Season’s greetings.
I just changed the fairly smooth 1.75’’ tire on my Taiwanese import 24’’ to a 24x1.9/2.0 “Schwalbe Landcruiser”:
http://www.schwalbe.de/script/produkte_hauptfenster.pl?menuegruppe=produkte&menuepunkt=ontour&produktgruppe=6&produkt=21
(Ooops - I hope this stays in one line…). I did not find this tire on Schwalbe’s international site
www. schwalbetires.com
(all they have is the 24x1.75).
Anyway, here is my question:
Steering seems much more difficult with the new tire. As soon as I lean to initiate a turn, the uni wants to maintain that angle and it takes much more effort to ride straight again. Is this normal for a tire with a more aggressive tread? Or is this particular tread unsuitable? BTW: I do most of my riding on compacted dirt trails with some potholed asphalt stretches. I did play with the tire pressure, but only in the higher pressure range. I will explore the lower pressure range next.
The nice thing about the new tire is that hopping is much more fun than with the old 24x1.75.
I’d appreciate any hints. Thanks,
Fred
The URL works from within the forum, not if I access the message with a newsreader.
Fred
I experienced something simmilar when I first jumped on a friends 24x2.125… once the wheel was pitched over, it did not want to go back- I can’t speak to the tread patern.
Fred, how does that 2" tire fit on your rim? No problems? It does not pull free from the rim under pressure or abuse?
Christopher
Thanks for your comment, Christopher.
>… how does that 2" tire fit on your rim? No problems? It >does not pull free from the rim under pressure or abuse?
(1) Statistics are not really out yet because of the short observation period: By now the tire has been on the rim for 24h. It did not pull loose when I test-inflated the tube to 70 psi (~10% above the max. rating for the tire).
(2) With respect to abuse: the really primitive steel rim is not suited to take any abuse anyway, and I am a newbie who does not do any drops beyond 10’’ or so (at least I am trying to resist the temptation to go beyond that before I get a (M)uni more apt to take that kind of stuff).
Fred
update
Just tried the fatter tire with low pressure.
For now, I can either blame my abilities or the tread. There appear to be 3 “stable” riding positions (while going straight): (1) seat post pointing straight to the iron core of our planet, (2) seat post tilted to the right, (3) seat post tilted to the left. This is quite noticeable when I ride on a road with a pronounced crown/sideslope: The seat post points to the center of the earth where I was used to tilt to remain balanced.
Riding/balancing takes al lot of work with the new tire - way too much to counteract the gain in traction. Guess I’ll go back to the old 24’‘x1.75’’ tire. I will miss the nice “bounce” when hopping.
Any other thoughts?
Fred
“fred” <forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:a0c4f0$qdf$1@laurel.tc.umn.edu…
> Just tried the fatter tire with low pressure.
>
> For now, I can either blame my abilities or the tread. There appear to
> be 3 “stable” riding positions (while going straight): (1) seat post
> pointing straight to the iron core of our planet, (2) seat post tilted
> to the right, (3) seat post tilted to the left. This is quite noticeable
> when I ride on a road with a pronounced crown/sideslope: The seat post
> points to the center of the earth where I was used to tilt to remain
> balanced.
>
> Riding/balancing takes al lot of work with the new tire - way too much
> to counteract the gain in traction. Guess I’ll go back to the old
> 24’‘x1.75’’ tire. I will miss the nice “bounce” when hopping.
Riding a fat tyre takes a bit of practice. At first, especially on
cambered roads / paths you’ll have loads of problems with the unicycle
wanting to go to one side and not wanting to gfo at the angle you want to
ride. In a little bit of riding you’ll get used to it, just keep trying.
It’s really worth learning this quite early on because at some time you’ll
find yourself wanting to ride up a muddy bank or down a sandy slope and
you’ll really need the extra traction and the improved balance.
Joe
The design of your new Schwalbe Land Cruiser is a semi-knobby with a solid centre strip. This design will reduce the friction required to ride forward. It’s a reasonable tire for a bicycle that does not go offroad very often. A hybrid, this tire will not perform extremely well offroad nor onroad. It’s a compromise tire.
For a unicyclist this tire is not a wise choice. Once you get off the centre strip, it’ll be hard to get back on it, as you’ve noticed. You’ll always be fighting to get yourself upright. A better tire would be a semi-knobby with a more uniform knob design, giving you more even grip and an easier ride.
This Arrow Racing tread design http://torontounicyclists.tripod.com/images/products/arrowracingpw2.jpg would be better to try. I’m using this tire only as an example. People in our club have this tire and it’s good. Check out my tire page at http://torontounicyclists.tripod.com/tire.htm for many more examples and links to source manufacturers. Can your uni take a wider tire than 2.0?
Any offroad tire you choose will need additional practice, but don’t use this tire.
Don_TaiATyahooDOTcoDOTuk, Toronto, Canada