Bicycle tires are the number one reason people
bring their bicycles into a bike shop. Most
people will have to replace the tires on a bicycle
at least several times during the life of the
bicycle. Bicycle tires are plentiful and there are
many styles and types to choose from in every
imaginable price range. Choosing a replacement
bicycle tire can be real easy.
The easiest way to choose to replace a bicycle tire
is to replace it with an identical one. You
don't have to, because you could be able to use all
sorts of tires. But this is the easiest way.
You may want to change the tire because of style,
type,
color
or even tread. If you don't have a rare bicycle,
then you can choose from thousands of tires. If you
want to change your bicycle tire to another type of
tire, finding out if it is suited for you is easy too.
Look at the
weight rating You can avoid a lot of problems later by
choosing a tire appropriate for your weight. Bicycle
tire companies spend a lot of time and effort
testing tires. Most people don't know, but Schwalbe
Tires for example, tests tires for two years before
releasing them. The bicycle tire companies in many
cases are car tire companies too and are very very
scientific when it comes to weight rating. If the
tire you are looking at doesn't have a weight rating
and you weigh more than 180lbs, then you might have
trouble down the road.
Get the
right tread If you don't ride your bicycle in the mountains
anymore, then you don't need the mountain bike
tread. A lot of excessive energy can spent
overcoming the inherent slowness of a thickly
treaded mountain bike tire. If you have mountain
bike tires and you ride on the street most of the
time, then you are using the wrong tires most of the
time. Getting another set of wheels might be an
option for those wishing to dual purpose a bicycle.
Use your predominant style of riding to determine
the tread type. This way, you'll be safer too.
Get the
right width Just like having too thick a tread can result in
excessive energy being used to propel a bicycle,
having too thin or too wide of a tire can have the
same effect and make the bicycle unstable. The more
you weigh, the wider the tire should be, even for
distances. They do the same thing on cars and
trucks. Using too thin of a tire on the rear of an
overloaded bicycle will cause it to sway at higher
speeds. Yes, you can use a wider tire in the rear
and a thinner one up front, just make sure the psi
ranges match up and the tires are similar in
construction.
Don't spend too much It's easy to get carried away and assume that
more expensive tires are better tires. A cheap tire
is always a cheap tire, but most of the bicycle tire
companies produce quality tested product with a
range of prices for practically the same features.
Good tires look solid and have a finish quality to
them free of sharp edges anywhere on the tire. Also
the inside of the tire is completely sealed. The
labels are square on the tire. Properly stored
quality tires last five years so don't look for them
to be extremely discounted.
Get the right inner tubes This one is real easy. Get the tube the
manufacturer recommends with the tire. While the
manufacturers may make customers feel as if some
tubes were specifically engineered for some tires,
the truth is, they are very interchangeable. Don't
overspend. Any object that works it way past the
casing of a tire will work its' way past an inner
tube. This means that if you want additional
puncture protection, you need thicker tires not
thicker tubes. You can always "over stuff" an inner
tube into a tire. For example, you could put a 20 x
2.0 inner tube into a 20 x 1.75 tire.
Prepare for
emergencies
We already know the bicycle tire is prone to failure
or it wouldn't be the number one reason people go to
a bike shop. If you don't want to mess with
repairing a flat tire at some point in your cycling
future, then make sure you carry your cell phone
with you at all times. Otherwise, for many, having onboard a
foldable tire and two inner tubes, pump and patch
kit, ensures a successful conclusion of just about
any cycling excursion.
Other than road debris, excessive weight or
overloading of the tires is a leading cause of tire
failure
---
Going to another type of tread can result in
making the bicycle easier or harder to pedal.
