Good replacement tire?
11-22-19, 01:57 AM
#26
"Broke College Student"
Thread Starter
Thanks, I think this tire looks amazing on the bike. The best part is the reflective stripe - it really matches the bike IMHO. I'm probably going to go ahead and make it a matching set because it looks so nice on this bike.
I found another really cool thing about this tire after doing another dumb experiment. (See my first... I know, I even admitted it was a dumb idea.)
I knew someone who swore by tubeless (including the Ghetto Tubeless method) so I wanted to try it. I've watched various videos on Ghetto Tubeless setups and have tried it at random times with no luck. Usually the air would immediately leak out. I decided to try it tonight and to my amazement, it actually worked. While the Schwalbe Marathon is a strictly "tube-type" tire (says so on sidewall), I was able to get it to hold air without any tubes. The rim is the stock, non-tubeless-ready rim.
I split a 20x1.75 BMX tube and mounted the Marathon on it. It inflated with no help, just a little pressure from my hands to hold the bead close to the rim. I used a ordinary floor pump to inflate it - no air compressors here. The fit of this tire is good enough that it didn't even really require that, as I wasn't putting that much pressure on it. With no sealant or anything, I inflated it to ~35 PSI a couple hours ago and it has held perfectly fine. I'm amazed.
The real test will be how well it holds air and how well it holds up. I unfortunately did this on the front rim, so I may unseat and move it to the rear rim before doing a test ride just in case something happens. I didn't expect it to work. If it ends up working well I may actually keep it tubeless and add some sealant.
I found another really cool thing about this tire after doing another dumb experiment. (See my first... I know, I even admitted it was a dumb idea.)
I knew someone who swore by tubeless (including the Ghetto Tubeless method) so I wanted to try it. I've watched various videos on Ghetto Tubeless setups and have tried it at random times with no luck. Usually the air would immediately leak out. I decided to try it tonight and to my amazement, it actually worked. While the Schwalbe Marathon is a strictly "tube-type" tire (says so on sidewall), I was able to get it to hold air without any tubes. The rim is the stock, non-tubeless-ready rim.
I split a 20x1.75 BMX tube and mounted the Marathon on it. It inflated with no help, just a little pressure from my hands to hold the bead close to the rim. I used a ordinary floor pump to inflate it - no air compressors here. The fit of this tire is good enough that it didn't even really require that, as I wasn't putting that much pressure on it. With no sealant or anything, I inflated it to ~35 PSI a couple hours ago and it has held perfectly fine. I'm amazed.
The real test will be how well it holds air and how well it holds up. I unfortunately did this on the front rim, so I may unseat and move it to the rear rim before doing a test ride just in case something happens. I didn't expect it to work. If it ends up working well I may actually keep it tubeless and add some sealant.
11-22-19, 02:13 PM
#28
"Broke College Student"
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Wilfred Laurier
That Wald (?) basket has been on my 'almost buy' list for years.
Great looking bike.
Great looking bike.
It has been a little over 13 hours since I topped the tire off at ~35 PSI. It has since dropped a couple pounds, but that's likely due to the pump head not wanting to fit right on the crooked valve. Because I didn't think it was going to work, I didn't make sure the valve was straight.
