Stray Cat

Cliff notes on the bottom

Had my Neuvation wheels all mounted up with Gatorskins about 2 weeks ago at the LBS. Ride great and extremely happy. Got a fluid2 this past weekend and swapped out my old Bontrager tire so I wouldn't wear away my brand new gators. Ran them for 4 days and went today to put the gators back on.

Was suppose to ride at 4:30 originally with a friend at the local lake.

Start time: 3:45. Wow, what a PITA to mount! Stretching as hard as I can to force it onto the rim. Get so fed up I get an urge to use me teeth! (which I don't ) Finally get it on and notice it's "backwards", not knowing if it's directional like car tires and also being OCP, I take it off and try again.

Try #2 4:05 (rang her and told her to wait on standby). Get it on right this time (still not easy). After sore sore thumbs I start to air it up. SHHHHHHHHH. This has to be a joke. Take everything back off and I have a snake bite of little holes. Pinch flat?

Try #3 4:45 (I ate a snack ) Back on with a new tube, but it seems to take longer each try. Thumbs throbbing now I air it up. Awesome, good to go! Get dressed up, pile the water and gear in the car, and mount the bike on the roof. Give her a call and get going at 5:20. (thought I heard my car tire get a huge flat on the way there, which would of been icing on the cake.

Get there at 5:45 and start getting everything out of the car and she shows up 10 minutes later. Ready to ride! Unlock the fork mount and go back to release the previously tight rear tire strap and the thing is flat! Load everything back in the car and go down the street to another branch of my LBS.

6:20 get there and walk in and wait. Get one guy to throw another tube on there since I can't do it right apparently.

The manager, I think, starts talking to me and basically dogging me for getting Gatorskins and 25s instead of 23s and that I should be able to get the tire on no problem. Doesn't really see my reasoning of wanting a puncture resistant tire for general riding and the MS150, which I am riding on THEIR team!, and being 195lbs wanting a somewhat comfy ride. Was irritated to begin with and this didn't help. Suggested I got a spare rear wheel, cassette and tire for the trainer. (first decent piece of advice) Ask him about pricing it out and he's telling me he'd only charge me $150 for a rear wheel, $80 for a cassette, and $34 for a trainer tire. No thanks. Could get all 3 for $150 through performance.

Bike comes back out ready to roll. Have to wait for the employee to check his myspace messages and log out. I get charged extra for the tire already being mounted, which I could of dismounted in under a minute if I was told to, and the total with the tube came to $14.60. (Like I said I had previously paid for them to mount them 2 weeks prior) Fine get me out of here. The tire is mounted "backwards" and not OCP lined up with the valve. Just ready to hit the road.

Get back to the lake at 7:05 and the riding partner can't miss Grey's anatomy so I see her off and get on the road figuring I can get 2 laps in.

7:15 I start rolling around at 19-21 and feeling really good. Get about 6 miles in and notice I'm putting out way too much effort. Look behind and it's not flat, but plenty of sidewall flex. Obviously they can't do it right either. Pull over, flip it, and pull out the CO2 kit they sold me when I bought the bike.


The dumb thing, or user, cannot get the cartridge to screw all the way in to puncture and inflate. Could be punctured or not but I'm not unscrewing it and finding out so I put the "bomb" back in my bag. Another cyclist stops and airs me up. Awesome . Back on the road and riding with him at 23-25mph feeling good. He goes the road route and I go back on the trail to get back to my car about 2 miles further.

Get another half mile and look down to make sure my tire is good to go over the bridge, tons of flex again. Rather fix it than replace a rear wheel after it gets trashed by all the bumps. Still can't get the dumb CO2 inflator to work and end up taking my shoes off and walking the last mile and a half while getting eaten alive by bugs. Miserable. 8:20.

Back home angry, mile deprived and really wanting to put on the old tire and get some miles on the trainer. Going with my previous luck, I opt not to and plan on taking it right back to the bike shop tomorrow morning and having them set this straight for charging me for what they obviously couldn't do better than myself.

Cliff notes: 2 pinch flats and a hell of struggle getting these tires on the rim. Take to LBS where they charge me again to mount the tires. Get started on my ride 3 hours late and get stranded with a mile and a half left to my car. Walk the rest at dusk, with my shoes in my hand, and getting eaten alive by bugs.

Grammar police please don't beat me. There has to be something wrong in that story, I know. I'm not as bad as ryanf so consider it a favor. (but not as amusing either )
[/rant]


Are Gatorskins really this much a PITA to mount? Am I an idiot that should of bought PR2s. Any suggestions?


Thanks,
Zack

CycleCoder

There defiantly not the easiest but there far from the worst.
Couple suggestions to help with the pinch flats at least from personal experience.
1. Talcum powder your tubes or the inside of the tire before you mount
2. Inflate the tube a little prior to mounting, mount and then inflate to 50 psi run around the tire and make sure everything looks seated properly pulling the tire from side to side on the rim. Then inflate to your desired psi.

ruechaos

Couple of things:

Your Micro Flate CO2 works by screwing it in all the way, and then backing it off to release the gas once you have it on the stem. A 16 gram tank is good for a single 110 - 120 psi inflate.

