Donohue 559 low-trail conversion

One of my forum favs <3

New page photo. :-)

Still one of the best bikes ever built.

I'm possibly getting ahead of myself but that's part of the fun, right?

The really lightweight Conti Speed King I had up front was starting to get a bit withered at the side walls, so I though it best to replace it. It seems that the availability of nice 26" tyres is not what it used to be, I went with a pair of skinny 47mm Conti Contact Urbans which got a good review on bicyclerollingresistance.com (albeit in different size). I'm sure they are nice enough tyres, but... boring. So to tart things up a bit, I though I'd try if they would work tubeless, for laughs if nothing else -- the tyres aren't advertised as tubeless ready. Funnily enough they actually seem to be holding pressure. Sealant was from a bottle opened several years ago, and a pair of valves from old inner tubes. Totally pro. One tyre went up with just a floor pump, for the other one I needed to wield an (emptied) fire extinguisher.

I fully expect to find the tyres empty tomorrow morning, will be reporting back with head hung low.

I also made a hasty bdhu adjustment before an event (a ten hour alleycat race). Works great. I didn't have time/energy to trim the cable outers at the time so I need to go back to fix those.

Please find attached a recreation of the earlier photo.

1 Attachment

will be reporting back with head hung low

So, about that. Seems to work so far, with caveats. I rode my annual 200k loop for the first time in a few years 🙄. I'd guess the route is about 1/4th to 1/3rd unpaved. No issues with the bodged tubeless setup, and cold brew with plenty of oat milk is a great beverage out riding.

On the other hand I've been prodded to educate myself on the matter. Apparently there's a risk of blowout when running non-tubeless tyres as tubeless. And the front actually had lost all air one day even though there seemed to be reasonable pressure left the same morning, which makes me think there may be a fairly narrow margin of operation to begin with. So this might not be a particularly good idea and I definitely don't endorse it.

Not yet sure what I'll do with the tyres next.

Edit. I realise that this thread doesn't need any more samey side shots, but I'm gonna claim I'm posting this mainly for myself.

just stumbled across this thread, not much to say apart from damn that is a v nice bike

not much to say

That's fair, given that the thread's been going on for more than nine years 🙃

But seriously, thanks, I appreciate it.

I realise that this thread doesn't need any more samey side shots

I disagree, keep them coming.

Bike looks great. How do the new tyres roll?

I realise that this thread doesn't need any more samey side shots

Hard disagree

This bike is simply the best. I encourage any and all updates, not matter how big or small.

Looking gooood. I know they’re expensive and I don’t like Jan Heine, but Compass tyres are genuinely worth their asking price IMO. Do it.

Cool, cool. I have fun updating this thread, will keep at it.

Re: the new tyres. Could be placebo, but I felt that going tubeless was a real improvement. Even the word "supple" has materialised in the brain (pass the bleach). But yeah, the current setup is potentially sketchy.

Rat Trap Pass won't likely fit in the rear, and the next choice in the Compass lineup is a bit skinny. Up front I quite like having some small side knobs, I feel they give a bit of extra confidence on loose stuff.

I have a little used Racing Ralph that could put in the front at some point. And there's always the conti Race King, even if all the versions aren't available in 26".