Tire Anatomy?

Unicycles and Equipment
1

All,

Over the weekend, I had a flat on my United Trainer with Miyata seat and (I think) Kenda 24" x 2.125" tire. [ Fortunately, I rode for 2 hours and 45 minutes before this happened. I was about a 5 or 10 minute walk from home, and I rode my Hunter off-road uni on street for 45 minutes after that. ]

There was nothing sharp there, I was on a perfectly flat concrete area on a college campus. I think I just finally wore out the tire. The tire made a loud but short-lived squeal. Some pedestrian was scared by it. :slight_smile:

I was looking at the tire later that night, trying to figure out how tires are made and what the deal is. I noticed that it wasn’t a puncture, definitely not. Instead, there is a 4 inch section along the tire (where it would be contacting the road) that had the rubber totally worn off. I was actually down through the rubber to some kind of … fibers I guess. In that section where the fibers were exposed, that is where the hole is. I could tell it had just ripped apart from wear.

So, I decided I would try to figure out how to take the tire off, even though I really had no idea. I didn’t get too far, because I wasn’t sure what to do really. I did notice that the tire was all one piece, and I’m not sure how I could stretch it off of the rim, even though it was totally deflated. I did manage to pull it away from the rim to see that it was sealed and that there was a crease / seal along the whole length of the tire, but of course it was hidden from normal view because of the rim.

At that point, I realized that I don’t really understand the anatomy of a tire. I had always thought that the tire consisted of a rubber (or whatever) exterior, or the “tire” proper, and that there was a tube inside. When I examined my flat, I couldnt find evidence of a tube inside, tho maybe it shrank when it popped. Also, I never realized the exterior tire was sealed, I thought it was, say, “open” technically, but just barely, so that you could insert a tube. However, mine was sealed all the way around.

So, at that point, I realized that I really needed to come here to get a tutorial on tires. I searched the forums and I couldn’t find what I was looking for.

I am hoping to get:

a) an explanation about tires and how they work on the unicycle
b) suggestions for what kinds of tools and/or techniques are needed for replacing tires, repairing tires, and knowing when to do which one
c) ideas on how you know which tires go with which rims, so that I will know if Walmart carries a street tire I can just buy and put on my uni.

Thanks for your time,

Lewis

2

Lewis-

You are asking for information that would constitute a long winded response and hopefully you’ll get one. Not from me.

The Kenda 24x2.125 is cheap and available in a bike shop that is reasonably stocked. Your rim will also accept a 24x1.75 which is probably more common. I buy either size for $10 at a bike shop. Do NOT buy a 24 x 2 1/8 or 24 x 1 3/4 tire. Tires whose sizes are expressed in fractional notation are NOT interchangeable with tires whose sizes are expressed in decimal notation.

While you are at the bike shop, get a set of plastic tire irons ($1 to $2) and a tube patch kit ($1 to $2 also). Yes, your tire has a tube inside. Ask the bike shop folks everything you asked in your post. You will be with knowledgeable people who have tires, tubes, rims, tools and a myriad of other visual aids that will make the explanantion much simpler.

Bring your mom or Sophie with you. Having someone cute with you usually accelerates the assistance cycle.

3

My problem is that the Bike shops around here close at 6pm, and both of them are about a 30-40 minute drive from my workplace (and the closer of the two I dont know exactly where it is). I leave work around 5, so I don’t know that 15-20 minutes would give them time to explain, especially with everybody else getting work getting in line and doing the same thing. On Saturday I will try to go, however. They are closed Sunday, which is the better day for me.

Nicely done. :slight_smile:

Lewis

4

animation

look along the side of the road or in your neighborz garage (only if they leave it open)for the oldest crapiest wheel you can find.then with a couple of spoonz from mom’z kitchen drawer(to use for tire leverz). now procede to tear it apart for the great tire & tube wisdom.

your first quiz:what else is in a pneumatic wheel besides a tube?

5

Re: animation

Air.

Lewis

6

Re: Re: animation

Not in yours anymore.

7

Re: Re: Re: animation

Harper,

Sure I do. It is just under less pressure at the moment. wink

Lewis

8

Re: Re: animation

ok,now besides that,what else?

9

Re: Tire Anatomy?

Animation <Animation.35zxy@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in
news:Animation.35zxy@timelimit.unicyclist.com:

>
> jagur wrote:
>> *
>> your first quiz:what else is in a pneumatic wheel besides a tube? *
>
> Air.

The rim strip. Make sure you get a new one, preferably the cloth stuff
that is supplied as a roll and has adhesive on it to help keep it on the
rim. I’ve seen spoke nipples wear through rubber rim strips and that can
cause punctures. As far as how to take the tire off and put it back on,
that’s best shown in person rather than explained in words. Watch how they
do it at the bike shop or have someone who knows how to do it show you.
It’s easy once you’ve done it.

John

10

Go to


for descriptions and pics of how to remove tires etc. That should help.
Good luck
11

Re: Tire Anatomy?

On Mon, 15 Apr 2002 11:41:09 -0500,
harper <harper.35u5m@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

> inside. Ask the bike shop folks everything you asked in your post. You
> will be with knowledgeable people who have tires, tubes, rims, tools and
> a myriad of other visual aids that will make the explanantion much
> simpler.

I second this proposal.

One thing the bike shop might not tell you - some combinations of tyre and
rim are a complete pain to get apart and back together again. Although
the rim diameter and teh tyre bead diameter are supposed to be a standard
size, some are more standard than others, and you can end up with a tyre
that’s a real struggle.

