Cato's first off road dally ....

[Gaz]

Think I'll take back marker for that ride, with the GoPro...........
Mark

I have a big_bike/relatively_novice/elderly_cop friendly route around Llangollen from last weekend. It only has two killer lanes on it (optional, end of the day).
Tim/Mark, l'll be in touch, we should definitely do this,
G

 

[g00ner]

Mike, I'm away for the long weekend and can't make it ....

Leave the Gin at home..

 

[kondorpilot]

Bike looks even better with those tyres on.Fantastic looking machine and can do the business too by the sounds of it!

 

[Giles]

Bike looks even better with those tyres on.Fantastic looking machine and can do the business too by the sounds of it!

....in the hands of a pro rider ..... sigh ..... !!


<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JWIZfYQhgMc?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[cookie]

having read this, i'm feeling strangely drawn to changing my own tyres

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

having read this, i'm feeling strangely drawn to changing my own tyres

Mmmmmm................me too. However, if I'm honest, the thought lasted all of abot 3 1/2 minutes. Think I'll just carry on bunging my local tyre place the £12 they charge to fit the tyres to loose wheels, life's too short

Andres

 

[Giles]

Mmmmmm................me too. However, if I'm honest, the thought lasted all of abot 3 1/2 minutes. Think I'll just carry on bunging my local tyre place the £12 they charge to fit the tyres to loose wheels, life's too short

Andres

I was thinking this when I was doing the rear. (First ever attempt). In fact I was thinking ... 'fuck, I've just spent about £150 on levers, bead breakers and a compressor and I'm not sure I can be arsed, 'cos this is harder work than I thought ... '

But when the front took (a genuine) ten minutes, my mind was made up. For me, it's about somebody like g00ner phoning at 6pm and telling me there's a trail riding day tomorrow .... 'yep, I'm in .... I'll just go and change my tyres .... '

 

[cookie]

10 mins.

i'm guessing you didn't bother balancing the wheel?

 

[kondorpilot]

Great bit of video. I know we should just ride them where we want to and use it for its intended purpose, but the thought of dropping/ damaging that lovel (expensive) machine makes me squirm

 

[Giles]

Cookie ... Correct. That's fine by me for off road, but for road work then yes .. I'll need to do that .....

 

[Nutty]

And it wasn't even a decent gin either....

I've tried telling him!

 

[Nutty]

Cookie ... Correct. That's fine by me for off road, but for road work then yes .. I'll need to do that .....

Do you have something to balance the road tyres when you put them back on?

 

[Giles]

I will have ! Bloody hell ... Money money money! They're pretty cheap in all honesty - thirty odd quid from ebay ...

 

[Fanum]

having read this, i'm feeling strangely drawn to changing my own tyres

Mmmmmm................me too. However, if I'm honest, the thought lasted all of abot 3 1/2 minutes. Think I'll just carry on bunging my local tyre place the £12 they charge to fit the tyres to loose wheels, life's too short

Andres

Just like doing your own puncture repairs, it's definitely worth changing your own tyres at least once just for the confidence aspect.

I can and have changed my own a good number of times, without Giles' fancy doodah changing kit.....at home, I use a landrover tyre to rest on and to avoid disc damaged, some decent levers and a set of hard plastic clip on rim protectors......I've also got a compressor that I got for inflating 4x4 tyres in a hurry, so I can re-seal my beads. (and I've got used to using a lorry ratchet strap on the rear TKCs as well...that REALLY helps )
I use a very large "G" clamp and a couple of offcuts of wood to break beads, plus the heels of my size 14 daisies.

Having said that, if/when I can afford to, I will also pay a tenner or so to have them fitted.....Andre is right, life is too short and some tyres have bloody rigid sidewalls compared to others.....I've got into the habit of changing the rotation of my TKCs at a bit under half wear life, which gives you sharper edged knobbles again, but isn't something many (if any) tyre fitters will be willing to do for you.

The fact that I KNOW I can do it is more important than actually doing it IYSWIM.......so for that reason alone, I'd really recommend giving it a go, especially when you can pick the time, weather and location to do it in

 

[Nutty]

Damn, I seem to be agreeing with Bill more and more!

For the sake of a tenner or two, I'd rather get someone to change my tyres for me. It's a bit of a faff, but if I attempted that, like Giles, I'd scratch and mark my rims, costing much more to put right.

 

[cookie]

I've changed many tubed tyres. Some at the side of the road or in a muddy field, so not a noob, but always got the pros to do my tubeless tyres.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

I've changed many tubed tyres. Some at the side of the road or in a muddy field, so not a noob, but always got the pros to do my tubeless tyres.

Likewise.

Also, a puncture on a tubeless tyre is invariably fixed with a plug, no need to remove the tyre.

I think it's something I need to have a go at though

Andres

 

[Timpo]

How do you rate the Mitas E-10 tyres?

 

[Giles]

Timpo .... I need a bit more time to let you know! I'm no off road aficionado by any stretch so don't have the off road brain that instantly recognises average or great tyres. And also of course the bike is new to me off road so I'm deciphering what's a bike characteristic and what's a tyre characteristic. I did notice on a couple of occasions the bike slid down a cambered section of trail if you get my gist, and it didn't dig in and grip, that was quite early on where it was a bit muddier. That could be me being a bit tight and not thinking about body weight through pegs, it could be just the weight of the bike, or it could be not enough bite in the rear. (Front tkc). I also noticed that the rear span up quite easily on the simple stuff. So that was good in parts (larking around, squaring something off), but of course when I wanted it to really dig in and lob the front over a pot hole it sometimes didn't. So again that could be big power, or it could be a tyre biased for a life that requires more than just grip. Other than those little odd moments, it felt pretty good. When I'm an off roading God I'll be able to give you a proper diagnosis ...

 

[g00ner]

First laning day for a while, Maidstone down to Dover and back. Fat boy brekkie x2 at Barham, rut misery through Dover (nobber leading knows I hate them), tea and Fruit cake at the Blue & White, one off (me), one broken clutch lever, gear lever bent, never stopped raining and all the walkers had smiles and cheery waves. Cracking day, you're leading next time Giles

Oh..and a bastard mouse had taken up residence in my Tech 3 boot and nicked the padding in the heel for a nest I now have a size 9 left and a size 11 right