CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
Roads, and (more-so) pavements, a bit icy in Morningside this morning. I took the be-studded Brompton on the breakfast club run, as I didn't trust the commuter with its newly studless tyres.
Apologies if my premature removal of studs has changed the weather and made your commute more difficult.
Anyone been on the towpath yet this morning?
@jdanielp
Yes. Frosty but not too bad.
Clifton Rd all covered in black ice.
Considered - not very seriously - the merits of removing the studded tyres last week. We'll chalk that win up as another win for procrastination.
@bill thanks. I managed to sleep in this morning so just took the normal commuter bike (but I didn't pump up its tyres) to save time; it seemed sunny enough that I hoped that the worst of any ice would be gone given that I was setting off after 9 am! If anything I was overdressed in my long-sleeved baselayer and jacket since it felt quite spring like, and there was only a hint of lingering ice here and there. In an unexpected twist, Boroughmuir Plaza was gritted, but not as heavily as Heriot-Watt Campus...
I think my studded tyres have lasted better this year because I've not pumped them up so hard. In previous years I've run them at the maximum permitted pressure because the instructions said that reduced noise (and, I assumed, rolling resistance). That's as may be, but it also seemed to cause the studs to tilt in their holes and then punch themselves sideways through the tyre casing. By running at lower pressure this year I seem to have avoided that.
I'm assuming that tilting came because the tyre was rounder and there was a sideways force on the studs when in contact with the road. With the tyre at lower pressure I'm thinking the studs were more perpendicular to the road.
Who knows.
I have some spare Schwalbe-style studs if anyone is depleted thereof and unable to get any delivered from Europe.
If anyone finds anywhere selling studded tyres which is still shipping to the UK, should we club together and do a big order in the hope it gets here before next winter?
@harts have studded tyres if anyone is looking for them. At least they did when they posted on social media.
@wingpig I’d be interested in that.
I have just lost 2 hours of my life and completely destroyed my hands. 2 years ago I bought a set of Marathon Winter Plus tyres for the trike. It’s never been icy enough to put them on, but I decided to fit them today. The 559 at the back went on fairly straightforward - a bit of brute force and I got it on. The 405s at the front though.... complete rule 2s. Almost impossible to fit. Shredded my thumbs on the studs in desperation.... once I had eventually coaxed the second one on I realised I’d put it on a back to front just to rub salt in the wound. I tentatively tried to see if it would come off - no chance. I’ll have to chainsaw those things off. Don’t suppose it will make any difference to ride but it’s now going to be sitting there laughing at me every time I see it.
@nobrakes, Nae luck.
I bought a Marathon winter tyre ten years ago. I put it on a spare front wheel,maybe even in the summer? I have I think swapped the front wheel three times in ten years. Thank goodness I never bothered about a rear wheel.
When I commuted it could be door to door main road in bad weather.
I hadn’t really thought it through. The wheel sits there under the spare fireplace I use as a shelf in the garage, laughing at me.
However your story has cheered me up.
Yeah, the reason I haven’t fitted them is that most of the time I can do without. I use the trike in winter on the back roads but even then you can generally get by if you’re careful. I have ended up sliding backwards down sheet ice before but on three wheels it’s just an opportunity for a bit of sledging. Just thought I would try them out as there’s a lot of ice at the moment. I’m regretting it already! :)
I haven't had the pleasure of trying to fit 20" Winters, but I find 24" and 26" are on and offable with one tyre lever and a pair of work gloves (like you get from Screwfix). The studs really do ruin your hands otherwise.
Rear winter vital on an ICE trike for ice. Front less so but depends where you tend to 'sledge'. With two front wheels steering you have a more chance of gripping I suppose.
I have fitted 20" before and weren't that bad. Maybe new spec.
Well, it was worth it after all. 2 hours of outrageous good fun on the back road. About an inch of ice with snow on top. The rear end was sliding all over the place even with the studs but that just added to the fun!
I’ve got Marathon Winters on my Longstaff. It says up on its own but studs let it stop and steer.
I stopped using them on a Brompton because the back of the studs caused a stupid number of punctures, several per day.
If the Brompton version has got better I’d get them again but I’m not refitting the ones in the shed.
The front 406 ones are Marathon Winter Plus - wonder if that makes them harder to get on. Maybe my technique is just bad or my hands aren’t strong enough :)
20” marathon plusses are the *worst*.
May try to fit a well-used Marathon Winter to my road bike before Monday.
Plus will do of course.
Shop ones are just Winters - bit more supple.
That trike shot makes me want to go out and enjoy the security of cycling multi-track.
Find a wee drop of fairy liquid spread along rim helps greatly with recalcitrant tyres - that and warming them up to get them more supple
Interesting chat on Saukki’s you tube channel with a Swedish chap called Alve Henricson rode his Quattrovelo to the Nordkapp a couple of winters ago discussing tyre options - he used marathon winters on back for just part of his trip
I have found big apples at low pressure surprisingly good on light snow over ice
Apart from the visual enjoyment on icy backroads ,I really like the crunchy audio soundtrack like going over giant crispy cornflakes
Maybe my technique is just bad or my hands aren’t strong enough :)
I suppose it's partly technique – good tyre levers help; I use Pedros – and partly rim section, since a deeper rim well will assist getting the bead over the opposite side, and partly arm/hand strength. My fingers are long and have 25 years of playing bass in them, so I appreciate I might have an advantage. I remember a drum clinic with Steve White, of Paul Weller fame, and he cracked a walnut in his hand.
I did get a tyre puller gizmo which was about a fiver on wiggle and works better than levers for that final pull over ,but it is slightly flimsy and prone to slipping
Maybe I should take up drumming or perhaps becoming a brickie would strengthen up the digits
BTW, has anyone tried Marathon 365 tyres in these wintry conditions?
Giant crispy cornflakes - fantastic description!
Hmm. SJS have a few Schwalbe spikes in stock and on sale. I've still not got round to trying my current 40-622 two-row-spike Schwalbe Winter on the singlespeed to see if they fit (or at least fit when the chain is at the longer end and the wheel as far back in the dropouts as it can go). 42-622 ought to fit the geared bike as the current set are barely scraping the mud on the inside of the mudguard at the moment.
After two tube malfunctions and some mudguard fettling, I have a marathon winter equipped bike.
@srd, not a bad amount of collateral
I have one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bbb-Cycling-Unisexs-BTL-78-Bikes/dp/B00A855QRY (other retailers are available)
I installed two 622-size Marathon Winter tyres yesterday in a sub-zero garage with no fuss, no shredded knuckles and no pinched tubes. This tool will also fit studded tyres to the Brompton (although I confess that I do that with warm tyres).
I reckon it takes all the stress and effort out of fitting 'difficult' tyres. I can do it without this tool, but I'd rather not...
“other retailers are available”
This particular item WAY cheaper than ebay.
(Not often true.)
I have one of these
Pretty good usually but occasionally slips
Why is it labelled “unisex”? I didn’t know tools were gender sensitive ( no double entendre intended)
"But I wanted a pink one!" *tantrum*
Maybe there's a school of thought that the geometry of the tire tool would have to change in order to accommodate smaller hands?
If it was made with 'different' leverage, people whose hands had more grasping strength would benefit just as much from the more levery version as people with less grasping strength. It'd be like them marketing 3ft bolt cutters in pink for feeble women, and the 2ft bolt cutters in blue for big strong men!
Some of the stuff on Amazon is just barmy.
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts