no flat tyres

[winterwonderer]

Hi, hope someone can help with this. I have bought a second hand tourer for a long distance trip and after reading someones advice on the forum I am going to take a spare tyre ( probably two if I dont lose the Christmas weight!). I took a closer look at the tyres on the bike at present and written on them is as follows-
Nylon no flat 28"x1 5/8 x1 3/8 37 - 622 700 x 35C SR127 and a few circular symbols with dots inside.
Does anyone know if these are the markings of the Dutch no flat tyres or, indeed, what tyres they are full stop. Many thanks in advance.

 

[Nigeyy]

You can do worse than go to the great man (sadly now no longer with us):

http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

fyi: it depends on what you mean by "long distance" and where you are going and the ubiquity of your tyre size. Assuming your tyres can be readily bought from stores (at least where I am, I do not ever recall seeing those sizes), and if you are touring on paved roads and doing less than 2000-3000 miles and those tyres are half decent, my advice would be don't bother taking any spare tyres -just something else to slow you down!

Hi, hope someone can help with this. I have bought a second hand tourer for a long distance trip and after reading someones advice on the forum I am going to take a spare tyre ( probably two if I dont lose the Christmas weight!). I took a closer look at the tyres on the bike at present and written on them is as follows-
Nylon no flat 28"x1 5/8 x1 3/8 37 - 622 700 x 35C SR127 and a few circular symbols with dots inside.
Does anyone know if these are the markings of the Dutch no flat tyres or, indeed, what tyres they are full stop. Many thanks in advance.

 

[TheDoctor]

Sounds like a bog-standard 700C at 35mm width. Easily available all over the Continent - like in any bike shop,multi-sports shop or hypermarket. Unless you're going way off the beaten track I'd not bother carrying a spare.

 

[doog]

Just take a tyre boot as below or make your own should the tyre itself suffer a major failure. Should get you to a bike shop for a replacement.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=13249

 

[Ticktockmy]

Take a used toothpaste tube, cut both ends off, then cut along the length, wash off what toothpaste is left and bingo a emergency tyre boot, works well as I found out on the Southdowns when a bloody big flint slashed my wall of my tyre.

 

[TheDoctor]

Any old roadside rubbish will do in extremis. I've known a tyre get 45 miles on a crisp packet.

 

[winterwonderer]

Cheers everyone, the boot thing sounds like a great idea, any advice on how to keep the weight down is really appreciated as this is my first tour and the gear just seems to be adding up. I am off to France in the Spring, along the Loire, to Bordeaux then onto Montpellier (thats the plan anyway) and as I am used to wild camping for a week at a time I suppose I am still in the mindset of trying to be completely self contained. I know this is probably a different thread but another thing I am having brain pain with is what bike tools to take. I have a multitool, leatherman, puncture repair kit and plenty of spanners etc. in the garage, does anyone recommend taking any kind of specialist tool or should I just stop being so pessimistic and cross any bridge if I come to it and hope there is a bike shop on the other side? Thanks again.

 

[palinurus]

Work out what you can fix on your bike with your multitool first (e.g. mine will do all the fastenings on my commute bike except the wheel nuts (fixed), it also has a spoke spanner which fits the spoke nipples on that bike. Then work out what extra stuff you might need (in my case a 15 mm spanner to get the wheels off).

Just take stuff to fix likely problems like punctures and stuff coming loose (racks love to come loose when touring). I don't take tools to fix major problems (check the bike over before starting and replace stuff / service as required). I don't even take spare cables any more, I just check mine over and replace if required before leaving.

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

This is a good resource for lightweight touring.

 

[winterwonderer]

Thanks for that, gents. I really am going to have to be a bit more optimistic! And after reading about what the ultralight guy takes, a lot more stricter about how much gear I can get by with. You cant argue with the fact that the more weight - the more chance of something going wrong. One thing, though, I dont think I could sleep on a roll of bubble wrap - all that poppings got to keep you awake.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

+1 for not taking spare tyres! Way to much hassle...and no need..especially in europe .

BTW beware montpellier in summer....t's a most horrid place to cycle/navigate and th ecampsites are a TOTAL rip off there.

 

[winterwonderer]

Thanks for that Big Bi. I was sort of expecting that in the south of France, and as I am hoping to get there at the beginning of July, methinks I may just be out of the holiday season, but what difference that will make I dont really know yet. I am coming back on the Bike Express from Montpellier and hopefully if I time it right then I might be able to avoid the more expensive campsites. I will be taking a bivvie bag and if I cant bring myself to pay too much then......
As for navigating, well I have always been rubbish at that, and if I get lost on a regular basis then that will be quite the norm for me. I seem to remember reading somewhere that its best not to worry about being slightly misplaced, just take it as another way of discovering different places. Unfortunately that didnt work for me as, more often than not, I'd be going round in circles.
Definitely taking on board about the paring down of the equipment side of things. I have got to look at the clothes situation next. And that is going to be hard! Thanks again.

 

[Nigeyy]

Oops, TheDoctor is right, I should have read Sheldon's page more carefully. Of course 700C are available where I am (never seen them as described as 28x1 5/8 though!).

Given you are going to Europe, I definitely wouldn't bother taking a spare type (course now you're bound to suffer a catastrophic tyre failure and end up cursing the people who replied saying as much....).

FYI: another tyre boot you can use is paper money -usually paper money has good characteristics for a tyre boot. I like the toothpaste tube idea though.

Sounds like a bog-standard 700C at 35mm width. Easily available all over the Continent - like in any bike shop,multi-sports shop or hypermarket. Unless you're going way off the beaten track I'd not bother carrying a spare.

 

[TheDoctor]

Paper money is expensive though!!! Any plastic-cy stuff will do. It's just got to stop the inner tube from bulging out till you get to a bike shop / Decathlon /biggish supermarket.

 

[Nigeyy]

One dollar bills (~65p) are good for the job (easier of course if you live in the USA). I bet you there are some small denomination bills in Europe somewhere though.