Triumphrat

BadMouth · 11-19-2007

Finally got my rear rim back from the powder coater and laced. I had picked up a used 190 to see if it would fit. It ended up with just shy of 1/4 inch of clearance between the tire and chain. I'm comfortable with it, but wouldn't be comfortable with any less. There is plenty of clearance on the other side. In fact, if the rim was shifted to that side when laced, a 200 may fit, but the balance of the bike would be affected. Other brands may not fit. Maxxis lists my current tire as 188mm, but I measured it before it was mounted and it was 194? I'm trying to find a big caliper to measure it again and make sure. The Avon Storm I want to run is 195. The Avon 180 is actually 186, so it's almost as wide as the Maxxis 190 if their websites are correct.

I'm still getting used to the appearance. I put around 30 miles on it Saturday (it snowed Sunday). I was too cold to notice any change in handling. It works fine, but I don't really care for the shorter profile tire on these bikes. There's just too much gap between the tire and fender if you haven't cafe'd it. I'm locked in now though, the front wheel (which was backordered) ships this week. If I had it to do over again, I'd order an 18" polished rim and keep the stock front one. Tire selection would be limited to a 180 (they don't make an 18" 190), but it would be the same overall height as the stock one. One thing I didn't see coming was the lack of wide 17" tubes. Metzeler makes one, but I had to check six different internet retailers to find one that actually had it in stock.

The pictures don't do the anthracite powder coating justice. Hopefully it will stand out more on the front wheel. It's a metallic dark grey that the light plays off really well. It looks silver in bright light and like black chrome at night. If I had it to do over again though, I'd save the money and hassle of messing with the wheel bearings by just having Buchanan's polish the rim before shipping it to me.

BadMouth · 11-19-2007

I do like the width

(...and here is also the solution to my license plate light dilemma from my fender chop thread)

Eyun_G · 11-20-2007

Lookin good, I completely agree about the fender being way too far above the back wheel. The problem is that outside of cafe-ing there's not much to do about it. I think your coating will look a whole lot better when you get the matching front wheel. Since you've got to paint your fender anyway, I would suggest matching some sort of accent that matches the wheel color. A matching scallop on the tank would really tie it all together. My $.02

jenglandtoyman · 11-22-2007

Same issue when I put in the Ninja ZX-7 shock since I too have those low profile Maxxis radials. I think I may change back to a more conventional tire when they are done as I can't say I like them particularly. Many times get a wierd random "squirm" for no apparent reason mid curve. Watch them closely until you get used to them because I don't think they grip all that well.