MB-1-E Part Twenty Four: Schwalbe Tire Arrives

The FedEx guy dropped off my new Schwalbe Tire today.
I pulled off the old tire and placed the plastic tube protector tape in the rim and it barely fit. (32mm wide)
Actually it cradled in nicely and made a nice smooth seat for the tube.
Put on the new tire and tube and put a little air into it.
I pushed on the tire all the way around, rocked the tire from side to side all the way around to make sure that it was fully seated and concentric with the wheel. The tire will accept anywhere from 22psi to 60psi so I put in 40psi.
The bead seated nicely and the tire ballooned right out from the rim ... boy, sure is a fat one. (2.35" Wide).

I went to put the Tire/Wheel assembly onto the bike and it wouldn't fit.
The tire has a larger diameter than the previous tire and hit the bottom of the motor.
I had to buy another length of chain so I could space the motor higher to keep the Tire from rubbing on it.
One of the batteries in a metal holder has just over 1/8" clearance, whew!
The chain from the jackshaft down to the back sprocket just clears the fat tire's sidewall by about 3/16", whew!

I got everything tightened back up and checked the runout of the tire and it was fine.
Took a short slow ride to make sure all was well and it checked out fine.
One more check of nuts, bolts, chain, belt etc. and I took off for a trial run.

The 40psi is plenty and seemed just about right. Nice smooth ride with good grip on the pavement.
It felt a bit different than the knobby I had on there before, but it ran very smooth.
Checked all my clearances and re-tightened the chain after a mile or so ride.
As I got used to it I brought the bike up to full speed (25mph) and it has a nice ride.
I could let a little air out perhaps but until I get my chain clearance a bit wider I think I'll leave it.

All in all, I'm impressed with this tire (Schwalbe "Big Apple" 26 x 2.35). It looks good, I'll get some pics of it soon . It's a fat one and I'm sure it's got a lot more grip on the road than the knobby.
It runs very true and has a nice reflective sidewall stripe.
Good deal - Back on the road again!

Dave
MB-1-E