For now I mounted up some Specialized Storm 1.8 tires in hopes for some mud and snow tomorrow. They look sooo skinny that it reminds me of cross which is the best cycling sport EVER...
See you dirty types tomorrow in almost Logan. Lets hope for snow mud and rain yeahhhh!!
Maybe I'll ride this
7 comments:
that wasnt a spat, hes an old eastern commie, needs to embrace technology a bit more. im old opinionated and stubborn but not that old, i would call it more of a debate,
i wish more people would step up and voice some preferences, i guess we scared them off.
that pic looks like an updated tomac yeti from 1990. minus the disc brakes, and modern xtr crank.
its even almost the same paint job as 18 yrs ago...
also, after all that talk, bz said he was on to stans, then raced today with tubes and flatted out.
go figure, tubes suck. if you (anyone) uses them and flats, pinches, or gets thorns you deserve to walk home.
but always carry a spare tube no matter what kind of tires you have. stans leaks out too , once its gone youre hosed.
I am injured and in a pissy mood, so I will voice my opinion on tires. First I don't think that all time spent in race preperation is equal. If I was a pro, going for cash or making a living at racing, whilst equipment was provided for free, it doesn't make sense to use tubes or UST specific tires.
That said, I have wrestled with non-UST tires for hours with goopy Stans all over the place, bubbling out of every edge. Doing everything possible to make a good seal, only to find both tires flat the next morning. Maybe I am no mechanical genius, but UST tires all seem to have a soft rubber bead that seals to the rim really nice with no trouble. Time spent working on my bike is not the same to me as time spent doing a training ride. If I am not riding, I am working or taking care of the wife and kids. If I lose a couple spots on the podium, it would have been well worth a 4 hour epic ride versus jacking with tires all afternoon.
While I would love to purchase one of every lite non-ust tire and try them all out, it is cost prohibitive. Can anyone explain to my wife why I need to buy several sets of tires, because the hard rubber bead on my non-ust tires have a crimp and won't seal? Or why these tire companies don't make a tire that has a UST style bead, with thin sidewalls?
fogive me if this sounds arrogant, but dont know another way of putting it. maybe thats why im not married.
explaining to the wife why you need to buy tires?
its my money i would say, i earned it, i paid the house payment and went to the grocery store so dont question how i spend my money while i pursue my hobby.
now that might sound bad but thats how i would and do it, and why would my wife or gf question how i spent my money anyway, why would they complain to begin with? im sure im missing the point, so dont hate, educate.. a guy who not so successfull at keeping girls around.
sly
also,
spending hours seating up tires is a waste of time. you need the proper tools and know how. it takes about 20 mins. and they do leak, thats why after you are done they are supposed to be ridden for about an hour or more. constantly spinning the tire with a lot of stans. over 2 cups. probably 4 cups. because it is going to leak out during the ride. bring a pump and air cans to fill them up a few times along the way. the stans has to set up properly in every crease and small side wall pin hole. if you dont do this the next day they will be flat and you have to start over.
also this is a race set up wheelset if you dont have time to fix flats, seal tires and switch wheelsets this is not the best choice. especially if you dont care about results, dont race and just want to shred all day with no worries of cutting side walls.
the difference is what you do, where you ride and why. maybe thats confusing on all this tire talk lately.
if i didnt care about weight, just wanted to ride 4 hrs on a bomber tire i would use 2.5" free ride tires with ust and let it coast down the rockiest trails with no issues, no air leaking, no flats.
Here is the secret... separate checking accounts!! And work for a bike company. Works for me.
Specialized tires have a new UST type bead with super light sidewalls. They always seal up without a problem. Maybe you should give thema try.
The wife comment is a retorical question, at the end of the day I have to justify it to myself using my complex "When can I retire" algorithm.
Wow, using a non-UST tire in UST style is even more work than I thought. Again, wouldn't it be sweet if someone at Maxxis would make a Larsen TT with out all the LUST, but keep the supple rubber bead? Is that so much to ask?
I have a bike for the downhill stuff, and I don't care what the tire weight is. In a pure quest for racing speed, I totally agree with your setup, I just cut some corners to allow for my low tolerance with respect to maintenance overhead and lack of time.
I didn't see your post until I had responded. I'll check them out.
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