5 mins with self gripping pliers has mended the Mavic hub.
Just need to mend the gear cables now.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Spikey winter tyres...
(66 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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What I like about spikey tyres is that they give the lie to the myth in the UK that everything has to grind to a halt because of a bit of snow. Other countries manage just fine with snow, yet because we (in the past couple of decades) have become unused to severe winters, chaos ensues when a couple of inches of snowfall descends.
With the right preparation, it is perfectly possible to be out and about in all except the most extreme conditions. Yet there are still those who moan that the government hasn't gritted their street, etc. etc. ad nauseam.
Winter tyres for cycles. Winter tyres for motor vehicles (and/or snow chains). Sand hoppers fitted to trains. Sorted.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I think I am gonna have to pack the 'bent away when it gets snowy. Not cos I dont want to ride it, in fact being closer to the ground is very attractive but Im remembering the daily cake of salt and on a steel frame... Its too nice for that, I think I might get studs for the cross tho.
Posted 13 years ago # -
It's certainly possible to deal with harsh weather but the question I need to think about is how much is worth spending to prepare for something which might not happen. Furthermore, outwith the odd traction problem, my Longstaff managed last winter quite well. Better than the cars did.
If we knew there would always be winters like '10-'11 then I would have snow tyres for the car. We rarely get weather which warrants that so I don't spend cash on them.
Spikes for a Longstaff adds up to £100 which is affordable and it doesn't take me long to swap the tyres, don't even need to take the back wheels off. Four car tyres would be a bigger investment and I'd either need spare wheels or get the tyres swapped in a shop because I can't do that myself.
Governments have the same issue. If they spend money on rarely used kit then they can't spend that money on the NHS or other things we might want. Top Gear actually had a good idea last season. They took a combine and adapted it as a snow blower. Combines don't get used in the winter and snow blowers aren't needed in autumn. Snow ploughs/ gritters are usually adapted trucks with the plough slotted onto the front. The rest of the year you can tell which ones they are because of the auxiliary headlights set higher up above where the plough would be.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I'm going studs and white guards on the CX - looking forward to the icy weather now! ;)
Posted 13 years ago # -
On the subject of winter tyres for cars, one of my colleagues was on the phone to the BMW garage the other day arranging for winter tyres to be put on his car (he's just moved out to the wilds of Lasswade/Loanhead, so is sure of snow :) ). BMW will keep his "summer" tyres in storage for him while it's winter and vice-versa once we get to "summer". No idea what BMW are charging for this.
Garages in Germany run a similar service (in fact, it may well be a legal requirement) - a Bavarian friend swaps her tyres over every November. Nice to see something similarly sensible happening in the UK.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I understand it works similarly in Scandinavia where it's actually a legal requirement to put winter tyres on from October to March (I think it's those dates).
We're seriously considering doing it on our car. I've got 'snow socks' which work brilliantly, but while a LOT easier than chains they can still be a wee bit of a faff to get on (depending on circumstances). I like the idea of the car being a bit more immediately sure-footed. Not that the car would go out much if it snowed a huge amount, and when it does I drive well within the limitations put in place by the conditions. But it does mean I've got a bit more control to avoid muppets who drive as if the white stuff affects nothing to do with the handling of the car.
Anyway, on the bike side I think I'll pop by TBC this weekend.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Top Gear actually had a good idea last season
hehe, it was a good idea. Until they tried to maneouver a front-wheel drive, rear-wheel steer vehicle in the snow!
Posted 13 years ago # -
My brother has fitted a set of winter tyres to his emergency backup car, while the big car is having open engine surgery. I think they're Toyo Snow Proxys S930s, and while not studded, the compound is very noticeably squidgy and the tread is heavily siped.
Posted 13 years ago # -
That's my spikey winter tyres fitted to my blue bike: an Ice Spiker up front and a Marathon Winter on the back.
I tested it up and down my road and it was absolutely hilarious! The noise you get on tarmac is amazing, like walking with cleats on a pavement. Schwalbe says to bed the spikes in with about 30 miles of gentle riding, apparently. I didn't find the tyres especially slow compared with my Panaracer Fire XCs, but goodness me they're heavy!
Posted 13 years ago # -
After procrastinating about this for a while I have gone in and bought some spikey tyres. I am going to fit mine now and bed them in. I can always take them off again till it gets icy.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Don't think I can justify the cost (washing machine died right after I clicked 'buy' on the islabike), but out of curiosity does anyone do these to fit the Helios? (same size tyres as BMX, I believe)
Posted 13 years ago # -
I didn't bed in my spiky tires at all last winter. They arrived at the shop on the Saturday, the snow landed on the Sunday and on the Monday morning I had to ride in to the shop on my MTB tyres (no traffic of any sort on the Lanark Road - it was actually quite pleasant and I was being applauded by pedestrians and drivers trying to dig out their cars). I fitted the spiky tyres in the shop and rode home on them.
