Paul Narramore
New Member
- Location
- Aylesford, Kent, UK
I've just returned to cycling after seventeen years away and I'm amazed at all the new innovations which have come into bikes since those day. In 'my' day tyres were 27 x 1 1/4 for sports bike, 27 x 1 3/8 for roadsters and tubs for racing.
I now find that tyre sizes are an utter nightmare to understand. My Marin had old 700x32C tyres which needed replacing. I was sold Continental City Contacts which seem to be 28 x 1 1/4 or 32x622 or 700x32. If that wasn't confusing enough the Panaracer inner tubes are 700x18-32C, 27x1, 1 1/8, 1 1/4, 18 - 32 - 622 - 630.
It seems that the inner tubes fit a heck of a lot of different sized tyres.
Would someone care to try to explain this to me?
Is it possible to get a tyre gauge for Presta valves? I know I have a pressure gauge on my track pump but I always lose too much air when removing it from the valve so never quite know the exact pressure.
My cycling book says I 'should' be able to replace a tyre on a rim using just thumb pressure. Really? I've tried every possible way excluding using a lubricant and I HAVE to resort to a tyre lever. What's the secret?
I now find that tyre sizes are an utter nightmare to understand. My Marin had old 700x32C tyres which needed replacing. I was sold Continental City Contacts which seem to be 28 x 1 1/4 or 32x622 or 700x32. If that wasn't confusing enough the Panaracer inner tubes are 700x18-32C, 27x1, 1 1/8, 1 1/4, 18 - 32 - 622 - 630.
It seems that the inner tubes fit a heck of a lot of different sized tyres.
Would someone care to try to explain this to me?
Is it possible to get a tyre gauge for Presta valves? I know I have a pressure gauge on my track pump but I always lose too much air when removing it from the valve so never quite know the exact pressure.
My cycling book says I 'should' be able to replace a tyre on a rim using just thumb pressure. Really? I've tried every possible way excluding using a lubricant and I HAVE to resort to a tyre lever. What's the secret?