---
Getting new wheels is easy from a bike shop,
they have catalogs from the large bike part
distributors for pre-built or custom wheels
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Use this guide:
20 miles or more at a time = slick/inverted
20 miles - 10 miles = inverted
10 miles - 5 miles = exterior/inverted
Off Road = exterior/knobby
---
The front tire accounts for around 10% of the
total energy required to move the bicycle
---
Putting more air in a tire will not make it
faster in every case
---
Motorized bicycles (electric, gas, whatever)
will impart unnatural stresses to bicycle tires not
anticipated by bicycle tire designers. Very few
tires can take the punishment and no bicycle tires
are designated as "Highway Use"
---
It is safer to use wider rims when using
wider tires.
Flat Tires:
Many people get flat tires and go out and get all
kinds types of products to resist or eliminate flats. Going
to a higher weight rated tire can usually solve flat tires.
Save the money, invest in thick tires.
Fast Tires:
Fast tires are fast because they are not very thick.
Differences between the rolling resistance values of rubber
bicycle tires is vast, with some tires taking twice as much
energy to propel the bike. Going to faster tires is like
taking weight off of the bicycle.
Expedition Tires:
Probably the best of all worlds. Good puncture
protection, good speed, good durability and sensible tread
patterns make expedition tires good choices for just about
any cycling needs except the extreme.
Foldable Tires:
Light weight and small size make them valuable as
part of your tool kit. (About the same size as a large cell
phone but lighter)
Wired Tires:
Unless you need light tires, wired tires are usually
less expensive than folding tires.
Matched Tires:
Yes, computer modeling will only make tires better.
Anytime you can get matched tires, do it.
Colored Tires:
Bicycle tires are pigmented and are not naturally
black. Colors are more prevalent than ever and colors don't
affect the composition or makeup of the tire.
Tire Pressure Article
By staff reporter
Vikki Leonard
July 2009
Keep up with
your bike’s maintenance and tire pressure
for the summer by following these 3 tips:
1. PUMP IT UP
Proper tire pressure lets your bike roll
quickly, ride smoothly and fend off flats.
Narrow tires need more air pressure than
wide ones: Road tires typically require 80
to 130 psi, mountain tires 30 to 50 psi and
hybrid tires 50 to 70 psi. To find your
ideal pressure, start in the middle of these
ranges, then factor in your body weight. The
more you weigh, the higher you pressure
needs to be. For example, if a 165-pound
rider uses 100 psi on his road bike, a
200-pound rider should run closer to 120 psi,
and a 130-pound rider could get away with 80
psi. Never go above or below the
manufacturer’s recommended pressures.
2. STOP RESISTING
Traditional wisdom says that higher tire
pressure equals lower rolling resistance,
because on a smooth surface hard tires flex
less and create a smaller contact patch. But
no road is perfectly smooth. Properly
inflated tires conform to bumps and absorb
shocks. Over inflated tires transmit impacts
to riders, which sacrifices speed and
comfort. On new pavement, your tires might
feel great at 100 psi, but on a rough road,
they might roll faster at 90 psi. In wet
conditions, you may want to run 10 psi less
than usual for improved traction. And if
you’re a mountain biker who rides to the
trailhead, keep in mind that while your bike
rolls smoothly on the road with 50 psi, it
might feel better on the single track at 38
psi.
3. KEEP IT IN THERE
The pent-up air in your tubes wants
desperately to join its friends in the
atmosphere. If you ride over sharp objects,
immediately sweep your tire with a gloved
hand to remove debris. For ultimate
protection, use tire liners or
puncture-proof inner tubes. To avoid pinch
flats when you ride over bumps, maintain
proper air pressure and unweight your wheels
by sharply pushing your bike downward before
the bumps then pulling it upward as you roll
over them. For each 10-degree-Fahrenheit
drop in the temperature, your tire pressure
drops by about 2 percent. So if the
temperature dips from 90 degrees Fahrenheit
to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, your road tires
would drop from, say, 100 psi to 94 psi.
Those six pounds are noticeable and worth
adjusting for. Get in the habit of checking
your pressure before each ride.
Thanks to Bicycling Magazine for these great
tips !
Every
Bicycle Tire, LLC "A Reference Resource & More.." 2009 
