Protecting my frame from too large tyres!

bluechair84

Yes I know, you're going to say "if the frame wasn't designed for such big tyres don't fit them". But I love my DH tyres - and they are knackering my frame. The tread is rubbing on the inside of the chainstays and is actually wearing away the aluminium. It is starting to thin and I need to start protecting the frame. Is there anything that I can put on the frame that will resist the rub of the tyre? I've thought about cable-rub armour but I doubt that will do it.

Andy B

*States the obvious*

Get tyres that fit your frame, before you knacker your frame.

heez29

nothing!

dont be a pussy and get tyres that fit!
On the upside you will probably end up with a tail happy bike and you could slide a lot easier!

stumpyjon

Trouble is anything thin enough to fit in the already non-existant gap between the tyres and frame isn't going to last more than two minutes and anyhting thick enough will jam the wheel. Bite the bullet and change the tyres (don't forget that tyre widths do vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, you may find a different tyre of the same width that is, err, narrower :shock: ).

nicklouse

buy a new frame to fit your tyres then.

or just get some tyres more suited to your Avalanche.

bluechair84

Hmm, it's not the Avalanche, that's the girlios bike. Unfortunatly I can't afford to replace the frame on my bike so It'll have to be the tyres. I wondered if someone had found some miracle patch... but as you say stumpy it won't last one run let alone be a cure.
Righto... I'd best start shopping.

S_J_P

How about trimming the side-knobs with a stanley-knife?

bluechair84

Now thats what I'm talking bout! A man with a daring nature

meanwhile

bluechair84 wrote:

Is there anything that I can put on the frame that will resist the rub of the tyre? I've thought about cable-rub armour but I doubt that will do it.

Polyurethane helicopter blade tape. You can buy it on ebay. It's meant to protect you-guessed-it blades. Good to put on frames to scratch proof them.

If that doesn't work and you really want to do this, coat the vulnerable areas with 2 ton epoxy.

bluechair84

Funny you should mention that, someone on here has that as their signature which I spotted the other day. Would be interesting to see how well it would stand up to tyre abuse. And I'm sure I can find use for it elsewhere on the bike. Cheers

artillerydave

I would fit slimmer tyres before you completely fudge your frame up, no manner of padding coating etc etc will make a tyre that doesn't fit a frame work. bite the bullet and get a thinner tyre or a fatter frame one or the other.

Anonymous

bluechair84 wrote:

Funny you should mention that, someone on here has that as their signature which I spotted the other day. Would be interesting to see how well it would stand up to tyre abuse. And I'm sure I can find use for it elsewhere on the bike. Cheers

Just fit smaller tyres you pillock.

bluechair84

I've looked at some coke cans, They're made of alu aren't they? I know it not aerospace grade, but at least it's the same material. And it's nice and thin so I could add as many bits in as I can fit... and hold it on with Aryldite? Nice and easy to trim to size too. What do you think?

Andy B

bluechair84 wrote:

I've looked at some coke cans, They're made of alu aren't they? I know it not aerospace grade, but at least it's the same material. And it's nice and thin so I could add as many bits in as I can fit... and hold it on with Aryldite? Nice and easy to trim to size too. What do you think?

I think you should stop sniffing the Araldite....

Anonymous

what part of this do you not understand.
1 Your tyres already do not fit adequately in your frame
2 putting anything on the frame will make the gap even smaller
3 making the gap smaller will make the tyres rub more
4 the only way around this is to reduce the width of your tyres.

nicklouse

also cutting the knobs down will reduce the grip when cornering.

batch78

Good point nick.

CUT THE KNOBS DOWN


In fact cut them off entirely, then stop taking the p!ss and when you've got out of hospital buy a new bike with tyres that fit!!!!

ratty2k

What you need to do is crush the chainstays with a G clamp- TADA, instant extra room.

juankerr

I know a few people are taking the p1ss but it's is very doable. A mate of mine did it like this:

1) Remove rear wheel
2) Take QR out of rear wheel and re-fit on frame. Tighten to take up any slack BUT DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN (this is to ensure frame does not become unaligned)
3) Using a rubber mallet, hit the inside of the chainstays outwards. You will need to hit it HARD! Don't use any other implement as they could crack the frame. All you need to do is gain a few milimeters - it's quite easy to achieve.
4) Admire your handywork before dumping the ruined frame in the canal and going out to buy a new one.

xtreem

Look, with smaller tires means that you don't have enough grip, and when fast
cornering you always fall on the ground, wright? Then change your frame.

Or you just like the look of the tires, they give you a bit more grip, but you've
never fallen with smaller tires. That means that you can't use the maximum
potencial of the smaller tires, even though they have enough grip for you.
Then change your tire to smaller.

Anyone undrestand me, or should I delete this post?

toasty

Switch to a smaller rear tyre, leave the front tyre big. Front wheel losing traction is nasty, the rear is nothing big. Run a lower pressure on the back possibly? Try a tubeless conversion kit on it?

There's other ways of getting traction without resorting to fitting a huge tyre and knackering your frame.

The Flying Pie

I can't believe the lack of respect that you are showing the OP. I had the same problem when I needed to put 2.7" tyres on my cyclocross bike, due to a particularly rough section of canal path posing probems.

I tried all of the above methods without success. However, I discovered that the eventual solution was simply a case of removing the chainstays and seatstays using a hacksaw and then welding an aerospace aluminium grade coke* can to fill the space inbetween. Works perfectly. I can now even use motorbike tyres when the surface gets a bit too gnarly.



* That works provided you have a red frame. If it's silver then use Diet Coke. And I'd suggest that you import Irn Bru if it's orange. And use Sprite if it's green.

toasty

On a similar note, if you remove your rear wheel, ram the back end of the bike in the oven on gas mark 8 (230). After 30 minutes the frame should be softer, bend as required and ram it into the freezer for the perfect, factory fresh, finish.

The Spiderman

Flying pie,wouldn`t Tango be a more logical choice of cans,than Irn bru for Orange frames?

The Spiderman

PS Coke zero if you have black...............

The Flying Pie

That's ridiculous, Toasty. It's far better to just use a professional standard hair dryer (your girlfriend or mother may have one of these). Then you can sort out the frame problem whilst your pizza cooks, free from dirt.

The Flying Pie

The Spiderman wrote:

Flying pie,wouldn`t Tango be a more logical choice of cans,than Irn bru for Orange frames?

No. Unless you have black trim.



Also, bear in mind that Irn Bru is made in Scotland and therefore designed for our clearly superior, more hardcore trails.

Anonymous

aLSO, Irn Bru is made from girders, so it's bound to be strong enough.

The Flying Pie

The Spiderman wrote:

PS Coke zero if you have black...............

Wrong again.

Draught Guinness comes in much taller cans and is preferable. You have the added advantage of being able to run a 29" rear due to the extra clearance. Just remember to remove the widget or the rattling will get annoying.

fozzybear

congratulations on WINNING the darwin award of Bikerader.

continue to ride you bike as it is, ignore this lot... morons!!

nicklouse

fozzybear wrote:

congratulations on WINNING the darwin award of Bikerader.

continue to ride you dike as it is, ignore this lot... morons!!

Fozzy does a Dunk.