Thursday, April 26, 2013 [22493 miles]

New Tire Time

About 11 months ago I replaced a perfectly good front tire because I didn’t like the way it handled at all. It was a Heidenau K34 which is OK on the rear (but not a tire I’ll use again) but unacceptable on the front. Today I put that tire on the rear of the bike. The original rear K34 is shot at 3500 miles.

Time for a new rear tire

Time for a new rear tire
ISO 50   f/3.2   1/60   0 ev   7.3mm

Clean up the rear axle

Clean up the rear axle
ISO 50   f/2.8   1/60   0 ev   7.3mm

I pulled the rear wheel and cleaned up the rear axle, especially where it is held by the frame pinch bolt.

Breaking the bead

Breaking the bead
ISO 50   f/2.8   1/60   0 ev   7.3mm

Cleaned rim

Cleaned rim
ISO 50   f/3.5   1/60   0 ev   17.3mm

Cleaned brake shoes

Cleaned brake shoes
ISO 57   f/3.5   1/60   0 ev   17.3mm

This is the first time I tried the bead breaker attachement for my wheel stand. Breaking the bead on a /2 wheel is easy enough to do with tire irons, but I was curious how well the attachment works. Thumbs up.

Once the tire was off I cleaned the rim, the hub, and the brake shoes.

Polish

Polish
ISO 50   f/3.2   1/60   0 ev   8.5mm

Balance

Balance
ISO 50   f/2.8   1/60   0 ev   7.3mm

Old and new

Old and new
ISO 50   f/2.8   1/60   0 ev   7.3mm

After mounting the new tire I gave the rim and hub cover a touch of polish before moving the wheel to the balancer. It’s easier to clean up when sitting on the wheel stand.

After checking the balance (it was OK with the existing weights) I mounted the wheel back on the bike and made sure every nut and bolt I touched was appropriately torqued. The bike is ready to ride.