How to carry a tire?

[shadon]

So I'm riding the smallest bike in the world (well, probably not really, but at 45cm, it's small!), and with 650 cm tires others have suggested it would be a good idea to carry a tire with me, since they are sometimes hard to come by. But how?
It's to big to fit under my seat...I can't figure this one out.

help?

[Trek420]

Are you sure they don't mean spare tire tube? You should always carry a spare tube...or two. You're not likely to need to replace the tire but the tube...yeah.

I keep mine in the under seat bag. If you use a camelback some have room for extra gear.

Just a note to the TE ALC gals while I'm thinking of it and I may have said this earlier but Shadon on the ride I reccomend you carry 2 extra spokes. The mechanics can fix most anything but they might not have those especially if you have fancy schmancy wheels. Some riders tape the spokes inside the seat tube, I thought the rattle would irritate me so just kept them in my luggage.

[BikeMomma]

If they DO mean a spare tire, most tire manufacturers make tires that come folded, and they are usually pretty compact. Depending on the seat, sometimes you can tuck it right under your seat or next to/under your seat bag and then strap it to the rails with an old toe strap or plastic zip-tie (lots of sizes available at hardware stores; if you use one, make sure you carry something to cut it off with when you need the tire). He's right -- if your tire size isn't available everywhere, you can't rely on any ol' shop to have them or even to bum one off one of the riders in your group. You should prepare yourself. A blowout can happen any time. Definitely see if you can track down a folded tire in this size.

Edit: Just a quick search of Performance turned these up...
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5420
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5420
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5420
I did a search at biketiresdirect.com for that size. Make sure you see "folding" in the product description before ordering. Here's the results page:
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/searc...clincher&skw4=

Hope this helps!
-BikeMomma

[shadon]

He's right -- if your tire size isn't available everywhere, you can't rely on any ol' shop to have them or even to bum one off one of the riders in your group. You should prepare yourself. A blowout can happen any time. Definitely see if you can track down a folded tire in this size.

Hope this helps!
-BikeMomma

That's it exactly, BikeMomma, 650 c tires aren't available everywhere. Bought one tire at the LBS where I bought the bike, but even folded it's awfully big. I'll look further for one that is maybe folded a little smaller.

Really with the size of my bike there isn't much room under the seat...I guess I'll come up with a creative solution of some sort! Thanks for the links to performance! I'll take a walk over there tommorow, if this rain stops!

[BikeMomma]

Can you get it between the rails and the underside of the saddle? Maybe you could wedge it in there and then strap down from there. I dunno...never really tried it on mine. I ride a 56cm frame and I have spider-long legs, so I have some room to play with for storage -- I don't envy your predicament.

[Eden]

Personally I don't carry a tire, just a tube and I think its fairly rare to do fatal damage to a tire thats in good shape (especially for us relatively small light people - I ride a 44cm but I still have 700's), but it can happen. My husband did it just last week. He blew out a sidwall after he ran over a twig or something - it was a fairly worn tire and he gouged it. He patched it up with a powerbar wrapper until he could get to a shop that was fortunately pretty close- a dollar bill can work pretty good too.
If you've got a local shop that specializes in triathalon gear they will likely stock 650's since a lot of tri-bikes, even bigger ones use them.
Just an FYI, it might be worth it to put the tire on once at home before you need it. Depending on the tire putting a brand new one on in the field could be a bit difficult. I just put a new tire on (at home) It was a folding one, a Vittoria in fact and they do fold up fairly small, but the fit was so tight that it took both my husband and myself (him pushing and me pulling) to get the thing over the rim. I'm hoping that if I ever get a flat with this particular tire that having it on for a while will have stretched the bead a bit and it will be easier to get back on.

[Trek420]

Howdy Eden thanks for the tip and welcome to TE. Whenever you feel up to it check out the "getting to know you" thread, you'll meet all of us and when you're up to it you can post about yourself too.

OK, you've got my curiosity. I ride a 47 cm with full size wheels and consider it a feat of Italian design and engineering so we're dying to know about this 44cm you ride.