All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Tires are too expensive and these only got 140 miles on them. Start with the Skabs and then try the glue if they doesn’t work.



i have an enduro casing Michelin at the house, but not done with these trail casing schwallabe

 

As someone mentioned outdoorsy I started looking at how much lesser camper vans rent for its a viable option as a somewhat investment. At that buy in though you’re just happy if renting it a week covers the payment and insurance.

Hopefully Alex keeps us up to date on this endeavor.

 

Yeah I definitely agree, like if it's not getting used every weekend then its going to be an expensive lawn ornament haha. Besides camping I just see it being super convenient for after rides/hikes/outdoor stuff or long drives. Plus I think I can fit my kayak in a van without having to have it hanging out the back

edit: there are at least 2 vans in town. One guy down the street has a 4runner and transit that looks to be decked out. The other might be a winnebago revel sprinter. I need to find a way to talk to these people about them

 

Best ride in Salida? Wife has full squish and has no issue with indurance on the trails she's just timid on technical. We have a few days to ride. TIA

 

I had a small slice on my rear tire, probably had 200 miles only. I plugged it and it would leak sealant a bit, so I tried shoe goo on the outside of the tire and that sealed it. I’ve got a good amount of miles on this now and I haven’t had to do anything. So hopefully your plan works out well!


Sucks when you have something like that happen to brand new rubber!

 

So the preglued skab worked on the snake bite, but not the puncture in the tread, go figure.
I'll be cleaning the tire and applying the glue patch this week and testing it, for now I installed the enduro casing Michelin and let me tell you I haven't changed a MTB tire in a while and it was a PITA.

 

A few weeks out and I know it's a road ride,.....but is anyone doing RAGBRAI?

 

I've found that the glue-on patches eventually fall off. It may depend on what type of tire sealant you use, but it seemed like the stuff in Stan's that keeps it liquid eats away at the glue. I've had good luck with the Park Tool vulcanizing patches, though. https://www.parktool.com/en-us/product/vulcanizing-patch-kit-vp-1

 

I generally use a similar patch kit from the auto parts store. Patches are big but can be cut to appropriate size for situation. Maybe a little super glue on the outside of its a bigger cut. That seems to get me a little more life out tires in a pinch.

like this https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...h-kit-15-020/28200559-P?searchTerm=tire+patch

 

The stans dart tool seems like a better option. Watched some videos about it then bought one. Luckily never has to use it.

replaces the standard tire plugs with a more permanent solution

 

It's not bad with a coil. Unscrew the spring tension ring, use a ratchet strap to compress the swingarm. Honestly, it's worth it. You only have to really do it once, and it shifts much better. Definitely use thread locker if your adjustment gets out often though.
If you're not sure where your sag is, bump up your bottom-out bumper, sit on the bike, and you'll get a sag point.
I like Shimano's approach much better, they just stamp it on the derailleur. No silly plastic tool needed.

Dude, that thing's pimp! Should be a blast to own, and play with. Enjoy!
Now make some time to drive it over to the Mountain West

 

Dude I know! You're probably snowed in all Winter but maybe sometime next Spring we can make it happen. I've got something in the works and may have an extended amount of free time in March/April/May. When does spring breakup happen?

 

It's not going to work don't do it

 

Southern Utah is an option all winter, especially with a van!

 

monarch pass may be the best in/around salida.

ive heard really good things about cottonwood too.

pretty sure you can shuttle both of these

 

We bought our Transit in Sept 2020, threw in a quicky bed platform, bike fork mounts under the bed, and I hard-wired in the Dometic PLB40 I used for Taco camping to run our Dometic chest fridge. 9 months later we had it converted by a local shop with insulation, kitchen, outside shower, 300Ah batteries and solar, bigger upright fridge, even a furnace and toilet. It’s been a game-changer. Bikes hidden inside; quiet and comfortable sleeping even in snow, wind or rain; instant camp setup. I’m retired but my wife works full-time in a hospital, no “work from van”, and we’ve driven it 24K miles and camped in it almost 100 nights. Plus it’s great for local day rides - hot food, cold beer, etc with the bikes secure if you need to stop somewhere. The AWD Transit is excellent in snow and pretty good off-rod considering it’s size. Not cheap, but it’s definitely not a lawn ornament for us. On the other hand I just got back from a 1700 mile road trip with a bunch of guys, that included 300-400 miles of off-pavement BDR stuff in Oregon, and the Taco is still best for that. Even though I had to use a tent.

 

Let's not forget these things get hella better MPG too. Limited downsides compared to a Tacoma in my opinion except they're not mall crawl-rated

 

i was gonna make some comment about "this is TW...this is not a taco..." but i can't help but be insanely jealous of that van. good work man!! It's gonna be a blast. Got a few friends with legit camper builds and they're pretty snazzy!

and more expensive.

 

Our high roof EcoBoost Transit averages around 15 with mostly highway. That’s with a lot of crap inside, plus awning and solar on the roof. Same roads my 3rd gen gets 21+, stock except for slightly larger E Range KO2’s. Not sure a converted Sprinter 4wd does much better than 20.
OK, back to bikes and Taco’s.

 

That sounds pretty awesome! One of my main concerns with the van is sleeping in it in virginia summers. Given when I do sleep in it we would likely be in the mountains or not in Virginia but it is still a concern. Dual roof fans would probably help...but not down to the 60s like I like to sleep haha.

It's a lot to think about for me for sure. My GF also has a tacoma so I would probably get a nice van as a "daily" since I work from home and don't need to drive much anyways. Then we still have a tacoma and a nice van haha. I'm just worried I wouldn't use it to it's fullest potential.