Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hello

I want to buy online new tyres and tubes for my new (very old) road bike.
Is that website good? http://99bikes.com.au/catalog/bike-parts/tyres" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I bought a basket a few months ago, was very happy with price/quality/delivery time.
But I don't know anything about tyres (or tubes or well bikes in general).

What is a good brand for tyres and tubes? I have got a very old road bike, the tyres are all used, need to be replaced.

I had a look at your other topic "good online experience etc", but you mention only overseas companies (UK etc). I want to order in Australia.

(and if you ask what kind of tyres/tubes, I would say that it needs to be good quality, very resistant, as I am very heavy... )

And no, I don't want to go and see in a bike shop. I don't have time, it would take me a month to find the time to go and see them... I already took me a month to buy my new bike. I have too many children to go shopping around. :p

Thanks a lot!

Actually I would also like to change the stem shifter to a, I don't know the name, "normal" shifter (the kind you change without moving your hands away from the handle). I am already not a great rider, I think the stem shifter is a safety hazard to me and the other riders around me. Can you do that easily? I guess for that bit I would have to bring the bike to a real bike doctor...
But maybe afficionados would kill me if they'd see it? I have got a 45yo bike which ever had only one owner (before me), it's in great condition (except the tyres...). Changing the shifter could be a criminal offense in the biking world?

99 Bikes are a bricks and mortar store as well, so depending on your location you can also pop into one (but you've said you don't have time so maybe not ideal).

I've bought through them before, although not from online.

Summernight wrote:99 Bikes are a bricks and mortar store as well,

Owned by Flight Centre, so maybe you can book your holiday flights as well

Smurk wrote:I want to buy online new tyres and tubes for my new (very old) road bike.

Does very old mean that you need a 27" tyre or a 700c tyre ?

.

il padrone wrote:

Summernight wrote:99 Bikes are a bricks and mortar store as well,

Owned by Flight Centre, so maybe you can book your holiday flights as well

Knowledge = expanded.

Maybe I can use my 99Bikes member's discount to get 5% off flights? Then again maybe not.

Another Australian store mentioned in that thread is BikeBugs. Haven't used them though.

As for types of tyres, I use Maxxis ReFuse 700c x 23. Other people use Marathons (?) although I skip through those threads as I like what I use now and haven't seen the need to change as yet. When I need to change I'll re-read the recommendations.

For tubes I have BBB standard ones.

Firstly have a look at the sidewalls of the old tyres that are on the bike to see if they have some specs that will tell you what size of tyre you'll need. Being a old(er) bike you may find it is the 27" sized tyres rather than the 700c most bikes now use. My steel roadbike is approximately 25 years old but runs 700c tyres with no problems at all. I recently replaced the Continental Ultrasport tyres with a set of Maxxis Re-Fuse on special for $18 per tyre from Cellbikes (a Sydney based LBS/online bike retailer) and i'm finding them quite good in that i'm not getting the punctures like i did with the Continental tyres. Quite a few people on the forums here swear by the Conti GP4000 tyres, but they are typically cost about $40 per tyre online. I'm a bit of a heavy dude myself, 113kg atm and 6'3" so i give the bike a bit of a flogging on my commutes.

As for your shifter dilemma, are the levers on the stem, or on the downtube? Stem shifters were apparently popular in the late 70's, early 80's so it sounds like the previous owner may have <cough> upgraded <cough> the shifters if the bike is 45 years old. The shifters you use with your hands on the handlebars are the integrated brake/shifters also known as "brifters" like Shimano's STI or Campagnolo's ergos. If you go down this track you'll be looking at a driveline & wheelset upgrade too and it ain't that easy to get it all done if you don't have the tools and some mechanical aptitude. I'm in the process of changing over from downtube shifters to a set of shimano ultegra 6600 STI brifters i won on ebay at the moment, just awaiting the new cables, cable stops & quill stem adaptor from Aus Wiggle. Already had a 6600 rear derailleur in use with the downtubes shifters, so i shouldn't run into compatibility issues (i hope). As for changing the shifters being a criminal offence, do what is comfortable for you, and if that means altering things to suit go ahead, who cares what other's think, it's your bike!

Me being not very handy, I don't see why it would be so complicate to replace the stem shifter (no, not on downtube) with a normal one... All the bits are here, on the wheels and along the bike, I mean I would just need the shifter and extension cables... Well, that's what my novice eyes see, I am sure it is much more complicate. >.<

I can't go and check the tyre size now, because it's dark in the garage. But yes I remember it was written on the side of the tyres. I will check tomorrow.

What the point of folding tyres? (except that it's folded when you buy it) O_o

Thanks for the advices (two Maxxis Refuse so far...) and websites too. It's interesting that, depending on the tyre you want, you will always find it on specials on one of these websites.

I hadn't checked before, I didn't know that shifters were so expensive... Minimum twice as much as my bike. I think I may have to deal with my stem shifter. But that's reeeally not something easy to use! Were people really changing gears back in 60-70s? I said the bike was 40 year-old because the lady who sold it is in her sixties and said that she always had it since she was 18.

Thanks a lot for your help! Don't hesitate to tell me if you have other opinion on tyres or whatever...

Upgrading an old bike to modern brifters can get quite involved.
As always Sheldon has the low down: http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, thanks. I actually had a look at that page yesterday: http://sheldonbrown.com/upgrade-gears.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
That's how I understood my shifters were stem shifters, I would have never guessed otherwise... The DIY explanations are a bit too complicate for me, though. I really think it will go to a really bike mechanic if I want to change the shifters.

The tyres I need are: 27 *1 1/4
My dear neighbour adviced Continenal brand for tyres. So I will have a look at that.

I just bought two tyres and two tubes, in a real shop. Just to realise this evening that the tube inside my old tyres are 700 size (the tyres being 27 * 1 1/4). Can it be right? The new 27 1 1/4 tubes do look too big for the wheels, though the tyres look right... I must be stupid. O_o