Saturday, March 13, 2010

Take That, Schwalbe!


I'm doing a long term test of a Schwalbe Marathon Plus on the front wheel of the ebike. Schwalbes are notoriously flat resistant, so I wasn't sure how to put it through its paces. A ride down Marine Drive to Cascade Station and back up Killingsworth didn't seem like enough of a test, so I'm going to ill-advisedly invoke karma:

Gosh, I haven't had a flat tire for a long time!

That should give the Schwalbe a good workout. I only hope the back tire, used as a control, is up to the challenge.

Its been less than a week, and the highly reflective brake dust is already starting to build up.

Update, 3/20:
Cripes, I'm having a heckuva time re-seating the bead in this tire uniformly. I don't have tons of experience seating beads, but I know the wubba-wubba feel, and I know what to do to correct it. This tire doesn't seem to want to respond. Maybe its mocking me for some undeserved sidewall wear. Otherwise, more glass, no flats!

3 comments:

  1. You are at one month now, how is fairs the Schwalbe?

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  2. So far, so good! There seem to have been a spate of accidents/breakins/construction in the areas I ride, but I haven't had any problems. Granted, I haven't had any problems on the rear, non-Schwalbe tire. Ride quality is fine, tho its tough to gauge rolling resistance. Since its a bit more involved to repair a flat on the motored hub of an ebike wheel, I think it would have to take a pretty colossal blow out to counter a positive conclusion.

    The bead seating issue continues, but I don't fault the tire for that. I've reseated it a couple times(and getting more proficient at it), and its definitely better; I'm going to take another swing at it this weekend, as I'll have the tire off for another reason.

    Thanks for the question!

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  3. Another update - finally got the tire to seat correctly, through careful and slow inflation and a strategically applied tire lever. Turns out the bead on the inside of the rim is actually pretty small, and the bead of the tire doesn't work well with it.

    I think this is becoming a sidewall test, rather than a tread test. Both still holding up handily.

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