Don’t use the tyre levers to lever the tyre back on. It makes it much,
much more likely that you’ll pinch the inner tube and puncture it again
trying to get the tyre in place. When you’re trying to get the tyre back
on, if it won’t go, try some lubrication on the side of the rim, but DON’T
USE OIL - the rubber on the inside of the tyre won’t like it. Use washing
up liquid (does that have teh same name wherever you are? - detergent,
what you use to wash dishes if you don’t have a dishwasher, generally
green and invariably thick and slimy, and doesn’t attack the rubber of the
tyre).

Also, when you’re trying to push the last bit of bead into teh rim, it
helps to make sure teh rest of teh bead isn’t engaged around teh rim -
push it into the middle of the rim, and re-seat it where it belongs once
all of the tyre is on teh rim.

regards, Ian SMith

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12

Re: Re: Tire Anatomy?

Ugh. Thanks, I barely know what any of that means (“bead isn’t engaged”?). I will try my best to figure this stuff out … maybe Chris will be of some assistance.

Still, I’m starting to think it’d be easier to buy a whole new unicycle every time I need to change the tire.

Lewis

13

Re: Tire Anatomy?

It may sound obvious, but you usually have to remove the wheel from the
unicycle frame.

If your unicycle uses lollipop bearing holders, then there will be a couple of
screws to unscrew on the side of each fork. Then the wheel comes off.

If your unicycle uses end-cap bearing holders, then there will be a couple of
screws to unscrew on the bottom of each fork.

David Maxfield
Bainbridge Island, WA

14

the tire bead is what you had called a "crease/seal in your thread opener.

15

RE: Tire Anatomy?

> a) an explanation about tires and how they work on the unicycle
> b) suggestions for what kinds of tools and/or techniques are
> needed for
> replacing tires, repairing tires, and knowing when to do which one
> c) ideas on how you know which tires go with which rims, so
> that I will know if Walmart carries a street tire I can just
> buy and put on my uni.

Unicycles use bicycle tires. There are lots of answers to all of your
questions out there. Tire companies have Web sites, and there are lots of
tutorial bike Web sites that cover all the basics of bicycle maintenance.

Remember, the kind of tires we use today have been around for about 100
years, and can be changed easily with normal household tools (though tire
irons are much better, and some tires are much harder to get off, such as
the Gazz).

Hey, does anybody know why, when I read the ng via e-mail, I get half a
day’s worth of answers to original posts before I see the original post?

Thanks,
JF

16

Re: RE: Tire Anatomy?

The replyer’s news service updates/propigates their message sooner than the starter of the thread. My ISP has an issue with this, and I have since quit posting via mail since the posts end up showing on the Forum days later, and may also take some time to make their way to other ISP’s news services- so in your case, it may be both the fault of your ISP not updating, and the sender’s ISP not properly propigating. I think.

Christopher

17

Humm… I think I’ll test this… make some Sophie masks… try getting service with and without them, collect some data to satisfy Mr. Klaas. Now that I think about it, perhaps I should make a Bil Mask as a controll group…

Christopher

18

Re: Tire Anatomy?

On Mon, 15 Apr 2002 16:50:14 -0500,
Animation <Animation.368ia@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>
> Ian Smith wrote:
> > *
> > Also, when you’re trying to push the last bit of bead into teh rim,
> > it helps to make sure teh rest of teh bead isn’t engaged around
> > -
> > push it into the middle of the rim, and re-seat it where it belongs
> > once all of the tyre is on teh rim.
>
> Ugh. Thanks, I barely know what any of that means (“bead isn’t
> engaged”?). I will try my best to figure this stuff out … maybe Chris
> will be of some assistance.

It will make more sense when you get the tyre off (which is relatively
easy with tyre levers - you stick them in the gap between the tyre and teh
rim and you lever away.

regards, Ian SMith

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|o o|
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19

Re: Tire Anatomy?

On 15 Apr 2002 17:55:15 GMT, ian@achrn.demon.co.uk (Ian Smith) wrote:

>Also, when you’re trying to push the last bit of bead into teh rim, it
>helps to make sure teh rest of teh bead isn’t engaged around teh rim -
>push it into the middle of the rim, and re-seat it where it belongs once
>all of the tyre is on teh rim.

Question:

On my Semcycle 24" I once turned the tyre (in time, Lewis), and
recently replaced it with an identical one i.e. Schwalbe 24 x 1.75. I
did not use detergent or grease or whatever. Both times I had quite
some trouble to seat the tyre properly. The bead had the tendency to
rest in some places not where it should by design, but deeper, making
the outer surface unround. Pumping up hard did not help. A lot of
pushing, dragging and massaging eventually did.

Would this problem not have occurred had I lubricated the tyre bead,
or is there another trick to it?

Klaas Bil

“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked automagically from a database:”
“MIT, nonac, peapod”

20

Re: Tire Anatomy?

On 15 Apr 2002 21:54:45 GMT, maxfieldd@aol.com (Maxfield D) wrote:

>It may sound obvious, but you usually have to remove the wheel from the
>unicycle frame.

“Usually” is indeed the correct word here. Another advantage of the
Semcycle: if you remove the seat post, the frame is actually two half
frames and the tyre is easily removed while the wheel stays in place.
I love my Sem!

Klaas Bil

“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked automagically from a database:”
“MIT, nonac, peapod”