I bought (what I understood to be) a standard PL tire and tube that can be used on the same hubs as my Extra Wides. I intend to switch out my Extra Wide Front tire on the same hub to see if I can edge better on the beach (and grass?).

Has anyone noticed better edging with a thinner (standard) front tire?
(The guy who turned me on to this had Big Foots in back of his modified folding PL, whereas I have 3 Extra Wides on my ST)

I also heard I should take it to a go-kart place, where they could switch it out easier than trying it at home. Has anyone done this - or used a different method?

Maybe I should have invested in a complete standard wheel assembly (w/ hub) to switch them out on the fly. But, while a front Extra Wide may give a little more float on softer sand, I also seem to do a bit of side sliding with it trying to go upwind. ('course, I'm prob. not tipping over as much either!)

The bigfoots have more float than the smaller 480 x 400 x 8. The smaller tires will bite more in sand or grass.
As for the changing of the tires on the wheels, I change my own with a couple of flat screw drivers, but you can pick up a set of tire bars at K-mart or a bicycle shop for a couple of bucks.
I keep my bigfoots on there own wheels and bought another set(s) for the midis and regulars, to change out for what ever the conditions requires.

You might be way better off with a separate wheel to mount your small tire on regarding convenience. If your front tire is sliding more than the rears then that points to your center of pull being a tad too far back. The small tire won't completely (if at all) fix this issue. 4 ply tires have VERY stiff sidewalls. I don't look forward to having to change tires out.

Yeah, the standard, extra wide and Bigfoots all go on the same 8 x 4" hub.

better edging might come with the standard wheel but this depends on the surface. On our low-tide-hardpack I think air pressure and weight distribution has more to do with it.

A tire shop makes it easy but it's not hard to swap yourself, although you will likely invent a few new swear words the first time. Use a pry bar to get one part of the bead over the rim and a 2nd pry bar to work around the rim till more than half of the bead is over the rim, then reach and grab and it will come off. Pull out the tube if it is there, then the other bead comes off easier because you have more to grab.

It is natural to reach for big screwdrivers but watch out that the sharp tip does not take out the tube if it is not tube-less. Someone told me to go to a motorcycle shop for a set of tire irons/ pry bars but the guy there said just go to Home depot and get some flat steel bars strip and make my own. good idea. Shape the ends like Popsicle sticks, file the edges smooth and put a bend in the end.

When you put the tire back on, use dishwashing liquid to help the bead over the rim. At NABX Brad Rexx showed me a good trick of using a piece of PVC pipe about 5-6" dia and about 6" long to put the rim on in order to get the hub off the ground where you get better purchase. Get one bead on the put the tube in, then then other bead. I use both my knees and palms to get one part over the rim, then push with palms or thumbs around the rim with a lot of soap.

My little end knuckles have nodes - so digging and really pulling on stuff with my fingertips is a royal pain.

Is seems that the Extra Wides have such a flat and relatively smooth surface that skidding is inevitable sometimes. And I'm thinking most of my weight and float is on the back axle anyway. A narrower front wheel - with more chunky thread on it - should dig and bite more into low-tide sand and maybe grass?

Sliding is not really a constant problem for me. But I noticed at Wildwood I just couldn't keep up with the rest in upwind legs when the wind wasn't 90 degrees to the shore. (yeah, I know...it's also my kite skills... :duh: ...But I was trying every trick and variation in my repertory - and I was still getting scooted off course.)

Related note: I just opened up small shipment of replacement wheel/ tire assemblies from Peter Lynn and I notice a different rim than I have seen before. And they have a button on one of the molded segments that says "RESET". I'm like WTF? This thing runs Windows????
Then I see a web site stamped in the rim....
http://www.starco.com/products/product/3

Huh!

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell Related note: I just opened up small shipment of replacement wheel/ tire assemblies from Peter Lynn and I notice a different rim than I have seen before. And they have a button on one of the molded segments that says "RESET". I'm like WTF? This thing runs Windows???? Then I see a web site stamped in the rim.... http://www.starco.com/products/product/3 Huh!

very interesting ... I would imagine though one would need to run tubeless for that feature to work. Come on Angus I want to see you hold the wheel while it inflates like the kid on the video

oh and to change tires .. let them sit in the sun for awhile to get nice and warm and lots of soap. No tools needed. granted some tools may be helpful ;-) but not necessarily needed.

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell I'm like WTF? This thing runs Windows???? Then I see a web site stamped in the rim.... http://www.starco.com/products/product/3 Huh!

You are too funny Angus! LOL. That is not an insignificant problem this device solves. Wexler was pumping up a soccer ball with my air compressor once. I was nearby in the driveway about 40 feet away. He just kept putting air in and the ball blew apart. He had the ball wedged into his thigh. When it blew, the sound was much like a high powered rifle shot. It made my ears ring for a few hours. He had that familiar hex pattern on his leg where one patch of the ball flipped around against his leg and left a blister. Imagine this with plastic wheel parts as shrapnel.

I can relate to the heat affects on tires

put the buggy away and 5 minutes later went looking for the source of the BOOM.

ha ha been there also. I heard a big boom but thought it was a truck on the hwy or something. Then went to hop in my bug and figured out what the boom was