CDT Trail ride

[Tchap]

Yeah, it's hard to think of it until you consider that the tire casing will give it shape, and what's going on inside the tire casing.


Source: https://motocrossactionmag.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-inner-tubes/

Realistically, if I got stranded with my 2.50-17 front tire being flat and all I have is a 3.00-17, the 3.00 is going in and I'm not going to think too hard about that other than "can I patch the previous tube?" And if that went out, I'd resort to bushcraft of stuffing whatever I can in there to keep the rim from getting dinged, but also being able to roll out of there. In Australia, there was a bush series where they even shoved the Aussie equivalent of spinifex in there and ran it without a tube at all.

Using the wrong size tube is not recommended though. There's also a certain amount of folding that can occur inside the tire if you're unlucky and/or trying to use a 18 inner tube in a 17 rim. For bicycles, they generally recommend plus or minus one tire width is about the maximum limit for the same reason, but the installation of most bicycle tires is substantially easier and less pinch prone than motorcycle tires (due to the more flexible sidewalls). So for example, if you had a 700x28-32 tube, and you're trying to put that in a 700x35 or a 700x25 tire, it generally isn't a problem. Having done that before multiple times, I'm better off stuffing a slightly smaller tube into a slightly larger tire as I've had better results with that statistically, but I'd probably keep the speed low until I could get an actual fix going - not a problem on this bike, but been a consideration point on all my other motorcycles.

I loved hearing about this trip, and I think that all the details you guys share are super-useful. This thread has seemed to morph into a discussion on tires and keeping them inflated. In my opinion, Bryan’s use of a tubeless setup for the whole thing is important because it is a strong test of the system. I’d like to hear more about that. Dingo’s experience with tires and flats is important too, because most of us do run tubes. I just bought 6 tubes and so I’m into it for a bit. I recently tried the zip tie method and it was very successful. Right now I’m looking for the best set of spoons for a long distance trip like yours. Anyway, congratulations to you both. You guys rock. And thanks again for sharing!

 

[dmonkey]

Whatever spoons you decide on, a set of padded gloves will make for a better experience using them.

 

[bryanchurch06]

I loved hearing about this trip, and I think that all the details you guys share are super-useful. This thread has seemed to morph into a discussion on tires and keeping them inflated. In my opinion, Bryan’s use of a tubeless setup for the whole thing is important because it is a strong test of the system. I’d like to hear more about that. Dingo’s experience with tires and flats is important too, because most of us do run tubes. I just bought 6 tubes and so I’m into it for a bit. I recently tried the zip tie method and it was very successful. Right now I’m looking for the best set of spoons for a long distance trip like yours. Anyway, congratulations to you both. You guys rock. And thanks again for sharing!

Thanks for your interest, these are the only spoons I've used either on the trip or at home Motion Pro 08-0051 8-1/2" Enduro Pro Tire Iron https://a.co/d/5PjI5w0
With the zip ties and a warm day that's all I've needed, I spoon about an 8th to a 4th of the rim and just muscle the tire on and off. I've had zero issues with the outex system although to be honest I was always thinking about it, especially on long downhill paved sections. I would usually stay under 50mph because in my mind I was telling myself that I had installed the system and did I really trust it? And what if the tire suddenly deflates? Luckily none of these things happened. Tbh I also didn't lower pressure for dirt sections either which may have helped my traction. I ran full 33 rear and 28 front pavement and dirt. You are right about tires being the main issue on this trip, sand caused me the biggest issues because that's what I encountered most, very little mud because I just refused to deal with it and detour around. In my humble opinion larger tires slightly deflated would have helped with the issue. I had many times on dirt where I was running 25 to 30 and hit sand deep enough to cause the bike to swerve and throw me off trail, my natural response was to slam my leg down to stay upright which led to some injury to my left calf and lower leg that bothered me the rest of the trip. Felt like the bone was bruised somehow? And the vibration from the pegs would cause my leg to ache. Small skinny tires just don't work well on these terrain, I noticed the cannonballers are having the same troubles with multiple wrecks caused by it. But it's what it is and if you're going to adventure ride small bikes that what you're going to put up with, luckily with the lightweight it's easy to right the bike. And with less weight and younger stronger legs maybe less of an issue. I've purposely refrained from talking about it here, although privately I discussed it with Sneakydingo and Bo before and during the trip, the mobility issues referred to on my part is the reason I took early retirement from the State of SD I Don't have any padding left in my knees, what they refer to as end stage arthritis or bone on bone, they wanted me to have a double knee replacement, I didn't. In my defense it's just pain, I can still move although a little slower than I'd like at times and as I'm told not pretty to watch. I didn't want the trip to be about the old crippled guy riding the trail, I refuse to think of it that way, i still move ok until I aggravate them by doing stupid stuff like riding cramped in a uhaul for 24hrs not being able to adjust positions, riding a motorcycle for 10 or 12 hrs, or a lot of junk food which causes more inflammation. So to sum up tires and knees are important, take care of both.

 

[SneakyDingo]

The bicyclists racing completed the 2023 CDT yesterday, so as a reference if you are thinking, "how fast should this ride have taken?" - 14 days 3 hours and 23 minutes was the 2023 bicycling route completion for a route that was very similar to what we took (goes through some areas of non-motorized travel, e.g. north of Helena) using many of the same roads and some that were a lot more gnarly. However we got a lot more sleep than they did!

 

[bryanchurch06]

I'm going to try again. This time I'm traveling alone or with my wife driving a chase vehicle so the weight on the bike will be less. I'm going to try to film with a gopro camera and ride all the roads I missed the 1st time. I am also going to take more time and stop more often during the day for breaks rather than trying to ride 10 to 12 hrs only stopping to fuel or pee breaks. I'm planning on fall of the year instead of early summer this time. I will be camping as needed and using motels when available. I'm looking at the 1st trip as a learning experience and hope to have less stress and more relaxed riding without unnecessary daily goals to accomplish. Not sure of a start date yet so that's all for now.