MAJs gay bikes [she’s in her fitness era]

A memorable moment for me if trying to patch up a cut in the side wall a few winters ago mid ride - 1 degree outside and damp - Once patched I could not get the rim on due to cold hands. I felt like crying.

Winter and flats are hard times

Yeah - at least in Denmark they are reffered to as 26" x 1 3/8" but could be called: 650 x 35A or 37-590

Are they mostly a Euro thing? Don't think I've ever come across them, of course the bike industry would ruin my assumption all 26ers are the same...

Sheldon Brown suggests it was common on English 3-speeds

it sucks, but just get rid of these stans rims any time soon...

do not sell the wheels, just take them to the shop you're allowed to do that.

do not sell the wheels, just take them to the shop you're allowed to do that.

👆 this

alternatively, somewhere in my stash is a pair of unused 2009 reissue Smoke & Dart 2.1" tyres - want them?
good tyres? meh. right tyres for your riding? lol no. "classic"/"period correct"? HELLS YES!! slack beads? I think so, yeah...

Yes, totally! I was just thinking about fixing a flat on the way to the chippy.

these sound perfect !!!

wire beads were actually reccomended for the rims

Really?

SJS lists 4 sizes of 26” tyres, one of them is what everyone else calls 27.5” though so really 3 but then again, they’re not calling 650c 26” even though it sits right among the etrto sizes they do call 26” and I’ve heard it referred to as 26” by a lot of older roadies and track riders so, 4 after all?

Really. The only bikes I've ever seen or heard of with 26" wheels/tyres are the mountain bikes that everyone has owned for the last 20+ years.

650B and 27.5 are new to me as of gravel bikes and 29ers I knew about but ignored for years.

I know there's some weird other French sizes and I grew up riding bikes with those 27 1/4 or whatever they were wheels and tyres (the annoying bikes that 700C brakes etc wouldn't work on)

I'm a one man fight against dumb standards, trying to buy only stuff with 31.8, 27.2, BSA68... 700C, the one true 26, 29 now grrr, ok 650B happened, sorry about that, we all make mistakes...

I'm a one man fight against dumb standards, trying to buy only stuff with 31.8...

Pah, 22.2mm bars, the one true standard!

The tyres bit of the SJS site is good for opening your eyes to the stupid number of 'standards'. Think they have three 20" standards and another three 24"

cool, I will try to find them...!

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tools/black-lezyne-power-lever-xl-tyre-levers/

Found these useful for a while - I've snapped at least 3 pedro tyre levers trying to get tubeless tyres onto tubeless rims and have just used these ever since for ever day carry. Just a bit longer for a wee bit extra leverage which has helped a tonne, might be worth a try.

And you really play with you the 28x1 1/2 on the Guv’nor are bigger than 29ers and also referred to as 700x38b or 40-635 Try asking for 700b tyres in halfruads or Evans

Sorry Haley, back to the plot.

I’ve not tried one of these, but a friend with chronic arthritis swears by theirs.
https://tyreglider.co.uk

Sometimes tyres will defy even the sturdiest of leverage and it's time to look elsewhere

1: Try supposedly looser tyres
2: Change wheels/rims. It's not worth the hassle

just take them to the shop

This^ and once the tyres have been used a bit it normally becomes easier to remove and fit them

I once attempted to replace a friends punctured tube whilst their bike was at my house. 5min job whilst I give it a clean I thought.
1 hour later I realise the tyre hadn't been cleaned of sealant and the tube was fused to it, which meant the tyre refused to fully unseat. I ended up cutting the valve in half to push it out the hole, to be able to get the tyre away enough to grasp the tube, then cut the tube out.
Sometimes tyres / wheels just be crazy. I think I agree with the 'take it to the shop' motion.

I haven't owned a BMX for 20 years. 22.2 may as well be penny farthing era. At least for a while most road and mtb bikes settled on 31.8. Then some DH knobbers decided to add 35 into the mix. I'm kinda ok with that, same as the rotor sizes thing. Thru axles is getting there but I wish they'd pick a thread pitch and stick to it. Same goes for this Boost crap. Just piss off and leave the spacing alone.

Great levers! Still had an absolute bastard of a time fitting some tyres using them recently though. Although I did snap 2 other levers and these got the job done in the end.

Thanks for the advice, will keep that in mind!

As for the tyre mounting tool, I can also vouch for it (although the pic showing it in use is completely wrong!), though for peace of mind I prefer having a tyre/rim combination that can be easily fitted with tyre levers only. I've sold wheels solely for that reason.

Can someone please summarise how this is a 146 page thread so I don’t have to read a 146 page thread? Don’t get me wrong, the original frame does look pretty cool.

Maj is wild and crazy gal who has built up about 25 bikes in this thread. 14 of those were a Surly, a custom thing called the Homer, then some other wild stuff happened which led to a custom steel Hulsroy which had wildly dramatic journey to and from Bespoked. It's very good.

At the moment I think everything is home safe but I think we're having some tyre trouble.