CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
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not resolved@Uberuce
Ah, it's not just a test of manhood to get your tyres on and off without levers, it's to do with showing finesse and avoiding the possibility of pinching a hole in the tube or damaging the rim. Tyres are meant to come on and off without tools.
My suspicion is that Schwalbe have, in direct contravention of Teutonic stereotype, simply made their tyres slightly too small.
Marathon Plus are, in my experience, bombproof. I had a bad experience with Specialized Nimbus in 35mm on my hybrid: I found they wore out quickly after only a year or so. The M+ have been on for four years now, and still going strong. A very hard wearing tyre. I fitted them to my Raleigh tourer (32mm) and they're great, no trouble at all.
I have standard Marathons on other bikes, and I find they are very tough, hard wearing tyres too. I even have Marathons on my Dawes Audax: a controversial choice for some riders, and certainly not the fastest tyre. However, touch wood no flats so far after thousands of kilometres.
Oh and I've only ever once had big issues getting Marathons (Plus or standard) on a rim: the 20" variety were rather tight for the rear wheel of a folding bike. Otherwise, I find the issue is looseness of the bead while putting the tyres on: nothing judicious use of cable ties as a third and fourth hand can't fix. Levers only required for the last section of tyre when putting on (like most tyres, I find).
For the same ERTRO specification Japanese tyres (Panaracer, Primo, Cheng Shin) tend to be a looser fit on European rims; European tyres like Schwalbe and Continental tend to be tight on Japanese and Chinese rims (Alex, Folex, etc.)
The nimbus III on my mtb won't die.
I hate them they project water for metres up and ahead and can suck it up from any water source including the ambient water in the air.
But they've got loads of tread left and they're nearly 20 years old and have been to the moon and back and I'm too cheap to bin functional tyres...
@steveo
Ride that MTB like you stole it and the tyre will die.
They've out lived the mtb I used to chuck down real hills with only rudimentary suspension and the one I used to commute into town as a fearless imortal teenager. One set of tyres should never out live three bikes!
@steveo
Impressive. May I suggest a trip to the Cuillin on Skye? It's composed of gabro, shards of which have cut through my tyres, boots and skin in the past.
Nasty! No place for a bike unless you're Danny MacAskill.
I've heard about some rubber glue which you put in the inner tube to seal the tyre against glass and thorns. I saw a video on FB a couple of years back of a chap locally hammering in a nail to a tyre and then extracting it, with no loss of preasure.
You take the inner tube cut (yes!) the outer the length of the tube so the inner tube is now flat with the valve in the middle of the rubber strip. Now take the inner tube and put it in the tyre on the rim as you would an uncut tube taking care to tuck all the edge into the tyre. Then take the glue (substance) and pour in a measured amount into the tyre. Then put the tyre on the rim as you do normall and turn the wheel so the glue is covering all the tyre inner and tube outer. Now inflate as normal and the rubber compound seals the tube against the tyre but also remains supple enough to withstand punctures from thorns and glass.
I'm tempted but I like to change tyres depending on the season and don't have a spare set of wheels currently. If I had a bike where wheel removal was difficult and near maintainance free then I'd be tempted to use this method.
Sorry I can't recall the brand name but I'm sure someone will know.
Slime make tubes;
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/slime-self-healing-road-inner-tube/
Might well use them on expedition. Used to use Slime in my motorbicycle tyres, but the tyre fitter threatened to kill me so I stopped.
i have put slime in daughter's bike to get her home given her disinterest in learnign to fix a P-word.
I had a p of a slow variety in a back wheel late at night recently went from Commie pool to balerno just on schwalbe marathon plus rubber and no air in the latter stages.
also had can of slime burst inside my ortlieb back roller which was a faff to clean.
Brooks saddles I can make no comment on.
I too have had a slow puncture on the front, but it appeared to have fixed itself after a couple of days getting more scrupulous with cleaning the valve. I thought I see if it was a real puncture or the valve when I went to remove the cap only to have the valve come off in my hand. Assuing some kind person (at my son's school) had let my tyre down, it eventually stayed up when I took it apart and cleaned all the muck off.
As I said, slime permament would be an idea if I had a set of spare wheels.
Was hit by the Faeries today, on the Helios tandem, 1 PAX, daughter on board. Huge lump of glass in rear tyre, almost marble sized, really obvious.
Could not for the life of me get the tyre off (Schwalbe Big Apple 20” x 50)
My own tyre levers were literally bending over backwards trying to shift it - even 2 levers under the same spot were simply bending. A passing cyclist lent me his more rigid lever, but that snapped (oops, sorry). And a nearby house owner lent me a lever, also no good & then a huge flat-bladed screwdriver. By this point, I was worried about damaging the rim, so had to give up
£16, 30 new pence and a taxi later, back home. Nice to see so many people willing to help - 2 separate cyclists stopped to ask if we had what we needed, plus the home owner even wanted to offer a lift, but couldn’t because cod the corona - this is Barnton, you know.
But how on Earth to get the tyre off...?
I have a motorcycle tyre lever if all else fails. It will come off.
In a pinch the two sections of my Topeak Alien II act as a pair of metal levers.
Leave it inside overnight next to a radiator to warm up then set at it with your toughest spoons.
Cycle service.
Blowtorch scaffolding pole bolt croppers.
@neddie - sorry to hear of your BA problem.
Usually double up two plastic levers do it. One gets wedged in and then I stick another beside. Double leverage should be enough - not sure why it wouldn't this time. Cold perhaps?
Failing that one metal tyre lever to get over rim with plastic lever back up as you tried.
Cycle service was closed last Wednesday when I climbed the hill to buy brake blocks and oil. Had to go to Evans. Evans red chain lube is good. The lube itself is standard, if red but the nozzle allows for accurate application.
@gembo they often close in line with school hols.
@srd they were just opening. Mon-Wed.
Mon-Thurs in recent weeks, but in early December was told they were closing Tues 22nd “when the schools close”.
Thanks for all the tips and advice.
In the end, I removed the tyre by using some silver (plated) spoons and some hand-wrecking determination.
Why did I use silver spoons? Because the old-fashioned spoons were the only ones with a decent thickness of metal and width at the ends. Yes, I've scratched and bent the spoons - let's hope no one notices.
<sing> My bike was born with a silver spoon in its tyre...
Nice spoons
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