Back to Road Tires...for now

There is still too much water crossing the trails to have any extended meaningful rides off road. Most of my ride time is still spent on pavement so keeping the GT365s on didn't make any sense. I went back to a road tire setup. So goodbye Schwalbe GT365s...for now. Hello Schwalbe Marathon Plus 35/406 front and a 35/559 on the rear.

I wanted more time off road (see my February Post) but too much water is still crossing the couple of trails suitable for my trike. And I don't want to fold up my trike and travel to another trailhead. I like to just pull out of my driveway and ride.

In addition to putting road tires on I removed the rack and panniers to lighten the trike up a bit. The ride necessities are now trucked away in ICE seat pouches and a T-Cycle frame bag. I’ll use a ICE Sidepod when I want to carry an extra battery and more stuff for longer rides. 

For now, it's the Schwalbe Marathon Plus on front and rear. I have other tire combinations I'll probably try out over the summer. The Plus 35mm tires aren't the lightest or the fastest (but not too slow either). I've gotten use to riding with fewer flats over the last year with the Schwalbe Marathons and the Schwalbe GT365s. I feel the 35mm Plus tires are a good compromise between speed and fewer flats.

My unscientific tire speed tests are (here). 

Broken ICE Boom Bolts

If you're like me and enjoy experimenting with different trike configurations which may at times include moving the boom then read on.

The bolts that secure the boom are under a lot of pressure and suffer from fatigue when tighten and loosened too many times and they may break. Even when using a torque wrench to avoid over tightening they seem to snap after a few rounds of tightening and loosening.

The first time a bolt snapped it was a challenge to remove the manufacturer installed bolt. With the snapped bolt head removed I then had to use my Dremel to mill a slot in the opposite end of the bolt so I could use a flathead screwdriver to get the bolt to stick out. Once it was out far enough I attached a vice grip and finished the removal of the broken bolt by unscrewing it.

Now I use a longer bolt that protrudes out the opposite side about a 1/4 inch. When a bolt snaps, and it will if you play around with them enough, I can easily grab it with a vise grip and twist and remove it.

A 30mm long bolt extends far enough out that 
it can be easily grasped. I put black rubber caps
on the bolt end just for looks.

Vice grip is clamped down on protruding bolt
end. Twist until the broken piece of bolt comes out.

Bolt Depot as the all the bolts, washers and nuts that you'll ever need.

Schwalbe GT365 Front Tire Change

New Schwalbe GT365, 55/406 (20" x 2.15") on the front.

In February of this year I posted about the change to Schwalbe GT365 tires (link here). The GT365 tires have been a joy to use. Currently I have the 55/559 (26" x 2.15") on the rear and 40/406 (20" x 1.5") on the front. But I like to test out different tire combinations so I'm going to take off the 40/406 (20' x 1.5") front GT365s  and try 55/406 (20' x 2.15") GT365s for awhile. I want more steering control in thick gravel and soft dirt. So far after one ride I've gained more steering and braking control off road and taking runts with greater ease but lost some speed on the pavement which was expected and not missed.

Schwalbe GT 365s 55mm front and back.

The narrower 40/406s are excellent on pavement but as I've said in my February post I want to try and reduce my time on the paved roads after my crash last year (link here). Originally to get off the road I put on the GT365s, 55mm on rear and 40mm on the front, and a chainring change (link here) on my ICE Sprint FS E8000. Now I have 55mm GT 365s on the front making my trike even more off road worthy.

Front 55/406 (20" x 2.15")

Rear 55/559 (26" x 2.15")

I'm still spending a lot of time on the pavement and the GT365s are a good hybrid tire. It's nice to know I can take a mental break from all the cars and head off on a fire road or tame trail. Also since my crash I've been hyper vigilant while on the road and it gets exhausting after awhile. Even though the drivers insurance company compensated me well after the crash I DO NOT want it to happen again. So I'll go off road whenever possible.

This picture taken after I left the trail
gives you an idea of how much of
the tire at max inflation is still in
contact with road when
on the pavement.