turn into a puncture.  If it bulges, it will turn into a puncture more quickly.

I went out to the garage and took another look at the tire.  Not only could I feel the bulge, I could see it. That’s when I had my wrestling match with the replacement tire.

I know of some riders who are rather cavalier about their tires.  They’ll ride until they see the tube pushing through the tread, or until it wears down to the threads.

What’s your rule of thumb for replacing your tires?  How far or how long are you willing to ride when you know the tire is less than 100 percent?

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Categories // Equipment, Maintenance Tags // tires

Mounting a new tire

04.11.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

I set a record the other night.  It took me a full hour to get a tire mounted on a wheel.

I bought a new tire to replace one that had some severe cuts on the  tread. Since I had a 52-mile ride coming up Saturday, I didn’t want to risk anything — even though the cut tire had seen a good 200 miles on area roads since getting cut in two places by broken glass three weeks ago.

New tires are not as elastic as they get to be with some riding. This one was right out of the mail order box. I put one foot inside the tire, and tried to pull up on it like a rubber band. No give at all.  I turned the tire several times, and pulled each time, to try to add a little bit of stretch to it.

Then, on the wheel. Getting one side into the wheel wasn’t too much of a problem, although even here, I had to patiently work the remaining three inches over the rim. I got the deflated tube inside the tire, then started stretching the other side over the rim.

It was fine for about half the tire’s circumference. Then, it didn’t want to cooperate. Again very patiently (a rarity for me) I worked the bead over the rim bit by bit, and popped it into place. Finally, I had five inches to go. It wouldn’t go. It was as though the tire had reached the limit of any stretch built into it. Whenever I managed to get a small section of bead to pop over the rim, the bead at the other end popped out. It seemed I would be unable to get the tire seated properly.

I know you’re not supposed to use tire levers to mount a tire. There’s some danger they might puncture the tube. I yielded to temptation. The levers worked — sort of. I now had only a three-inch section that refused to mount.

I worked it, and worked it, and worked it. And finally, it happened. The remaining part of the bead popped into the rim. I carefully checked to make sure the tire was seated properly all around, inflated the tire and put it on the bike. Elapsed time: one hour.

I change tires when they flat from time to time, but I haven’t had a lot of experience putting new tires on. They’re very different from changing flats, when the same tire that has miles on it is put back on the wheel. I’ve never had a lot of trouble with those, because use has stretched them out. It’s the brand new tire that was the troublemaker.

These are kevlar tires — I don’t know if that would make any difference or not. But I do remember that the only other time I mounted a brand new tire — one that was not kevlar — I didn’t have anywhere near the trouble.

Any suggestions for making the mounting of a new tire any easier?

P.S.: I was glad today that I did get the tire mounted. I did a hilly 52-mile route from Dripping Springs to Johnson City, Texas, and back again. It was a training ride organized by the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, but I used it as my last hurrah before the MS 150 next weekend.

A lone rider approaches the rest stop in Johnson City.
A lone rider approaches the rest stop in Johnson City.

 

My bike with its new rear tire in Johnson City.  Still with torn bar tape, and with one silver and one white bar plug.
My bike with its new rear tire in Johnson City. Still with torn bar tape, and with one silver and one white bar plug.

I just hope the weather next weekend is better than we had today. It was forecast to get to 80F, but never got above 60, with a chilly northeast wind blowing all morning.

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Categories // Equipment, Maintenance, Rides Tags // hills, tires

Coughing up the dough

04.09.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

Just out of morbid curiosity, I started keeping tabs this year on how much money I spend to feed my biking habit.  It’s barely mid-April, and I’m surprised.  Here’s a quick rundown:

  • New helmet                          $33
  • Three tires @ $15 ea.         $45
  • Two tubes @ $4 ea.            $  8
  • New cassette                        $35
  • Ride entry                             $30 (for a ride I didn’t start because of illness)
  • Team jersey for MS 150    $70
  • Chamois creme                   $16
  • Total:                                  $237

The Ms 150 is a week away, and I know I’ll be incurring a lot of ancillary costs connected with that one.  This all seems like dribs and drabs here, but over $200 in just over three months?  It’s a good thing I’ve received a lot of biking items as gifts, because otherwise, I might have dropped even more money.

A lot of my purchases are impulse buys — oh, I gotta have one of those.  In other cases, they’re purchases of things I got along without, but being around biking and bikers, I realized they’re things I should have.  Shorts and jerseys probably fall into this category.

A biking friend told me he didn’t realize how much money he would spend once he got into riding.  He thought just getting on the old beater bike that was gathering dust in his garage and riding it longer distances would get him into better shape.  But he found the biking culture too, and soon was dropping money even more prodigiously than I account for above.

“What does a biking noob really need besides a bike, a helmet, shorts and shoes?” he asked me. “And is there any way to get quality at an affordable price?”

Good point. Your friendly LBS probably sells most of its stuff at retail. You might get a good price from some of the big catalogs, but sometimes the quality isn’t what you were hoping for.

If you were going to advise a new biker, what gear would you suggest they must have?  What gear could they get by without, at least until they decide that they’re in biking for the long haul?

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Categories // Accessories, Equipment Tags // Accessories, Equipment

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