Slicks for Llandegla?

amigomatt

Hey people! Hope everyone had enjoyed the glorious Bank Holiday weekend? I really struggled to change tyres today, with one of my knobblies taking a good 30 mins and a lot of pain to get off! I replaced them with my Schwalbe Big Apples 2.35 to do some more road and light off road riding. Anyway, my dilemma is that I may be going to Llandegla soon. I've never been before, but I'm wondering if I'll be just fine to keep my Big Apples on, as I don't want to go through the torture of changing tyres again?

Any thoughts on this? Anyone had experience of doing that kind of thing with fat slicks on?

prb007

1, If it takes you 30 mins to change a tyre, you need to MTFU.
2. If it rains and you go to Llandegla (where it ALWAYS rains), on slicks - you will crash. LOTS.
3. Learn to change tyres faster, or ...
4. Before you set off on a lap of Llandegla with slicks on, dial the first two '9' s, on your
mobile BEFORE you set off, so when you need the Air Ambulance, you only have to press 9 once more

ilovedirt

As above, changing tyres is a ten minute job.
And slicks at a mtb trail centre is a recipe for disaster. Even (especially?) Degla. Crashing at trail centres is no fun, the surfaces are hard pack and they're designed to be pretty fast, so crashing always hurts.

thekickingmule

If you leave the Big Apples on your bike, you don't need to worry about crashing. They're so squidgy and thin, you'll get snake bites within a few metres of setting off!

Changing tyres is something you need to do a few times to get the knack of it. I struggled the first couple of times, now I can do it in about 10mins or so. Get some good tyre levers, that always helps. Some of the plastic ones I had originally broke just looking at the tyre!

njee20

I'd say it'll depend on your skill to be honest, that's a big tyre, run them soft and they probably won't be all that bad. Not something I'd be remotely keen to do through choice though!

amigomatt

thekickingmule wrote:

If you leave the Big Apples on your bike, you don't need to worry about crashing. They're so squidgy and thin, you'll get snake bites within a few metres of setting off!

Changing tyres is something you need to do a few times to get the knack of it. I struggled the first couple of times, now I can do it in about 10mins or so. Get some good tyre levers, that always helps. Some of the plastic ones I had originally broke just looking at the tyre!

Yeah, thanks for the advice. I've had a bike for less than a year and have only changed tyres over once before. The front one was fine, I just really struggled with the back one. The only tyre levers I have are plastic and an extension of a mutitool, so they probably aren't ideal. I'll look into getting some better ones.

I had just read that the Big Apples were ok for single track stuff, but after reading these comments, I'll just get the knobblies back on for when I go out there.

Cheers.

njee20

It's about technique far more than equipment - check out some of the videos on You Tube, you should be able to do just about any tyre by hand, and changing a pair should only take a few minutes.

ilovedirt

Get some pedros levers, stuff doing it by hand, I've changed loads of tyres and can't do it by hand.
The trick is making sure the bead is off the rim, move the tyre about and push it into the well of the rim when it's deflated so it's easier to get off.

And even if those slicks are big, they're still gonna be useless at degla, even if you run them soft. They've got no tread and will wash out in the corners, plus you'll probably pinch flat a lot.

njee20

Get some pedros levers, stuff doing it by hand, I've changed loads of tyres and can't do it by hand.

Much better to learn to do it properly I say, avoid potential damage to tyres, rims and tubes.

ilovedirt

I know how to change tyres... I would be surprised if many people could get dual ply maxxis tyres off DT swiss rims with only their hands...

Thewaylander

ilovedirt wrote:

I know how to change tyres... I would be surprised if many people could get dual ply maxxis tyres off DT swiss rims with only their hands...

Not uless there name is the hulk...

Though stans rim tape helps i admit, its slppy and thin so makes it alot easier.

BG2000

I think there's a fair bit of scaremongering going on here.

Firstly, it doesn't always rain at Llandegla, it's quite often dry and dusty.

I'm sure you're capable of assessing how fast you can safely go round a bend, so it's your call. But Llandegla is by no means the trickiest trail centre. Quite a few of the tight corners are bermed, so you just need to follow the curve and take it easy. A lot of the sections are just straight/curvy lines, so it's more a question of leaning and bike handling, not purely traction.

Those tyres are chunky enough to withstand impact punctures - in fact they have a bigger carcass than many off-road tyres. Just run them at about 40 psi and take a tube with you...oh, and learn to change tubes/tyres, it's not that hard. For starters, don't faff around with inferior tyre levers. Get these:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=10042

If you genuinely hate changing tyres, and often do road riding on your MTB, you could consider a sort of 'in-between' tyre:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=24622

.blitz

ilovedirt wrote:

I would be surprised if many people could get dual ply maxxis tyres off DT swiss rims with only their hands...

Tell me more about DT Swiss rims and dual ply Maxxis :?

The Voltage had some Alex FR32s and more recently some MTX33s, and dp Minions/Big Bettys/Muddy Marys are fairly easy to get on and off by hand.

I was idly looking at some DT FR600 rims but if changing tyres is going to be a pain I might look somewhere else.

Thewaylander

There a pain, but if you use the stans tubeless rim tape its a lot easy its slip and low profile.

amigomatt

BG2000 wrote:

I think there's a fair bit of scaremongering going on here.

Firstly, it doesn't always rain at Llandegla, it's quite often dry and dusty.

I'm sure you're capable of assessing how fast you can safely go round a bend, so it's your call. But Llandegla is by no means the trickiest trail centre. Quite a few of the tight corners are bermed, so you just need to follow the curve and take it easy. A lot of the sections are just straight/curvy lines, so it's more a question of leaning and bike handling, not purely traction.

Those tyres are chunky enough to withstand impact punctures - in fact they have a bigger carcass than many off-road tyres. Just run them at about 40 psi and take a tube with you...oh, and learn to change tubes/tyres, it's not that hard. For starters, don't faff around with inferior tyre levers. Get these:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=10042

If you genuinely hate changing tyres, and often do road riding on your MTB, you could consider a sort of 'in-between' tyre:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=24622

Hey, thanks to those for the good advice and the nice tone. That's what I needed, not being told by some stranger that I need to MTFU.

Don't get me wrong, I've not had a bike that long (less than a year), but I'm happy to willing to learn how to maintain it or customise it as I go along (including change tyres!). I just really struggled with that one and I shouldn't have to apologise for that. I've already ordered the Pedro levers and they have already arrived, so I look forward to a better experience with them!

Another friend of mine has also confirmed that I would be fine in Llandegla with my Big Apples on in the dry, so yes, I think a bit of scaremongering could be going on here. Maybe prb007 needs to MTFU if he can't do Llandegla on slicks

I'm happy to change tyres, if it doesn't involve the kind of grappling and chaffing it did that day! Here come the pedros..

mcnultycop

I rode Llandegla Blue last night a couple of times, and I definitely wouldn't fancy it on slicks, even in the relaitive dry. You'd get round, but it wouldn't be much fun and the descents would be slower.