Last Spring I purchased a Big Wheel from the U.S. and had it shipped to Canada.
In less than one year, and after storing it indoors, the tire has developed some
visible cracks on the sides. While the tire remains inflated at the proper
pressure, I do have some safety concerns so I haven’t rode it since these cracks
appeared. This is pretty sad after going to the trouble of having it shipped all
that distance and realizing the weakness of our Canadian dollar against the U.S.
currency. These TIRES are also very expensive.
This is just meant to be helpful warning. Maybe my situation is rare??
— Jack Halpern <jack@mail.hinocatv.ne.jp> > wrote: My Coker tire has worn out on one spot, and I had to rotate it the > other. Does this happen to others?
Yes Jack. All my Coker tires got uneven wear. I have to rotate often. Also at 50
psi they get worn out down the middle while retaining tread on the outer.
> I of course know all about this from a regular uni, which wears out quickly if > you do quick stops with 90% scraping “spins” – but I don’t do that on the > Coker so it is weird that it should wear out on spot like that.
Not at all. As Sarah mentioned, mounting and turning are the most likely
culprits. When you mount, your foot position is always the same, and the
unicycle may twist a little each time. When you turn, unless you always make
perfectly even, swooping turns, there is likely more wear going on in
certain spots, as your inside foot makes the big push to initiate the main
part of the turn.
Nathan Hoover has shown that it’s possible to wear the tire evenly (1200 miles
of mostly commuting), but I think he does a lot of straight riding. Or he’s
really good at making those smooth turns! But for most of us, I think the tire
will wear unevenly. Especially if we do more stopping, starting, and turning.
I even get uneven wear on my hard-tire big wheel, though it takes a long time
for it to be noticeable due to the thickness of the tire…
Small cracks in the tire shouldn’t really alarm you. Probably just a little dry
rot. When you ride, does the tire bulge a lot? Also, exposure to ozone can be
detrimental. Make sure your tube is good and ride the thing! I assume you are
talking about a Coker. True? Brian
D. L. Sheppard <dlsheppa@cancom.net> wrote in message news:6XBD5.5003$mC.312853@monger.newsread.com… > Last Spring I purchased a Big Wheel from the U.S. and had it shipped to > Canada. In less than one year, and after storing it indoors, the tire has > developed some visible cracks on the sides. While the tire remains
inflated > at the proper pressure, I do have some safety concerns so I haven’t rode
it > since these cracks appeared. This is pretty sad after going to the
trouble > of having it shipped all that distance and realizing the weakness of our > Canadian dollar against the U.S. currency. These TIRES are also very > expensive. > > This is just meant to be helpful warning. Maybe my situation is rare?? > > Enjoy your unicycles!!! > > Derrick >
D. L. Sheppard <dlsheppa@cancom.net> wrote: > In less than one year, and after storing it indoors, the tire has developed > some visible cracks on the sides. While the tire remains inflated at the > proper pressure, I do have some safety concerns so I haven’t rode it since > these cracks appeared.
If its a Coker you have then I shouldn’t worry unless they are BIG deep cracks.
Those tyres are 4 ply, and seem to cope well with damage to the outer ply very
well. Mine has nicks and small holes from thorns, flints and glass, BUT has
never actully puntured. YET. ( famous last words I know)
Assuming it’s a Coker tire you’re talking about, I wouldn’t worry. They are
bombproof. I haven’t noticed any cracks in 18 months/1200 miles.
—Nathan
“D. L. Sheppard” <dlsheppa@cancom.net> wrote in message news:6XBD5.5003$mC.312853@monger.newsread.com… > Last Spring I purchased a Big Wheel from the U.S. and had it shipped to > Canada. In less than one year, and after storing it indoors, the tire has > developed some visible cracks on the sides. While the tire remains
inflated > at the proper pressure, I do have some safety concerns so I haven’t rode
it > since these cracks appeared. This is pretty sad after going to the
trouble > of having it shipped all that distance and realizing the weakness of our > Canadian dollar against the U.S. currency. These TIRES are also very > expensive. > > This is just meant to be helpful warning. Maybe my situation is rare?? > > Enjoy your unicycles!!! > > Derrick >
>I even get uneven wear on my hard-tire big wheel, though it takes a long time >for it to be noticeable due to the thickness of the tire…
Depending on how tight the wire inside a hard-tire (usually a wheelchair tire)
is, the tire can actually crawl around the rim causing the wear to be quite
even. This could be called automatic and continual tire rotation. John probably
has his tire on so tight, it doesn’t crawl around the rim.
In message “Re: Caution: Big Wheel Tires”, Nathan Hoover wrote… >Assuming it’s a Coker tire you’re talking about, I wouldn’t worry. They are >bombproof. I haven’t noticed any cracks in 18 months/1200 miles.
My Coker tire has worn out on one spot, and I had to rotate it the other. Does
this happen to others?
