Yes, another gripping blog post about bicycle tires!
First of all, big up the Bontrager Hard Case, a “puncture-proof” tyre for road bikes. I put them on my commuter bike and have had 0 punctures so far, down from an average of 2 per week with the stock tyres.
Second, fat rims need fat tyres! I run Sun Mammoth rims on my Stinky, and Alastair at Wheelcraft persuaded me that it’s OK to run regular sized MTB tyres on them. His “loaf of bread theory” is that the tyre works better sat inside a wide rim like a loaf of bread in a baking tin, than bulging out of a narrow rim like a Starbucks muffin. Well, he’s wrong. I put a 2.5″ Big Earl on the front, in place of the old 2.25″ tyre, and the bike corners so much better it’s unreal. I think the narrower tyre ends up with a flattened tread profile that stops the contact patch from assuming the right shape when you lean into a corner. Like putting a car tyre on your motorbike. It kind of works on the back, but you wouldn’t want it on the front.
Finally, an apology to the Conti Gravity tyre that I bitched about a few posts ago. I got hate mail from someone who lives next door to the Conti factory 😉 I put it on the front of my Inbred and it works great. It’s just a bit wussy to be a back tyre on a freeride bike.
I wasn’t sure where to post this but you seem like just the kind of guy who would appreciate where I am coming from. So I’ve been having this urge to build a kayak/bike. The idea being to be able to tow the kayak with the bike and then fold the bike and tow it with the kayak. I would love your thoughts on this. It seems like the kind of thing people would have done already. I’ve been able to find people that tow a kayak with a bike but not very much putting a bike on a kayak. Any thoughts?
I have no idea how you would even start trying to make something like that! 🙂 I’ve seen folding kayaks and folding bikes, so maybe you just need to get one of each, and fit a bike carrier to the kayak, and a kayak carrier to the bike.