Removing tire from Alex rim

harper wrote:
*I used plastic levers to replace the tire. It was very difficult. I
cursed the tire frequently. One of us will not see the gates of heaven
as a result of this. I only hope I used the correct cursing and the
tire is the one that fails to make the journey. *

Unfortunately the Gazz is a very bouncy tire. Everything you say to it
bounces off and lands on you.

I know the feeling. My Coker tire and Airfoil rim was my undoing. I'm
never going to get to see the Pearly Gates because of that experience.


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john_childs - Guinness Mojo

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john_childs wrote:
*
Unfortunately the Gazz is a very bouncy tire. Everything you say to
it bounces off and lands on you.

*


But what about the rotation direction? It's on backwards.


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harper - Statuesque

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harper wrote:
*

But what about the rotation direction? It's on backwards. *

Kris rode with the Gazz rotating the wrong way. If it works for him it
should be good enough for you. With the tread facing backwards it
should theoretically give you more traction on the crazy technical
downhills that you love to do.


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harper wrote:
*

But what about the rotation direction? It's on backwards. *


You could switch the cranks to opposite sides and turn the frame around,
but then your rim and, perhaps most importantly, your spokes will be
rotating in the wrong direction.

BTW, speaking of using soapy water for lubrication, I once tried it and
ended up with rust in my rim because the water inside didn't ever dry
out. Has this happened to anyone else, or did I miss a step?

Andy


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quark soup - Frood who knows where his towel is.

quark soup

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Geez; I must be a brute or something...I put a new Gaz on my KH24
without much problem , In fact I took it off and put it on again (all of
this with 1 plastic lever) because I did the Harper "oops it's backward
thing".....?.............


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MUNIYETI - The Abominable MUnicyclist
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Harper and everyone else,

Directional tires are designed to perform a function when rotated in the
direction which the arrow indicates.

Road or street tires are designed to dispurse the water when riding on a
wet surface.

Downhill tires are designed to rotate smoothly and freely when rolling
forward down a hill and to bite the ground when the brakes are
applied.
Most downhill tires are smooth when rubbing your hand in one direction
and very hard to rub your hand in the other direction.

When appling pressure on the rear crank as it is coming up when going
down a hill on a unicycle, a downhill tire will dig into the ground
giving much more traction.

I will get a picture of a downhill tire and post it in the next few
days. It is always easier to understand when you can picture it or see
what is being explained.

To answer your question, use the tire in the direction it is intended to
be used.

A Monty or Luna for example, is non-directional
and doesn't make a difference which way it rotates.

Note:
The only time a downhill tire will be useful running it backwards is for
a uphill event where you will get more traction than having it on the
right way.

Pictures coming soon.



As for installing and removing Trials and MUni tires on Alex rims... the
answer is a spray can of Silicone spray !!!

You can get a can at most auto parts stores. Home Depot's have it around
here as well. About 6.00 a can. It's the same size as a spray paint
can.

Spray the lip and side where the tire seats and install it by hand. I do
it almost every day with Luna 20" trials and 24x3" Gazz.
Yes, by hand, no tools !
You will still need tire levers to remove them.
The best ones are the new-last-year Park steel
levers.
Sometimes there is the odd one that makes you say things like
*%$@#&^#%$@ but most just slip on.

Make sure the tube is out of the way as well with these rims.

Spray a decent amount of silicone on when installing or removing the
tire where it contacts the rim.
The silicone spray dries within a few minutes.
It is good for the rubber and won't cause any problems.

It works well on the side of Ultimate wheel tires too. Spray it on both
sides before you ride.

Try it ! You will be glad you did !

Cheers,
Darren


--
Darren - Bedford Unicycles
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Darren wrote:
*Directional tires are designed to perform a function when rotated in
the direction which the arrow indicates.
*


I've seen cross country tyres that are marked to go in one direction for
the front wheel and the opposite way for the back wheel. Any idea which
way these should go? Presumably it's some kind of trade off between
braking performance and traction?

Joe


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joemarshall - dumb blonde
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Darren-

Thanks for the response. I think I'll try it backwards to see if there's
any difference at all. If there is, I'll go with the silicone spray
technique when I switch it or just yank the cranks and reverse the
frame. Soap and water always bothered me because it won't evaporate and
will corrode metal surfaces inside the wheel as mentioned earlier.


--
harper - Statuesque

-Greg Harper

B L U E S H I F T

"Stoke your own thread as much as you see fit, no problem." - Klaas
Bil

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Well, I finally got the tire on a couple days ago. I got a much better
tire lever. The ones I were using before were very cheap and did not
have a deep enough lever edge to get the very last bit of tire onto the
rim. Thanks to everyone for the advice. My Summit feels great to ride
with the new tire. In the future, maybe I'll get some silicone spray to
make it easier. I wore down my old Luna tire after about 9 or 10 months
of use. How fast has everyone else wore down their trials tires? I might
wear down my new one sooner since I'm learning how to glide on it right
now.


--
Rockey

epiphanize
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"joemarshall" . com writes:

I've seen cross country tyres that are marked to go in one direction for
the front wheel and the opposite way for the back wheel. Any idea which
way these should go? Presumably it's some kind of trade off between
braking performance and traction?

On a bicycle the driven wheel is in back and most of the braking is
done by the front wheel (n.b. the rear wheel lightens up when you
brake hard). So the recommendarion makes sense.

Which way is best for your unicycle depends on where you want to
optimize traction. For uphills mount the tire as a back wheel, for
downhills it'll work better mounted as a front tire.

Ken