>—Nathan > >“D. L. Sheppard” <dlsheppa@cancom.net> wrote in message >news:6XBD5.5003$mC.312853@monger.newsread.com… >> Last Spring I purchased a Big Wheel from the U.S. and had it shipped to >> Canada. In less than one year, and after storing it indoors, the tire has >> developed some visible cracks on the sides. While the tire remains >inflated >> at the proper pressure, I do have some safety concerns so I haven’t rode >it >> since these cracks appeared. This is pretty sad after going to the >trouble >> of having it shipped all that distance and realizing the weakness of our >> Canadian dollar against the U.S. currency. These TIRES are also very >> expensive. >> >> This is just meant to be helpful warning. Maybe my situation is rare?? >> >> Enjoy your unicycles!!! >> >> Derrick >> >> > > >
I had to rotate mine once about a year ago, but since then I think I’ve been
riding more smoothly and haven’t had a uneven wearing problem. If you do have to
rotate the tire, it is surprisingly easy, just deflate, rotate as desiered and
reinflate.
—Nathan
“Jack Halpern” <jack@mail.hinocatv.ne.jp> wrote in message news:200010092253.AA09561@mail.mail.hinocatv.ne.jp… > Greetings > > In message “Re: Caution: Big Wheel Tires”, Nathan Hoover wrote… > >Assuming it’s a Coker tire you’re talking about, I wouldn’t worry. They
are > >bombproof. I haven’t noticed any cracks in 18 months/1200 miles. > > My Coker tire has worn out on one spot, and I had to rotate it the other. Does > this happen to others? > > > >—Nathan > > > >“D. L. Sheppard” <dlsheppa@cancom.net> wrote in message > >news:6XBD5.5003$mC.312853@monger.newsread.com… > >> Last Spring I purchased a Big Wheel from the U.S. and had it shipped
to > >> Canada. In less than one year, and after storing it indoors, the tire
has > >> developed some visible cracks on the sides. While the tire remains > >inflated > >> at the proper pressure, I do have some safety concerns so I haven’t
rode > >it > >> since these cracks appeared. This is pretty sad after going to the > >trouble > >> of having it shipped all that distance and realizing the weakness of
our > >> Canadian dollar against the U.S. currency. These TIRES are also very > >> expensive. > >> > >> This is just meant to be helpful warning. Maybe my situation is rare?? > >> > >> Enjoy your unicycles!!! > >> > >> Derrick > >> > >> > > > > > > > > > Regards, Jack Halpern CJK Dictionary Publishing Society, http://www.kanji.org > Voice: +81-48-481-3103 Fax: +81-48-479-1323
Jack Halpern <jack@mail.hinocatv.ne.jp> wrote: > My Coker tire has worn out on one spot, and I had to rotate it the other. Does > this happen to others?
Er, Yes. its caused by mounting and ideling and turning all putting stress on
the same area of the tire cirmumference. happens to all all uni tires sooner or
later. Just rotate the tire 30 degrees when you notice a balding spot.
In message “Re: Caution: Big Wheel Tires”, Sarah Miller wrote… >Jack Halpern <jack@mail.hinocatv.ne.jp> wrote: >> My Coker tire has worn out on one spot, and I had to rotate it the other. >> Does this happen to others? > >Er, Yes. its caused by mounting and ideling and turning all putting stress on >the same area of the tire cirmumference. happens to all all uni tires sooner >or later. Just rotate the tire 30 degrees when you notice a balding spot.
I of course know all about this from a regular uni, which wears out quickly if
you do quick stops with 90% scraping “spins” – but I don’t do that on the Coker
so it is weird that it should wear out on spot like that.
I have an old style Coker w/ knobby tire. I had it all apart over the winter and when I put it back together, I found I was leaning to the left all the time.
I first thought it was because my wheel is not dished properly. I don’t have a spoke wrench for the large Coker spokes, so it’s not easy to re-dish the wheel. I put 2 thicknesses of soda can between the frame and bearing on one side. That put the rim in the middle of the frame, but didn’t help the leaning. (I’m not entirely sure that shimming a mis-dished wheel is the best thing to do anyway)
It turns out that the left side of my tire was worn more than the left side and I had turned the tire around on reassembly. I think the wear is due to roads being higher in the middle and also because I usually turn left at the end of a dead end streets.
Anyone else have this problem?
Also, I got new pedals w/ spikes (on sale from Bike Nashbar). This is a big improvement over the pedals I was using. I find it easier to make sharp turns and navigate over bumps, etc. I wish I had these much sooner. I rode the Hilly Hundred last fall, and I was the worst on the hills. I think these pedals would have helped some.
It looks like this could be a problem if you ride along the side of well-cambered roads a lot. I know on my first attempt to ride around Lake Tahoe (2006) the narrow roads with steep camber wreaked havoc on my worn Coker tire. On those tires, as the knobs wear off it seems like they can get more sensitive to road angle. My recommendation to you is to leave the tire the way it is now, and give it some time. It may even out but it may be annoying for a while during the process.
Putting it back on the other way might make it ride straight for a while, but of course only along the right-hand shoulder, and possibly with a shorter overall tire life. Your other option is a new tire of course, but those tires are good for lots and lots of miles if you take care of them…
In regards to the tire cracking, note that the rubber itself is probably what is cracking, but the strength of the tire is mainly in the plies, which are nylon or some other material, and not rubber. If it’s not bulging badly, I’d go ahead and ride it anyway.