tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1309738920939458358.post7529930228906891611..comments2017-11-10T15:14:25.417-05:00Comments on A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel: Thumbing a RideRootchopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14920848117942799222noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1309738920939458358.post-71664409345513829832012-08-02T14:06:39.452-04:002012-08-02T14:06:39.452-04:00As to the characteristics of the Marathon, I start...As to the characteristics of the Marathon, I started with a Primo Comet on the front of my recumbent and had so many front end slid-outs that I almost sold the bike. Once I switched to the Marathons, the problem, for the most part, went away.<br /><br />I think my Tour Easy has a Sun CR-18 and Marathons go onto it with less trouble. It's still not easy though. As you mention, the Bike Friday has the Alex rims on it. <br /><br />I haven't had this problem on my 700C sized wheels (2 on the Sequoia and 1 on the Tour Easy). I think this may be because the bigger wheel might have some lateral give to it compared to the 406s. <br /><br />The more I think about it the more shocked I am that the gloves did the trick. One oomph and the bead went on!Rootchopperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14920848117942799222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1309738920939458358.post-83222376130990011912012-08-02T13:51:17.470-04:002012-08-02T13:51:17.470-04:00I believe more rolling resistance is not equivalen...I believe more rolling resistance is not equivalent to more lateral traction. Rolling resistance is about how much a energy is lost when the tire deforms instead of it's "stickiness" to the road. Certainly some compounds will give more traction but I'd think that all things equal a soft supple tire would give better handling characteristics than a stiff tire like the Marathon which is more likely to bounce, IME. <br /><br />http://www.schwalbetires.com/tech_info/rolling_resistance<br /><br />Schwalbe tires certainly have the reputation of being very tight relative to specs such that when mated with a rim that is somewhat larger than specs you'll have a killer time mounting the tires. The standard Bike Friday ERTO 406 double-wall rims they use now -- Alex DA 16 if my memory is correct -- is notoriously oversized. Mounting a stiff Marathon tire to the rim is finger numbing .. I've won bets with people that swore they could mount any tire with their bare hands ... and I use Marathon Racers with a folding bead. Although I had a much easier time with Schwalbe Stelvios, Primo Comets and Primo V-Monsters. FWIW, I use three levers.<br /><br />Just to give another example, I had a relatively easy time mounting Marathon Racers to Sun CR-18 rims (406). <br /><br />To what rim are you trying to mount the tire?Invisible Handhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02680372478096503049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1309738920939458358.post-85486561571017078952012-08-02T06:32:43.116-04:002012-08-02T06:32:43.116-04:00Ouch!! I can't believe you ripped the skin off...Ouch!! I can't believe you ripped the skin off your thumbs like that!! Glad you finally got the tire on!!! :)Charhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15202026725180204624noreply@blogger.com