nathan said:*Just came back from the first ride with 29er tubes in our Hunter36s
and IT IS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE DIFFERENCE!!!!* It's like a new
unicycle. SO much lighter and more responsive. We did about 25km of
dirt (some of it very rough) on this ride and Beau picked up a thorn
that just barely went through. It was a slow leak that we didn't
notice until we stopped for 45 minutes for lunch. Then the tire was
mostly flat. Luckily, with tire irons and a patch kit and pump the
repair took only a few minutes. I wonder if a Coker tube may have
resisted the puncture? Who knows?
But I don't think I'm ever going back to using Coker tubes. We were
climbing previously unthinkable sections with ease. *IT MAKES SUCH A
DIFFERENCE!!! DO IT!*
Is that clear?
---Nathan
I was pretty curious about running a 29" tube after Nathan's raving
post. I took my first test ride tonight so I thought I'd give a
report.
*Monday:*
Bought a 29x2.35 Bontrager tube and proceeded to wrestle for about an
hour and make 3 snake bite punctures with my big aluminum motorcycle
tire levers. Decided technique needed some refinement.
*Tuesday:*
Got [censored], bought 5 more 29er tubes (made by WTB this time).
Got smarter, bought four of these clamps after a tip from Surly Dave:
http://tinyurl.com/dwena
After fighting the loose rubber rim strip last night I replaced it with
a proper Velox strip.
My process goes like this:
Get one side of the tire on, then stretch the un-inflated tube onto the
rim.
Put the other side of the tire mostly on and inflate the tube to maybe 5
psi. This helps it get seated up in the tire.
Pull the 2nd side of the tire off and make sure the tube isn't twisted
anywhere (and mine was).
Put the 2nd side of the tire back on. The last 12" is a bit of a
challenge. I used the tire clamps to make pinch the beads together on
the far side of the rim, and hold it in the valley in the center of the
rim. As I got closer to getting the lip on I used the clamps to hold
everything in place (because I didn't have any help).
I put a fair amount of TurtleWax "Wet and Black" on the bead surface to
help it slip over the rim. Any slippery liquid would do this, but wet
and black makes your tire look really nice! I've used it on my Jeep
tires, a Gazz, and my 36" tire... all look great. It'd also probably
help prevent a new 36" tire from cracking because it softens the
rubber.
Once I got both tire walls mounted I realized I had some of the tube
pinched under the bead. To remedy this I slowly inflated the tire and
squirted wet and black on the offending tube. It took only a little air
pressure and some massaging to get the tube to slip back into the
tire.
Next I covered both tire beads with wet and black to help them seat as I
pressurized the tire to 50 psi. Time to ride!
*The Ride*
Nathan wasn't kidding... this is liking getting the turbo version of the
36". Acceleration and climbing are markedly improved. I've only got a
few miles on, but I won't be going back to a Coker tube (though I might
carry one as my back up on rides).
Here are a few images of my clamps and "wet and black"
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Attachment filename: dscf8338.jpg |
|Download attachment: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/339963|
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
--
gbarnes - www.gb4mfg.com
George C. Barnes IV
GB4 Manufacturing, L.L.C.
http://www.gb4mfg.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
gbarnes's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/174
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41848
