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#1
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Easy Coker Airfoil tire change
Last year I had the pleasure of trying to install a Coker tire on an Airfoil rim. I had a *very* difficult time trying to get the tire on the rim. I had such a difficult time that I wrote a thread about it: 'Putting a Coker tire on the Airfoil rim' (http://tinyurl.com/48pvc). When I got home from NAUCC this year I had the pleasure again of installing a new Coker tire on the Airfoil rim. This time it went *much* easier. At the beginning of the 10K at NAUCC I noticed that I had about a 1/2" cut in the tread of my Coker tire. The cut was in the center area of the tread. Fortunately it wasn't on the sidewall, and fortunately it didn't go all the way through the casing. But it was clearly a bad cut and I was going to have to replace the tire. Bummer. The tire still has lots of tread left. This time the tire change was much easier. The trick was switching to a different rim tape. Last time I used Velox rim tape. The Velox rim tape is good stuff, but it's rather thick and not very slippery. The thickness makes it more difficult to install the tire. The lack of slipperiness makes it more difficult to get the tire to slide all the way into the center lowest part of the rim channel during the tire install. This time I tried 'Rox Ultralight Rim Strip' (http://tinyurl.com/6y4ne). This rim strip is very thin and very slippery. I'm not sure it would do well in a super high pressure road bike tire (120 psi to 160 psi), but for the Coker tire the Rox rim strip should have enough substance to keep the tube away from the nipples and spokes. A single roll contains two rim strips which is enough to do two bicycle wheels or one Coker wheel. The Rox Ultralight Rim Strip made the Coker tire install sooooo easy. I did the tire install using two 'Quik-Stik' (http://tinyurl.com/54vrd) tire levers and a bicycle toe strap. I used the toe strap as a third pair of hands to hold the tire in the center part of the rim channel while I used the tire levers on the opposite side of the wheel. Easy. The Rox rim strip allowed the tire to easily slide all the way into the center area of the rim channel (where the diameter of the rim is the smallest). The toe strap held it there. Prying the rest of the tire over the rim was easy. I think I could have actually pried the rest of the tire over the rim without any tire lever tools at all if I had to. Wow! The big trick is the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip. U-Turn has been using Salsa rim tape, but I couldn't find the Salsa tape at any local bike shops. I was able to find the Rox rim strip. I haven't tried the Salsa tape so I don't know how well it works and how easy the tire install would be. The Salsa rim tape is thicker than the Rox Ultralight rim strip so I would expect the tire install using the Rox Ultralight rim strip to be easier. No longer am I scared of repairing a Coker flat out on the road. I know I could do it if I have to. Rox Ultralight Rim Strips rock! -- john_childs - Guinness Mojo john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
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#2
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Easy Coker Airfoil tire change
LBS, here I come! Thanks John -- Sofa - you - pee - dee 'yea i no allot of mi frends an i r hecka smartr then othr peeple at mi skool cus we can balense and we can ride farthar then other peeple wich makes ur bran more exersised an it helps u consentrate an improves ur mentel stamena' - 1wheelthrilla 'Unicycle Product Reviews' (http://tinyurl.com/368h6) *107* reviews on *72* products 'London Unicycling Club ' (http://www.brianmackenzie.com/LUC/) (London, Ontario, Canada) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sofa's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/706 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
#3
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Easy Coker Airfoil tire change
The last time you changed the Coker tire was in October. How hot was it? This is August and a hot one at that. I left my Coker in the sun for about an hour and was able to remove the tire without any tools, I was just wondering if that made it different for you. -- muddycycle - Nonchalance "What can possiby mystify a madman?" Hegira: Greg Bear ------------------------------------------------------------------------ muddycycle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1283 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
#4
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Easy Coker Airfoil tire change
In both cases the tire was at indoor temperature. Not enough of a temperature difference to expand the tire. In both cases it was a brand new Coker tire. The big difference really was the rim strip. With the Rox rim strip the tire slid easily down into the center channel area of the rim. With the Velox rim tape the tire would get hung up on the edge of the rim tape and would not slide down. With the Velox rim tape the tire was actually dislodging the rim tape during the install. It was a real hassle. -- john_childs - Guinness Mojo john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
#5
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Now that people are back from UNICON I'll bump this up. I'm curious if anyone has experience with the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip in a Coker or any other wheel. The Rox rim strip is really really thin which kind of makes me nervous about it. It's so thin that it makes you wonder just how it can hold. I'm going to wait about a month and then deflate the tire so I can look at the rim strip to see how it's holding up. Hopefully the rim strip will be fine and I can stop worrying about it. -- john_childs - Guinness Mojo john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
#6
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Now that people are back from UNICON I'll bump this up. I'm curious if anyone has experience with the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip in a Coker or any other wheel. The Rox rim strip is really really thin which kind of makes me nervous about it. It's so thin that it makes you wonder just how it can hold. I'm going to wait about a month and then deflate the tire so I can look at the rim strip to see how it's holding up. Hopefully the rim strip will be fine and I can stop worrying about it. -- john_childs - Guinness Mojo john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
#7
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Now that people are back from UNICON I'll bump this up. I'm curious if anyone has experience with the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip in a Coker or any other wheel. The Rox rim strip is really really thin which kind of makes me nervous about it. It's so thin that it makes you wonder just how it can hold. I'm going to wait about a month and then deflate the tire so I can look at the rim strip to see how it's holding up. Hopefully the rim strip will be fine and I can stop worrying about it. -- john_childs - Guinness Mojo john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
#8
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Now that people are back from UNICON I'll bump this up. I'm curious if anyone has experience with the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip in a Coker or any other wheel. The Rox rim strip is really really thin which kind of makes me nervous about it. It's so thin that it makes you wonder just how it can hold. I'm going to wait about a month and then deflate the tire so I can look at the rim strip to see how it's holding up. Hopefully the rim strip will be fine and I can stop worrying about it. -- john_childs - Guinness Mojo john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
#9
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I took the tire off my Coker last week. When I took the tire off I noticed that the Rox Ultralight Rim Tape had slipped in a few places and exposed some spoke hole edges. Not good. It doesn't look like the adhesive on the tape is strong enough to keep it in place in the Airfoil rim. Bummer. I'm not sure what caused the tape to move. I stretched the tape tight when I installed it. It was in place when the tire was installed back in August. Then I check it again about a month later and it was still in good shape (I just deflated the tire and took a peek inside without removing the tire). Now I check it in April and there were two sections where the tape had moved over and exposed the edges of some spoke holes. Oh well. I'm trying three wraps of electrical tape now for the rim tape. That should work OK. Three wraps of electrical tape is a bit thicker than the Rox tape and it was slightly more difficult to install the tire. But only slightly more difficult. No great difficulty getting the tire back on. I hope the electrical tape holds up. I'm going to try the electrical tape for a month or so and then check it to see if it's staying in place. If it's good then I'm going to consider switching to a 29er tube instead of the stock Coker tube. I'm not going to try a 29er tube until I can find a rim tape solution that is going to stay in place. The 29er tube won't be as forgiving about exposed spoke hole edges compared to the stock Coker tube. -- john_childs - Guinness Mojo john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
#10
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Electric tape is what i have used for years, use a high quality electric tape, and I only use two layers and I have never had a problem. Maybe that's why I had no trouble getting my coker tire on the new bigger airfoil rim. -- Tellurider - Dan Wilson There's a fine line between "Hobby" and "Mental Illness". ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tellurider's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4972 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284 |
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