Quick noobie tyre change question

Canis Lupus

Hey,

My back tyre is in a bad bad way (I can see the tube in more than one place bad). The front tyre isn't too bad, nicks and cuts but is as old as the back in terms of general wear.

I'm trying to penny pinch as my saddle is also needing to be replaced and the bike will be given away in Sept as I'm leaving the country so is it safe/acceptable to just put a new tyre on the back?

Cheers,

A

Burgess5

Back tyres generally wear out quicker than front ones. They take more of your weight. If you can see the tube you are risking a sudden blowout which will also mean a new tube.
It sounds like you will get a bit more life out of the front tyre.
Replace the back tyre ASAP.

seamus

Burgess5 wrote: »

Back tyres generally wear out quicker than front ones. They take more of your weight. If you can see the tube you are risking a sudden blowout which will also mean a new tube.

Not to mention the damage you could do to your back wheel and your body if it happens at high speed.

You should be able to get a cheap back tyre for less than 10 quid. That'll keep you going until you have the cash to put something decent on.

mockler007

If you want to be a really tight and stingy, get stage tape or gaffer tape and wrap it around the rim and tire! you might last you till you leave the country, if it doesnt last you get long grass and jam it in where your tube should be. can't get anymore stingy than that, take your saddle off and replace it with a cushion, even better make sure you wrap it with a tesco bag, to stop it getting wet.
not only will this make you uber-cool, it will make a quality noise.

I don't think high speed blow outs are something to worry about on this bike!

Highway_To_Hell

If you want I have a pair of slightly used 700 x 28c tyres (Kenda K1029 700 x 28C ) you can have. They came with my Charge Plug and only haver a 1000km+ on them and are in good nick but I seemed to be picking up punctures so I changed them for gatorskins. They will just sit in my garage for a few years and then get thrown out.

Canis Lupus

mockler007 wrote: »

If you want to be a really tight and stingy, get stage tape or gaffer tape and wrap it around the rim and tire! you might last you till you leave the country, if it doesnt last you get long grass and jam it in where your tube should be. can't get anymore stingy than that, take your saddle off and replace it with a cushion, even better make sure you wrap it with a tesco bag, to stop it getting wet.
not only will this make you uber-cool, it will make a quality noise.

I like the gaffer tape idea but surely that would affect braking???

And the cushion idea..... I can see a comfort issue with the post so not sure that this will happen. I could just do away with a saddle? That would make a man out of me.

Canis Lupus

Highway_To_Hell wrote: »

If you want I have a pair of slightly used 700 x 28c tyres (Kenda K1029 700 x 28C ) you can have. They came with my Charge Plug and only haver a 1000km+ on them and are in good nick but I seemed to be picking up punctures so I changed them for gatorskins. They will just sit in my garage for a few years and then get thrown out.

My tires are 23c AND I'm in the UK and annoyingly I also had the stock kendas knocking around my flat for at least a year but I can't find them now. Can only assume I binned them at some stage although don't recall doing so. Might try looking in the shed again.

tomasrojo

Whatever you do, make sure that the front tyre is not excessively worn.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-rotation.html

It is common for a front tire to outlast a rear tire by as much as three to one. Rear tires have more weight on them, and also have to deal with drive forces. [...] Well-meaning cyclists, even some mechanics who don't know any better, sometimes try to deal with this by swapping tires, putting the less worn front tire on the back wheel, and moving the worn-but-usable rear tire to the front. The idea is to equalize the wear on the two tires, but this is a serious mistake, don't do it! [...] The reason for this is that the front tire is much more critical for safety than the rear, so you should have the more reliable tire on the front. If you have a blowout, if it is on the rear tire, you have a very good chance of bringing the bike to a controlled stop. If your front tire blows, you can lose steering control, and a crash is a real possibility.

(Actually, I do rotate the tyres myself after four months of heavy use, and then I replace the entire set after eight months of heavy use.)