I use Gatorskins, and they do tend to be a PITA to get on, but no more so then any other tire I've installed. Wear groves, like those Mechanix brand, or full finger cycling gloves, when installing the tire. Use the palms of you hands to help "roll" the tire into the rim.

I installed my rear gatorskin backwards the first time I mounted them. Didn't seem to effect performance.

After I finish mounting a tire, I'll go along both sides of the tire and peek in-between the tire and the rim to make sure that there isn't any visible tube between them. Then slowly inflate.

unbelievably

One of my Gatorskins is mounted backwards as well...

Should I be bothered to swap it over???

roadwarrior

....I'm laughing so hard I can barely type....

Proximo

Yeah, the gatorskins are a bit harder to mount than other tires (but only a bit). I use tire levers as necessary to get all but the last 4 or 5" on the rim then it's not too hard to push the rest over by hand. Like others have said, putting a bit of air in the tube while mounting then checking your work before inflating fully helps prevent pinch flats.

georgiaboy

The tread pattern is designed for rolling forward to clear out water on the pavement. If you only ride when dry then it is a moot point.

Bolo Grubb

some tire and wheel combos are a major pain. some are very easy.

I have found just all tires are difficult to get on the neuvations the first time. A different brand of tire may be easier to get on. I think I have read that specialized brand tires might be easier to get the neuvations, not sure.

unbelievably

Dude...
I get off my bike and walk around the puddles.

oilman_15106

Too much information. My head is going to explode.

JayC

You got the double whammy. Gatorskins are a bit tough to mount and my Neuvation wheels are a biotch to get tires off and on.

bvfrompc

Triple wammy when you throw in the bike shop jerks


BTW, I love my Gators, 25s, and I use a $2 set of tire levers to help get them on.

I spent the $20 to get a decent inflator (the kind that holds the cartridge inside upside down) after having a cheapo explode on me.

GP

It's easy for me to be a Monday morning quarterback but you should have practiced using the inflator at home before you needed it on the road. I know cartridges aren't cheap but using a couple and becoming proficient at using them is worth it.

I also use Gatorskins and thought they were a b**ch to mount until I decided to try changing a tube without levers. The first one took me a long time but it's gotten easier now that I've done it several times.

If you bought the tires and tubes at that shop, and you are a regular customer, they should have mounted them for free.

Mr. Beanz

Put Gators on my tandem. 3 flats in 5 rides. Took 'em off,swithed to Armadillos. I have so many friends that use the "I can't seem to get it" line while looking at you with big sad puppy eyes. Usually does the trick of getting help from an experienced flat repairdude.

xlrogue

Switched to Michelin Krylion Carbons from Gatorskins, found them only slightly less puncture resistant and WAY easier to install than the Gators. I'm a big guy with strong hands (I'm a bass player too) and had to use levers to get the Contis on--which in my experience can lead to pinch flats if your attention to detail is off a bit, as mine sometimes is when doing it on the shoulder of a heavily traveled road (may have something to do with alternately muttering curses and survival prayers to the Bike Deities). Carbons go on easily without levers--in fact, I can even remove them without levers if I have to.

slowandsteady

Tire levers are your friend. Why someone would spend 2 hours trying to mount a tire with their bare hands is beyond me.

damage24

I had heard the Gatorskins were tough to mount but mine were no more difficult than any other tire. (Ksyrium Equipe wheels)

superslomo

I found them to be a pretty big PITA on my Mavic T519 rims, but they were a nightmare to put on my beater (27"ers). At least I haven't had to change a flat since then.

Stray Cat

... I tried this later last night and was laughing when I realized it was working not exploding out the rear.


I am too reading this again the next day. Just a rotten day.

That's what I had always read about both but didn't want to preach that unless I had someone else to confirm it.

Always practiced flats at home but never used the inflator because he said "put it on the valve, screw it in and get back on the road". Bah, lesson learned.

I was using tire levers but kept getting flats.



Got so fed up last night I redid it myself... and it worked! Still holding air today and worked on a short ride down the street. Couldn't believe it.


Thanks everyone for the insight and advice.

slowandsteady

Did you lightly inflate the tube first? I have yet to puncture a tube(after 20 or so years of changing bike tires) while using tire levers. It is much easier if the tube has some air in it. Put in just enough to give it a round shape, but not enough to increase its size.

babydee

I love my Gatorskins, and have used them on three bikes now. I use tire levers to get them off and on, but I can do it with bare hands on my particular rims. You just have to practice...you get better and getter at it.

In my experience (knock on wood...sigh), Gatorskins have great flat protection (rolled over many patches of road covered in broken glass last trip), and a great ride to boot. The "great ride" thing is born out in tests of rolling resistance, where the Gators shine versus other puncture-resistant tires.