New Boots Fitted Yesterday.

Note to self - DON'T DO IT AGAIN!

Fit them myself that is.

It's worth paying someone else to do it.
I'm not that broke.
I don't need the hassle.
It gives you more time to play with engines.

 

Surpisingly, no. Tubeless Michelin Road 5 trail on Exploder rims. Swapping the tyres themselves was a piece of piss. 20 minutes to strip and fit both and inflate the rear.

Then another hour and a half to blow up the front fucker......

When I got the tyres I was a little dubious as the front looked as if it had been strored flat as the beads looked closer together than expected and thus it was difficult to get them to seat once fitted.

I've been out of the tyre trade for a lot of years and still have decent kit, but not the specialist kit to blast air in around the bead to sort it.
Often you can push the wheel through enough to seat one bead and with a bit of jiggery pokery push it back enough to get a seal.

No chance.

Plan B - ratchet strap around the wheel to squash out the bead enough to get a seal.

Close, but no cigar.

Plan C - I knew that old BMX would come in handy for something other than a pit bike! Front wheel out, remove tube. Support wheel on stand, put tube between tyre and rim, add lubricant and enough air to make a seal between tyre and wheel. Blow up tyre until back bead seats, remove tube. Go to blow up tyre, back bead drops into rim again.
Bugger. Same again until both beads seat. Remove tube Remove the really fecking tightly gripped tube. Pull it, stretch it, pull it more. Got it. Eventually.
Blow up tyre. Result!

(Plan D would have been, go to shop, buy butane lighter refill, light blowtorch, fill tyre with butane, light butane and blow the bugger on!).


I can no longer ride my bicycle as I wrecked the tube from the front wheel in my exploits.

And I scored an own goal by thinking I could save a few quid by dicking about fitting new tyres!!!!

 

Took them to get them balanced today - Thank you, Pure Triumph Wellingborough.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that both rims are straight and true and the quality of the tyres showing with each wheel only needing 10g to balance.

Splendid!