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Post by kirriepete on Jan 28, 2012 11:07:58 GMT 1
... shiny black hoop turned up on Thursday, I finish work at 2 on Fridays, so yesterday it was out with the tyre levers.
Getting the old Pirelli Sport Demon off was harder than I imagined, the sidewalls kept flexing more than I would anticipate, making the second half of the tyre wobble rather than pull straight off. Then I looked a bit closer ... Pirelli .... Dragon GTS .... radial! No wonder the front felt a bit weird - crossply rear/radial front is a no-no for very good reasons - yet it passed the last MOT like this!
AM26 popped on without a complaint, 20p in the air machine at the local BP produced a satisfactory 'POP!' as it seated (ice cream tub of tyre soap scrounged from Kwik-Fit ages ago). Now to scrub it in ... -3 outside with black ice evident, maybe not the ideal time to scrub in a new front ....
Report to follow when the roads appear from under the ice layer.
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76offset
Ahh! Just passed their bike test
Posts: 22
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Post by 76offset on Jan 28, 2012 12:26:01 GMT 1
Hi Kirrie, I enjoy reading about your articles and bridge appreciations. I wanted to attach a picture of the Garabit Viaduct in France (Cantal) but cannot find the facility on the site today ?? Now you've been at your tyre, may I ask, do you use a particular type of tyre lever? In the auld days I always did my own tyre work using a wooden block and a couple of levers to remove and the heel of my boot to replace but i've been frightened off by the prospect of damaging the ally rim/ tyre beading and feel dependent on tyre fitting machines. I wonder if you could tell us how you manage it ? I used fairy liquid/swarfega but maybe there's something better now ! There's also the question of which anti-deflation or reflation product to use or not as the case may be - pro's and con's anybody ?
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Post by kirriepete on Jan 28, 2012 15:10:59 GMT 1
Hi Kirrie, I enjoy reading about your articles and bridge appreciations. I wanted to attach a picture of the Garabit Viaduct in France (Cantal) but cannot find the facility on the site today ?? Simplest method is to use Photobucket (or similar) and just embed the ![]() code .. Now you've been at your tyre, may I ask, do you use a particular type of tyre lever? In the auld days I always did my own tyre work using a wooden block and a couple of levers to remove and the heel of my boot to replace but i've been frightened off by the prospect of damaging the ally rim/ tyre beading and feel dependent on tyre fitting machines. I wonder if you could tell us how you manage it ? I used fairy liquid/swarfega but maybe there's something better now ! There's also the question of which anti-deflation or reflation product to use or not as the case may be - pro's and con's anybody ? I've got 3 totally different tyre levers 1. Dunlop one about an inch wide, 10 inches long and thick enough to dent a rhino's head - found it when clearing out my late father-in-law's garage after he 'moved on to a better place'. Good for heavy duty grunt work. 2. Unnamed 'spoon type, 10 inches long, about ½ inch cross section with rounded & 'spooned' ends - no idea where this came from. Great for sliding in under the bead at the start of removal. 3. My old MZ250 C-spanner/tyre lever combination - bit bent but it's the one that does most of the work, especially those last couple of inches where the Dunlop one is too thick and the other one has too radical a 'spoon', so gets trapped in between the tyre and the rim. Rim protection? Go gently with the levers, I've also got a pile (well, actually old Xmas choccy tins) of bits of rubber and plastic lying around the shed. As for lube - in the corner of my shed is an old ice cream tub half-full of Kwik-Fit tyre soap - they chuck out the buckets when there's still some left in the corners, more than enough for the average home user, so just rock up and ask, they can only say no. Top Tip: send the wife/girlfriend in with a fairly open topped blouse - yeah, it's sexist, but it works.... Anti-deflation product? Stay away from nails in the road! Never used any tyre gloop and probably never will. |
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Post by rj2para (Bisto) on Jan 28, 2012 16:15:25 GMT 1
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76offset
Ahh! Just passed their bike test
Posts: 22
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Post by 76offset on Jan 28, 2012 21:03:15 GMT 1
Thanks for all that Pete and rj2. Well, that's useful stuff to know, no fancy levers necessary, just easy does it and a bit of nowse + tyre soap. One useful thing I found out when I punctured with a nail in France in 2010, was that because I took the wheel out (easy on NTV) they only charged 8 euros and did a good repair, gloop washed out and all. It was a chain similar to National tyres. I was able to get to the tyre place because the gloop kept the tyre up long enough to get there. I wonder - does anyone use a spare tube as a breakdown repair, or even all the time?
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