Haven't ridden my audax bike for a long, long time but with summer approaching I thought it's about time I spurred myself into action.
So on Thursday evening, I disinterred the bike from the garage, charged the Di2 and pumped up the tyres, with a view to going for a ride after work on Friday. The following morning the tyres were still inflated so all good.
However, as I was getting ready to go out, I noticed a bulge in the sidewall of the front tyre and the inner tube trying to escape... nuts.
Had another root around in the garage to see what other serviceable tyres I have available. Found a 25mm Conti Grandsport in usable condition - not exactly a like-for-like replacement for a 28mm Marathon Supreme but it'll do.
That fucker really did not want to go on the wheel though. It's a Stan's Grail (tubeless) rim, with a shelf for the tyre bead to sit in that has a pronounced inner "shoulder". I managed to get the tyre onto the rim after a fair bit of coercion but it was mostly stuck in the well and wouldn't seat properly.
Eventually got it on enough that I thought it would be OK to ride, but then realised that my efforts had knackered the tube, and it was leaking at the base of the valve.
So I had to go through the whole rigmarole again with a new tube...
Finally set off about two hours after I'd intended. Managed a pleasant 25km. Nice. Must do this again some time. Only without the faffing around next time.
By the time I got home, the tyre seemed to have seated itself more or less fully - often find this is the case. There's one little section where it's still not quite in but I didn't die horribly so I think I got away with it. Must get some new tyres though.
Also need to replace the rim, for that matter - had to revert to tubed tyres after getting a dink in the rim that means it's impossible to get a tubeless tyre to seal properly. Annoying.