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Post by Humph on May 26, 2020 14:16:52 GMT
TRAX TR1, that's what the bike is called. Not that it matters, suffice to know that it's the cheapest piece of shit imaginable. I've been trying to think of something positive and encouraging to say in reply to that. But, all I can come up with is that at least you won't have to go to the expense of buying, or the inconvenience of carrying, a lock... 😉
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Post by Alanović on May 26, 2020 14:26:34 GMT
Yeah, 26 inch sounds right. No need for tubelessness. Although I am forever replacing the inners when we're in France because of the amount of punctures we get from sharp thorns on the trails there. Not that this will be a problem this summer of course.
Any recommendations for tyres though? Might give me something to do at the weekend, once I've fixed up a disused rubbish bin as a water butt and installed the diversionary down piping which is about to arrive from Wickes.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 26, 2020 14:28:26 GMT
I used to have a bike that was even less appealing. It went with me to my first year at university, where Student Services urged me to get it insured. Instead, I bought a lock that cost more than the bike was worth. It was about the same as a year’s insurance but more likely to get me to the end of the year with a bike that would still get me around. I still have that lock — although I scrapped the bike 30 years ago.
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Post by Humph on May 26, 2020 14:34:43 GMT
Yeah, 26 inch sounds right. No need for tubelessness. Although I am forever replacing the inners when we're in France because of the amount of punctures we get from sharp thorns on the trails there. Not that this will be a problem this summer of course. Any recommendations for tyres though? Might give me something to do at the weekend, once I've fixed up a disused rubbish bin as a water butt and installed the diversionary down piping which is about to arrive from Wickes. Continental Double Fighter 111 ( £19 each at Halfords ) be alright those would.
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Post by Alanović on May 26, 2020 14:35:53 GMT
TRAX TR1, that's what the bike is called. Not that it matters, suffice to know that it's the cheapest piece of shit imaginable. I've been trying to think of something positive and encouraging to say in reply to that. But, all I can come up with is that at least you won't have to go to the expense of buying, or the inconvenience of carrying, a lock... 😉 If only that were true. Any unlocked bike would get lifted round here, and in most places, I'm sure. Last summer some utter bastard nicked the lights off my daughter's bike which was locked to a rack in St Jean de Monts, just before sunset too. Imagine stealing £2 worth of lights off what is obviously a little girl's bike, let alone at sunset. This is my issue with bikes as daily transport rather than as sports equipment. It's just too tiring trying to keep them from being stolen or vandalised or having parts pinched off them. Unless you're just out riding for sport/fitness and going straight home with them, you need to park them unattended outside for some time. And it, the thieving thing, is inevitable. it's so boring and such a hassle. Back to my BSO/POS though and, in reality, I think the bike is far better than it ought to be for £90. It's pretty sturdy, and nothing's gone wrong in 5 years of admittedly light use, although as I said elsewhere it does get used off road. I've replaced the saddle with a better one, come to think of it, but nothing amazing, just a more comfy one from Decathlon for about a tenner.
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Post by Alanović on May 26, 2020 14:37:10 GMT
Yeah, 26 inch sounds right. No need for tubelessness. Although I am forever replacing the inners when we're in France because of the amount of punctures we get from sharp thorns on the trails there. Not that this will be a problem this summer of course. Any recommendations for tyres though? Might give me something to do at the weekend, once I've fixed up a disused rubbish bin as a water butt and installed the diversionary down piping which is about to arrive from Wickes. Continental Double Fighter 111 ( £19 each at Halfords ) be alright those would. FORTY QUID FOR A PAIR OF BIKE TYRES ARRRRGGHHH!!!!! (read in Glasgow accent)
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Post by Humph on May 26, 2020 14:37:16 GMT
...but, you might do better to have a look on Gumtree etc for a half decent second hand hybrid bike. Honestly, you'd be amazed at the difference a better bike would make to your enjoyment.
Give us a budget and we'll come up with some ideas...
Summat to do eh?
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Post by Alanović on May 26, 2020 14:42:35 GMT
Budget? Forty quid.
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Post by Alanović on May 26, 2020 15:18:20 GMT
No. I did wonder whether his last set of car tyres cost that much. How very dare you. They were £160 for 4. I have so far only been killed in 4 balls of flame and one cliff related fall.
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Post by Humph on May 26, 2020 15:22:12 GMT
No, I meant for a bike...
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2020 16:06:57 GMT
S'funny how the smaller the transport the more expensive the tyres proportionally. A few years ago I bought a shopper style bike for the boss to tootle about on. She said she was going to use it for local shopping, I'm thinking of mounting it on a wall as an ornament. It had one or two punctures and as she was using it occasionally at the time I bought a pair of Schwalbe Marathon tyres for it which cost about half what I paid for the bike - looking now they have come down considerably in price. A pair of tyres for my motorbike come in at 330 - 350€ for a pair, the rear tyre is good for no more than 3,500 miles. Makes car tyres look a bit of a bargain.
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Post by bromptonaut on May 27, 2020 9:39:49 GMT
If puncture resistance is the metric Schwalbe Marathon/Marathon Plus are hard to beat. Have then on the eponymous folder and my vintage Dawes tourer. On the Brommy they absorbed everything London's roads could chick at them; mostly glass and the odd bit of flinty gravel. In last four and a half years on the second B perhaps one puncture.
Thorns can be a problem though as I found recently on the Dawes - they can catch the sidewall and go under the Kevlar belt that does the business. Mind you that was a massive thing; I called it Excalibur.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 27, 2020 11:10:11 GMT
We spent one holiday on the western edge of Provence fixing punctures caused by a shrub we never identified but learned to call bastardthorn. It shed 10mm-high carpets of hard, woody thorns all over the road, and something in their shape made them all come to rest pointy-side up. From even a few metres away they looked like grey-brown gravel, so it was ridiculously easy to find yourself surrounded by thorns and with several already stuck in the tyres.
To be honest, it wasn’t our best trip for a variety of reasons, but the punctures really didn’t help.
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Post by Alanović on May 28, 2020 9:32:52 GMT
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 28, 2020 12:32:27 GMT
Gumtree. Buy on size and condition.
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