In addition to my non-stop use of them for a couple of months, a mate borrowed them for the Strathpuffer and did all but the first lap with them.
Posted 13 years ago # -
SRD, have a word with the Laid Back Bicycle emporium - you can get the Marathon Winters in 20" size.
The next best person to ask is Carol Hague at West Country Recumbents. WCR runs 'the small tyre shop'.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Decisions and quandries in Camp 'Uce...
I've got just enough clearance to hold a pencil between frame and my current 32mm normal Marathons without touching either. No mudguards yet, but I'm keen to get some before the salt. I'm told that's already at the edge of doability, but not over it.
I've got a set of 35mm Marathons Winter spikinesses en route, which now sound worryingly incompatible with mudguards.
So, assuming I've been properly advised and I don't have room for Winter+normal mudguards, should I:
1) Run in the spikes, put on mudguards when I'm putting the non-spikes back on, and when it's time for the spikes, use the alternatives like Raceblades and clip ons?
b) Run in the spikes, don't bother with full mudguards, and settle for the partials/clips
Thirdly) Since it's well known that any gap you fit a pencil in can also fit a mouse in, I go not to a bike shop but a pet shop and buy a dozen hardy mice, cover them in vaseline like Channel swimmers, and use the spiky nature of the wheel to grate cheese directly into the tread of the tyres, which the mice will then scamper along the wheel eating, ducking under the clearance as needed, and deflecting the winter muck with their petroleum-jelly enhanced coats.
5) Have a wet bum a lot and hope that the fixieness of my bike means it's not so bad to get salt-sprayed.
Posted 13 years ago # -
6) http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=3663
7) couldn't find the N+1 thread!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Ah, but this bike is a new cyclocross running single/fixed; it's not really going to fit anywhere else except in the Dependable Transport category. It's too modern to be my Aesthetic Statement bike, and it's too heavy to be my Warp Factor Nine machine.
Arguably, since my Aesthetic Statement will most likely be an elegant old roadster, I could put Winters on that, but I'm having trouble sourcing one that's in this year's bike budget.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Crowriver "Also the studs make a noise like riding over rice krispies when ridden on tarmac. "
This is EXACTLY what they sound like! I only fitted the front one in the end. I'll wear it for a week then switch to the other for a week then I'll be ready....for the warmest winter since records began! ;-)
Posted 13 years ago # -
"....for the warmest winter since records began! "
:)
I hope that all you guys buying these tyres really will ensure a lovely warm winter
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Min the warmest winter since records began! ;-)
It's still Autumn. Once we're past March then we'll see what the winter was like...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I tihnk Min's tongue was firmly in her cheek there... ;)
A bit like me saying I'm planning a European holiday next year already in anticipation of Newcaslte qualifying for the Champion's League, and that guaranteeing we now go on a massive losing streak...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I have just got a set for the Cotic I Can't wait to try them now.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Newcastle are winning again. It's still relatively mild. Is there really a link?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Well they're fitted now, only *just* enough clearance with the mudguards but clearance there is :-)
I guess they can get some running in later in the week(PY?) and I'm ready for the ice B-)Posted 13 years ago # -
Google Earth and some path tracing assures me I've done my 40km since Friday* so I can technically take them off now but there are two big problems:
1) I can't be bothered for the sake of however many days we'll get before the frost.
b) I've partially rounded off the silly Allan key wheel bolts on my bike and don't want to touch them till I've resolved that one way or the other. I don't trust QRs, but it's abundantly clear that I cannot be trusted to tighten without damage, at least until I get a flux-capacitor shape Allan key.
3) If I'm going to be in the area for Hilly Tuesday anyway, I'd love to take a detour through the Innocent tunnel for the Krispiematic Surround Sound.*Which pleasantly surprised me since I was just doing my usual weekend boodling around. I didn't quite realise how cavalier about distance I had become since starting this two-wheels malarkey in April.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I don't trust QRs
You don't? Even Uncle Sheldon does - and for fixed wheel retention too!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Not a rational mistrust, I know. I can't quite get over the notion that 'tight enough' doesn't exist and 'hard as you can' is merely the closest approach. This is terrible logic if you've spent most of your adult life as a powerlifter with a sideline in specific grip training. I can still shut a Captain of Crush 2.5, weakened as I am.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I put Spikes on my Cotic last week. I'm happy just leaving them on and have the luxury of a Dawes Galaxy with normal tyres for when its warm, like this week.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Spikes went back on the upright at the weekend as well. Only lost 7 spikes between the two marathon winters over the 5 months they were on last year, so they're pretty rugged. It does help that the bike is heavier than the moon, so the extra resistance isn't really noticeable...
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Uberuce, when it starts to feel plasticy and soft it means you're overtightening and need to be *really* careful ;-) damhikijkok!!
Remind me not to shake hands with you if what you said means what I think it means?!?
Posted 13 years ago #
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