Yesterday i rode from my house to Hux's house via back lanes and bridleways of N Worcestershire. Our plan was to ride through the Wyre Forest on some trails we knew and some new stuff that Hux had scouted out. I had pre booked a table at the pub in Bouldon, Shropshire which lies behind the Brown Clee. This is where we were meeting Scott for a few pints and dinner... couldnt be better before climbing up onto the Clee for a camp.
What we didnt realise was that the trip from Kidderminster to Bouldon was going to take so bloody long and be plagued by tyre problems. We had found some great looking trails we wanted to ride on route and we reckoned we get there for 6pm, bit earlier than Scott taking us around 3 hrs. Some of the trails in the forest were great and really dry also, the going was good and we were moving fairly fast. Then we had our first tyre issue. Id stood my bike up the wall looking over the severn valley railway to take a picture. As i got on my bike i heard Hux say... mate your back tyre is flat....BALLS. I pump it up as there was no noise from air lose or stans coming out but it wouldnt hold so i faffed. Having sorted it out we got to the top of a big road climb to find it started going back down, hmmmm. More faff and it was sorted again this time i blew it up hard and it was holding. We made our way again through the trails in the forest and as we got onto the road i saw Hux's back tyre going flat, ah man this isnt really happening is it?? Hux's tyre was doing the exact same as mine and loosing air from the bead/rim ( exactly what mine did in the last hour of the Bearbones200 last week ) being a mate i thought id help him sort his tyre out and in doing so managed to not only get dog toffee on my hands but also managed to get it over my face!
Be this time we had eaten up probably over an hour of faff and pumping ( note to self take the big pump in future! ) time was ticking and the light was fading. We had a quick stop at a farmers garage as i noticed an air compressor on the wall. So far id pumped mine up twice and Hux once. We decided on the lanes form now on as the 7pm table was looking closer to 8. More lanes and hills and two more tyre issues! I called Scott from the south end of the Clee to tell him we would be late, but luckily he was to. By now it was dark and starting to drop in temp. We made god time in the end and got to the pub at 720pm. Now Scott had said he may not eat so carry on and order. We were both hungry as we hadnt carried any food thinking it would only be 3 hrs riding. Turns out it took 4 and a half hrs. The menu was spot on and we odered starters a main and puddings. Swilled down with 3 pints of mild. Scott arrived all sweaty having smashed out the lanes from his in around 25mins. Having had a good catch up and natter we headed out into the night leaving the pub around 1130. A really nice but long climb up onto the Brown Clee in dense cloud took us to our camp spot for the night, it was windy and moist. Shelters up and in bed by 1am. The wind hammered us most of the night and we woke to blue skies and sunshine. Scott left us about 8am and headed for home as he was back to work. Hux and myself on the other hand slept in till 930, we dropped off the hillside and headed for the cafe. The cafe in Cleobury North village does an amazing breakfast!! Not long after the cafe stop my wheel felt buckled. Great the bead had given up and the tube id put in the night before was now poking out. sub standard, im still 45miles form home. Hux came to the rescue with some toothpaste tube and cable tie. I limped back to Hux's by roads and muddy tracks where we put a spare tyre on so i could finish my 15mile ride home. The two days were really good and it was nice to catch up with Scattamah . It was however plagued by rear tyre issues from hell, iv never pumped so hard and so many times in a 24hr period!! Heres some pics if ive not bored you already
Looks a great bivi spot with the morning sun and that breakfast certainly looks worth travelling for!
Tyre problems - I can't help thinking looking at the photos that the tyres are too wide for the rims? (or the rims too narrow for the tyres!). Tubeless we run at lower pressures, the sidewalls flex more and those look as though they've split where they flex close to the rim.
We go out into the hills to lose ourselves, not to get lost. You are only lost if you need to be somewhere else and if you really need to be somewhere else then you're probably in the wrong place to begin with.
They are 2.4 xkings on std hope 23mm rims ( hux had the same problem with the xking on a 30mm rim ). I wonder why crc can sell these at 23quid an end....hmmm are they a faulty batch or seconds, who knows? Never had it on any other tyre before. They work fine but we reckon that its a combination of lower pressure allowing grit between the rim and tyre beading which over time has worn away the side wall where it touches the rim. the tyre has done over 1200 miles so i cant complain too much. Having taking the tyre off now the rim is all jagged like a saw from where the grit over time has worn at it so i need to smooth the surface off with some emery cloth or the like before i refit a new rubber.
I had a run of Conti trail tyres (mtn king, X-king) from customer and myself split at the bead like that a couple of years ago. 6 I think in 2 weeks or so. I believe Conti has reinforced them is this area since but maybe not.
Rest of the ride looks great
Yeah i think ill be going back to maxxis once iv worn these other conti's out! Apart from all the tyre faff, yes it was a great 2 days riding, lets hope we have no more faffing in the Peaks tomorrow ( but i have gone 650b+ wtb's now )
What you say makes sense Mike. Still 1200+ is pretty good!
Now, what is it I've read somewhere about WTB tubeless, something to do with getting square tyre beads seated on round-beaded rims...
We go out into the hills to lose ourselves, not to get lost. You are only lost if you need to be somewhere else and if you really need to be somewhere else then you're probably in the wrong place to begin with.
Dave Barter wrote:That breakfast nearly gets a 10/10 but I can only score it 9/10 as the sausage was not properly placed to dam the beans away from the egg.
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