tires

After all the main changes, I put 3 Vredestein Monte Carlo's on my Alleweder. I used to have them on my previous trikes and they are very puncture proof. They are not so comfortable, but since the Alleweder has suspension on all it wheels, it was not much of a deal. Soon however I discovered that the rear wheel had a tendency to slip on sandy and wet surfaces. So I went looking for a tire with some more grip and found the Vredestein G-Ribs. This tire is a bit wider and has lateral ribs (hence the name !) that improve traction. Because the G-Ribs are not that puncture proof, I added an tire liner between the tire and the inner tube. Of course this adds some weight, but it did not slow me down noticeably. The only disadvantage was that this tire did not last that long : after 4550 km I already had to replace it (all the ribs were gone by that time).

Than almost 2 years ago, Schwalbe came out with their Big Apples, a real big, wide tire. The BA's also claimed to have some kind of puncture prone layer.
Like I mentioned before : I used to ride the Monte Carlo's on my trikes, but they lacked comfort. Ian Sims from Greenspeed suggested mounting Tioga Comp Pools instead, and that made a world of difference ! Handling was so much better on the trike, smoother and not that harsh. Only problem with the Comp Pools was that they were not puncture protected.
So when the time came to replace the rear tire of my Alleweder, I changed all 3 tires and replaced them with Big Apples. I could only use the 2.00 wide version, for there was not much room left in front.
So far I've only ridden them for 1000 km, but it is a big improvement ! The Alleweder rides much smoother and when riding through potholes etc it is less noisy. Only the rear tire has a tire liner so far and I have no plans to put some in the front . So far, I've only had one flat tire in front the night after I put it in my garage, which is not too bad. The Big Apple has a little bit more traction than the Monte Carlo, but less than the G-Ribs.

Because the Big Apples are wide , they stick out more than my previous tires, meaning more dirt is thrown up sideways, specially when it's raining. Therefore, I had some mud flaps installed by the guys from Velomobiel.nl. These are only temporary, for I do not like the looks of it at all, but they do work excellent : no more dirt is thrown up sideways. They are going to be replaced by new ones that will have much better looks. To be continued !