Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - this is either my worst best idea or my best worst idea.

so i have an armadillo on back that's almost skidded through--on one side. the other is nearly untouched. what if i took it off, and put it back on, but rotated 180 degrees? hmmmm?

Whats your gear ratio? You might not have many skid spots... You could take the chain off, rotate the wheel a little, and then put it back on and probably get a little more life out of it.

43x17. 17 skid patches by the last chart i looked at. which makes it odd that the spots are concentrated. then again, even if i do skid ambidextrously (ambipedally?), my feet are still roughly in the same two spots each time i skid.

The position of your feet shouldn't make that much difference, the way I understand it skid patches actually assume your feet are always in the same position... Something tells me if you rotate the tire you're gonna wear down the other side pretty fast too. Can't hurt to try though.

perhaps this is to obvious to be worth saying, but with a worn tire, you'll get more flats.

The position of your feet shouldn't make that much difference, the way I understand it skid patches actually assume your feet are always in the same position... Something tells me if you rotate the tire you're gonna wear down the other side pretty fast too. Can't hurt to try though.

i probably won't wear down the other side as fast...the other side wore down quickly because as soon as i learned how to skid farther than a few feet, i was doing it all the time, and that's when the wear showed up.

i guess i do have a patch kit, so a flat tube is salvageable...and a spare tire and tube i can throw on in a pinch. might be worth trying.

oh, and i know it'll flat more...it's just weird that only one side is worn (and that i've had no flats in the 2 1/2 weeks since i noticed the wear, which has now gotten to the "oh god, will i make it through this next ride?" stage.)

maybe i should stop being cheap and just throw another tire on there, but i want to know, dammit!

Rotating it won't change anything. You'll still be able to skid on your flat spot.

why you skidding so much anyways?

stupidity. drunk with my own power of skidding. showing off...i've since reformed...but it was fun for a bit.

I did the exact same thing once I got the hang of it. I busted out a 2 foot skid and couldn't stop doing them the rest of the night. It's too much fun doing stuff like that.

i know. damn skidding.

just rotate your wheel every so often when you put a new tire on. should help.

Maybe just move it to the front? I skid too much and just rotate my front to my back every month or so. Both tires are worn, but evenly.

I've got a twelve year old that discoved the art of skidding (with brakes) and he wore through (and popped) two tires in two weeks. Darn kid. :mad:

ha ha, nacho...yep. there's the rub. now that i've learned, the other half of the tire will wear better, but the other one died a noble death.

jmg, i thought about that, but the one in front is just a bontrager, nothing really bombproof. the armadillo has a reputation as bombproof, and has pretty much lived up to that, though i've abused it. the bontrager would probably not last very long. then again, i've learned to do without skipping or skidding at all...

Do not put a half wore out tire on the front. With the spotty weather of Portland, you need the front to be as nice as possible.

Maybe just move it to the front? I skid too much and just rotate my front to my back every month or so. Both tires are worn, but evenly.

it can be very dangerous to have a worn tire up front.

getting a flat in the back is much easier to control, while getting a flat in the front can make you lose control very quickly. it is much easier and safer to slow and stop yourself with a flat in the back. when you skip through a tire in the rear, don't even consider replacing it with your front tire, just throw it away.

i used to switch out my worn out rear tire with my better front tire until i got a flat in the front. i won't ever do that again.

so many reasons to ride with a brake! i can rock nice tires!

I did the exact same thing once I got the hang of it. I busted out a 2 foot skid and couldn't stop doing them the rest of the night. It's too much fun doing stuff like that.

haha I totally remember when I first started skidding. (not too long ago)
I stayed up till 3 in the morning skidding the length of my underground garage (live in townhouse).
think smooth concrete :)
it was PERFECT!

it can be very dangerous to have a worn tire up front.

getting a flat in the back is much easier to control, while getting a flat in the front can make you lose control very quickly. it is much easier and safer to slow and stop yourself with a flat in the back. when you skip through a tire in the rear, don't even consider replacing it with your front tire, just throw it away.

i used to switch out my worn out rear tire with my better front tire until i got a flat in the front. i won't ever do that again.


+1

Had a front tire blow out while lane splitting in fast moving traffic. I have much more respect for the front tire now.

skidding is fun, but i'm going to wait till i have a "tire fund" that always has money for 2 or 3 more tires in it to do more of it...

yeah, i'm feeling really sketchy about switching tires, particularly a worn one...as mentioned...control. i'm just wondering about spinning the tire 180 degrees on the wheel. you know what, **** it. i'm trying it. i'll let y'all know how it works.

boo ya.
http://tribunalrecords.net/~/~/skidthrough.jpg

hmmmmm....not quite there yet...the patches aren't yet all connected.

Two words. New tire.

why you skidding so much anyways?

75% of my stops are with my beloved hockey skids. but thats just me. i love the side swipin', person-on-the-sidewalk impressing, slightly unpredictable hockey skid.

I got lucky. My cousin was a pro road racer for a while and when I moved up to Portland he was packing to leave for Miami. He gave me a heap of his old race take offs that I've pretty much used up on various bikes so far. I think I still have a couple of old armadillos with a few more miles left on them for skid duty though.

awesome...i actually have two dumpstered armadillos with no tread wear, but some sidewall wear (misadjusted brakes is my guess). they're both 23s and i'm running 25s right now, and i don't want to mix and match sizes, so i want to stretch all the armadillos out, since i have seen precisely 0 armadillos inlocal shops over the past couple of weeks. and cuz i'm broke-ish. and if you know the "thrifty/stingy scotsman" stereotype, that's definitely coming out now (my irish is drinking up the beer i'm holding now). i want to wring every last drop of life out of this tire.

75% of my stops are with my beloved hockey skids. but thats just me. i love the side swipin', person-on-the-sidewalk impressing, slightly unpredictable hockey skid.

I don't know how long you've been riding, but it's probably best to learn to control your speed better to gradually stop, at least for the majority of your stops. Unless you have loads of money to replace your tires often, save the fancy hockey skids for emergency situations, if you're having emergency situations that often, then maybe it's time to take a chill pill.