Hot parts thread

[maunakea]

Vredestein S-Licks PRS 20x1.3 Tire
Street tire for 20” (ISO 406) recumbent or narrow BMX wheels.
part no. YT-VSR
at Nashbar, $11.95 per tire

[LittlePixel]

That's a bargain. Does anyone have any experience with these at this size? I'm bored with my Grand Prix and Stelvios!

[maunakea]

The maker is Dutch. My experience with their product has been very good at the 700c size, so I ordered two of the ISO 406 size to try.

[yangmusa]

I had the Vredestein S.Licks on my Challenge Hurricane recumbent. Felt like a fast tire, and I had no punctures in over 1600 miles.

As to their efficiency, I don't know. The only other 406 tires I have experience with are 20*1.5 Primo Comet kevlars on my Swift - the two bikes are so different I don't think I can sensibly compare the two tires!

Magnus

[jasong]

I ordered a set of these for my new bike friday tandem. Do they really weigh that much (400+ grams)? That seems to be the downside compared to the other smaller tires.

[maunakea]

I guess we'll see if the ~130 grams over the 37 x 406 Primos and Stelvios translates to better flat protection.

[maunakea]

Nashbar reduced the price of the S-Licks to $7.99. A 15% promo drops the price to $6.76.

I am impresed with this tire.... sticks like a Kenda, rolls almost like a P. Comet or S. Stelvio, very good in the wet, but heavier than a skinwall with the pleasant corollary of no punctures (yet) and long tread life.

[Fear&Trembling]

Nashbar reduced the price of the S-Licks to $7.99. A 15% promo drops the price to $6.76.

I am impresed with this tire.... sticks like a Kenda, rolls almost like a P. Comet or S. Stelvio, very good in the wet, but heavier than a skinwall with the pleasant corollary of no punctures (yet) and long tread life.

That's a great deal - over in the UK they are going for £23! I may go back to S-licks or Comets as I am fed-up with the wet-weather handling characteristics of Scorchers.

[maunakea]

A lesser known, but excellent parts source, esp. of Sunrace components (as in DT RDs and cassettes, including the 11-32 8 speed cassettes and 11-32 and 11/34 9 speed cassettes, and the RDM60 RD (34 T) capacity) is:

www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi

To mount a regular rear derailluer to a DT that came with a "claw" mount RD and horizontal dropouts (e.g., DT VIII FS):

SunRace Derailleur Hanger
Price: $2.50
Item #SU-550I: .This hanger will allow a derailleur designed for bikes w/integral frame hanger to be mounted on a bike without a frame mounted hanger. Designed for horizontal dropouts.

To convert a freehub rear wheel to a single speed quickly:

Wheels Mfg Single Speed Shifting Kit
Price: $19.50
Item #WB-SSK1: . For Shimano cassettes. Using one of your cogs, add spacers on either side until chainline is straight and lockring will tighten properly. Kit is spacers only.

[maunakea]

Meet the SRAM i-Motion 9 internal gear hub.
http://www.sram24.com/newtechdoc/english/manufacturers/technicalnews/NewTechSpecifications_MY07.pdf

A quick disconnect shift cable... page 8. No more flat tire issues WRT a gear hub.

[LittlePixel]

A quick disconnect shift cable... page 8. No more flat tire issues WRT a gear hub.

That sounds nice. After my Spectro S7 clickbox gave out because of exactly this - too many removals/refits something 'quick release' sounds great. (never design something that has metal screwing into a plastic thread. It will break. Quickly. Pfft.

[maunakea]

I plan to put an i-Motion 9 on my Swift. I almost installed a Red Band 8, but demurred. I'll go without one more gear until I can get 2 more.

[jasong]

DId anyone else that bought the Vredestein S-Licks have troubles getting the beads to seat? I tried four, on four different wheels, with two different types of tubes, and couldn't get one to properly seat without giving a serious bump on every rotation.

Think I got a bad four, or can I just not seat a tire correctly?

[maunakea]

jasong, lubricate the entire bead circumference with Windex or a mild detergent diluted in a spray bottle then quickly inflate. You've got to help the bead to seat on small diameter tires on a 406 wheel. 200 psi also helps in the seating process ... BUT once the bead is seated, of course, deflate to running pressure. I wear ear plugs, safety goggles, and leather gloves when doing this trick... it's dangerous. Also, for a decimal tire, the rim MUST be decimal, e.g, a 20x1.35 tire will seat on a 20x1.5 rim, but a 20x1-1/8 tires will NOT seat on a decimal rim.

[bangkok]

Using i-Motion data from the pdf (and perhaps the 2.4kg weight is for a heavier coaster brake model),
a quick comparison between the i-Motion9 and Nexus8.

This example using a Birdy 18" tire as an example and courtesy of http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/internal.html:

+ i-Motion9: 56t x 18t - 2.3 ~ 7.9m rollout... weight 2.4kg ... proprietary twist shift only
+ Nexus8: 56t x 16t - 2.5~ 7.8m roillout ... weight 1.5kg ... proprietary twist or tap/brake combo only

Looks like there is nothing to think about. Sram created this product it seems for "comfort" bikes, as supported by the limitation of the twist shifter; a deal killer for me even if weights were equal to Nexus.

If I understand correctly, Shimano have a 2007 "Alfine" group stand-alone tap shifter for the Nexus ... supposed to be out in late October.

[maunakea]

The 2.4 kg mass is for the coaster brake version. Data for the three other versions (including disk brake) won't be available until 2007. The quick disconnect is a major feature for me.