Plastic tire !

colossus-x

So I had to get a new back tyre and brakes on my new mountain bike I bought last year for the first time. I left it into a local bike shop about max 5 weeks ago. Since then I had 3 punctures ( due to hedge cutting ) and skidded twice when braking ( admittedly on wet road ) and on one occasion rammed into the back of a car.

The point is all this skidding and punctures never happened until after I had the back tyre changed. I fixed the first 2 punctures myself and my dad fixed the last one. He recommend me get 2 new tyres. He was shocked the back tyre was new and he said it's only plastic and not made out of rubber at all ! Which explains everything !!

I paid 40 quid to have all this done. Does anyone else think that's a total rip off. I've never heard of having to request a high quality tyre when getting one replaced. What would you have to pay to get one to last a year. In any case for a tyre to be worn away after a few weeks is ridiculous ! Looks like I'm going to have to finally learn how to take off that wheel and do those sorts of things myself from now on. :mad:

Buchaill_Mor

A good quality armoured Schwalbe costs about €30ish. 40 yoyo's to have a back tyre replaced, and a plastic tyre fitted, I'd be bringing my business elsewhere.

Mycroft H

What brand is the back tyre?

colossus-x

Buchaill_Mor wrote: »

A good quality armoured Schwalbe costs about €30ish. 40 yoyo's to have a back tyre replaced, and a plastic tyre fitted, I'd be bringing my business elsewhere.

I'm thinking going back and complaining. It's one of those old bike shops where the ole man has been running it for the last 50 years although it wasn't himself but some new buck that did the job.

Mycroft H wrote: »

What brand is the back tyre?

Made in Hong Kong.
There's no brand info on the tyre itself - unsurprisingly.

Mycroft H

For fourty quid I'd be expecting a brand name tyre like Schwalbe, Continental, Vittoria or Panaracer. No name tyres at that price? That's not on.

Mycroft H

Even with labour you should get an entry level tyre for that money

victorcarrera

Genuinely! Stop using the back brake when you are on the road. Practice using the front brake only and see how you get on.

colossus-x

Mycroft H wrote: »

For fourty quid I'd be expecting a brand name tyre like Schwalbe, Continental, Vittoria or Panaracer. No name tyer at that price? That's not on.

Just to be fair and I shouldn't be I did have front and back brakes fitted as well. I did say that in the OP.

In any case I'm going to have to get it replaced again which is outrageous!

Any suggestions where I can get good deep thread mount bike tyre. How much do I need to spend. Will I get them much cheaper online? Think I'll get myself a spanner and a hammer to get the wheel off. What size spanner do I need ? Never took wheel off before but if you want a job done right ...

Carawaystick

Are you cycling on roads or off roads?
If it's on roads, get a slick tyre with no thread, as it's much easier to cycle and you will have better grip

it's usually a 15mm spanner for the wheels if you've nuts and not skewers.

colossus-x

Carawaystick wrote: »

Are you cycling on roads or off roads?
If it's on roads, get a slick tyre with no thread, as it's much easier to cycle and you will have better grip

it's usually a 15mm spanner for the wheels if you've nuts and not skewers.

On roads. How can a slick tyre have a better grip - I though it would be the other way around. I don't care for 'easier' as I only cycle for pleasure not speed and the more physically taxing the better as I'd like to burn calories too : ) Are the slick's more expensive ?

rollingscone

Knobbly tyres on a hard surface have less grip because only the protruding parts are in contact with the road. On slicks you should have a more solid contact surface and therefore more traction.

Knobblies work well off road because the soft ground yields/grips around the protruding parts of the tyre.

Carawaystick

colossus-x wrote: »

On roads. How can a slick tyre have a better grip - I though it would be the other way around.

Racing cars have slick tyres for more grip. They only have grooves for in the wet, when they need to avoid aquaplaning.
Bike tyres can't aquaplane at bike speeds, because the shape of the tyre on the ground is oval, and it will push the water to either side. Car tyres hit the water square on.

colossus-x wrote: »

I don't care for 'easier' as I only cycle for pleasure not speed and the more physically taxing the better as I'd like to burn calories too : ) Are the slick's more expensive ?

I got two Schwalbe Spicer tyres 2 years ago
They are £25stg a pair on ebay here

I paid EUR50 for a pair.
Haven't had a puncture in the 2 years ( knocks on wood)

Viper_JB

Also the knobbly wheels won't last too long on the road, I use these while on the road with my mountain bike and have found them to be excellent, you'll be able to go further on these without spending as much energy, so my advise to you would be to increase your distance if you want to burn more calories

colossus-x

Well thanks for all the excellent info. Schwalbe Spicer tyres will be on order soon. If I had know you'd get a better grip I would have gone for them ages ago. Feel a bit silly now that I didn't know that ! Will be interested so see if I 'feel' the difference on the road.

larryone

I've got a mountain frame with GEAX Roadster tyres. Can't recommend them enough.

Carawaystick

colossus-x wrote: »

Well thanks for all the excellent info. Schwalbe Spicer tyres will be on order soon. If I had know you'd get a better grip I would have gone for them ages ago. Feel a bit silly now that I didn't know that ! Will be interested so see if I 'feel' the difference on the road.

As for the burning more calories, you just cycle faster

larryone

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/
Rule #10 // It never gets easier, you just go faster.
As this famous quote by Greg LeMan tells us, training, climbing, and racing is hard. It stays hard. To put it another way, per Greg Henderson: “Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”

colossus-x

Okay okay I get it. I'm in the gym 6 days a week besides so I'll be keeping my bike rides to a leisurely pace - if that's okay with monsieur LeMan ( whoever he is ).

CramCycle

colossus-x wrote: »

Okay okay I if that's okay with monsieur LeMan ( whoever he is ).

I presume he meant LeMond. Seen here on a rest day: