V8F Tire Swap from Stock to Trail Tire

[MacGyverCanada]

This is a carbon-copy of my Reddit post but I didn't get the replies I'd hoped for, so....

I'm working up the nerve to disassemble my V8F so that I can swap the tire for a Specialized Roller 16" x 2.125" because the stock tire is just awful on grass and crusher dust trails. I know the V8F ain't no trail hound but I'll def keep riding it off-road until I upgrade to an expedition wheel; it's proven to be surprisingly capable in everything but range.

The Roller's rated 40PSI; I've been riding the stock tire at around 30 PSI to try to get a better grip but I'm hopeful that knobby tires will negate the need because I worry about tire pinches at that pressure. Anyone have opinions on tube sealants, eg: Slime, as a preventative measure?

Anything else I need to think about? Talk me into it, or talk me out of it.

[Tawpie]

2 hours ago, macgyvercanada said:

Anyone have opinions on tube sealants, eg: Slime, as a preventative measure?

It might prove challenging to actually quantify the preventive goodness of Slime and its cousins. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't—depends on the puncture and the phase of the moon and how far it is back to the car. The further from the car, the less likely it is to save the day. But I use a product called RideOn anyway. It's relatively inexpensive and if it does work I'll probably never know. I'm thinking it'll help protect (somewhat) from thorns and the like, but when I hit something hard enough to cause a pinch flat, I don't expect it'll do anything other than make a mess inside my tire. If the knobby gives you better grip, I'd go with more pressure to stave off the pinch problem.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Tawpie

[tst]

On 3/24/2021 at 7:27 PM, macgyvercanada said:

This is a carbon-copy of my Reddit post but I didn't get the replies I'd hoped for, so....

I'm working up the nerve to disassemble my V8F so that I can swap the tire for a Specialized Roller 16" x 2.125" because the stock tire is just awful on grass and crusher dust trails. I know the V8F ain't no trail hound but I'll def keep riding it off-road until I upgrade to an expedition wheel; it's proven to be surprisingly capable in everything but range.

The Roller's rated 40PSI; I've been riding the stock tire at around 30 PSI to try to get a better grip but I'm hopeful that knobby tires will negate the need because I worry about tire pinches at that pressure. Anyone have opinions on tube sealants, eg: Slime, as a preventative measure?

Anything else I need to think about? Talk me into it, or talk me out of it.

How did it go? Does the tire fit on the V8f?

[MacGyverCanada]

3 hours ago, tst said:

How did it go? Does the tire fit on the V8f?

Yep but it wore out pretty quick.  Good tire while it lasted.  Next time I'd like to try the Bontrager XR1.

[tst]

2 hours ago, macgyvercanada said:

Yep but it wore out pretty quick.  Good tire while it lasted.  Next time I'd like to try the Bontrager XR1.

What do you think of 2.5 tire?

Or 2.4. I See there is a lot of choice of those. Although the weight differs a lot. I'm curious if the lightweight tires are only for kids bmx bikes.

But your Specialized tire is also very light at 420 gram. So it's good to hear that it performed well.

 

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by tst

[alcatraz]

On my V8 a basic 2.125 tire leaves just a few mm of clearance. A thicker tread tire would rub I think.

[Mono]

12 hours ago, alcatraz said:

On my V8 a basic 2.125 tire leaves just a few mm of clearance. A thicker tread tire would rub I think.

the shell of the V8F is some (not many) mm wider

[Rodo]

It is not too hard to disassemble. I just did it to repair a flat. I follow the youtube video below. It wasn't hard for me to remove the rod from the pedals. My V8S is rather new (less than a year) and they were pretty loose. What was a bit tricky was removing the flaps. Make sure you remove the 4 bolts holding the wheel before removing the flaps. That way you get a bit of play in the plastic. I have no opinion on what tire to use... good luck.