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Looking for Airless tubes/tires suppliers in South Africa


theRussian

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Hi Ladies and Gents,

 

I am involved in a project where we give rural school children access to bicycles to assist them to get to school. We have a fleet of a few hundred bikes and growing. We do not donate to individuals. We set up a committee in specific areas, train and pay a mechanic and then give the committee anything between 50 and 100 bikes to allocate to school children. Search for #BIKES4ERP if you need more info.

 

We have 2 issues with the bikes we would like to solve. 1. Punctures, 2. Chains.

 

1. Punctures is easy. Give them Perma tubes or something similar. Unfortunately these things are expensive, so I am looking for someone that can provide us something in bulk. We are talking about 500 - 1000 of these inners. Obviously I need it at a better rate than R200 per inner! Anybody willing to assist or anybody know somebody that can do this? Note that sourcing from China is not an option for me due to the close relation we have with preserving Rhinos.

 

2. More difficult, but not impossible. I ride a belt drive SS at the moment. That relates to very little maintenance. These gates belt drives looks like timing belts to me. Any engineer willing to see if they can manufacture a belt drive chainring and sprocket that can work with a commonly available timing belt? 

 

Please PM me if you can help with any of these requests.

I thank you in advance.

 

 

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Very worthy initiative!  :thumbup:

 

One thing to possibly consider regarding the belt-drive conversion is the installation of the belt.

 

I am not sure about your current belt-drive bike, but usually the frames are specifically designed to split on one of the drive-side stays (often seat stay) in order to install the belt.

 

A converted frame is unlikely to have this split. The alternative would be a belt that can split.

 

split-rear.jpg

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All I can say is that chains are prevalent because they are both low cost and highly efficient in transferring energy from the crank to the wheel. In simple terms, this means the most cost effective solution is already in place. I don't think you are going to get away from that. There is a far lower capex to put a chain on a low cost bike than there will be to put a belt drive in. There (untested in my experience) may be a lower opex on maintaining the belt; the opex on maintaining a chain is already very low but it has to be done.

As always, when you give people something for free, they rarely look after it very well.

Best wishes.

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On punctures, have you considered slimed tubes? In bulk that could be pretty cheap. And the bikes will still be fun to ride, something you don't get with permatubes.

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Hi Ladies and Gents,

 

I am involved in a project where we give rural school children access to bicycles to assist them to get to school. We have a fleet of a few hundred bikes and growing. We do not donate to individuals. We set up a committee in specific areas, train and pay a mechanic and then give the committee anything between 50 and 100 bikes to allocate to school children. Search for #BIKES4ERP if you need more info.

 

We have 2 issues with the bikes we would like to solve. 1. Punctures, 2. Chains.

 

1. Punctures is easy. Give them Perma tubes or something similar. Unfortunately these things are expensive, so I am looking for someone that can provide us something in bulk. We are talking about 500 - 1000 of these inners. Obviously I need it at a better rate than R200 per inner! Anybody willing to assist or anybody know somebody that can do this? Note that sourcing from China is not an option for me due to the close relation we have with preserving Rhinos.

 

2. More difficult, but not impossible. I ride a belt drive SS at the moment. That relates to very little maintenance. These gates belt drives looks like timing belts to me. Any engineer willing to see if they can manufacture a belt drive chainring and sprocket that can work with a commonly available timing belt?

 

Please PM me if you can help with any of these requests.

I thank you in advance.

Noble cause, you've asked this here before, right?

 

Permatubes suck.

I'd look at slime/tyre liners/ghetto tubeless. If you can train the mechanic on that then you're golden.

 

 

What happens if a kid has a puncture, do they repair themselves or get rescued?

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On punctures, have you considered slimed tubes? In bulk that could be pretty cheap. And the bikes will still be fun to ride, something you don't get with permatubes.

 

Sludge Uniseal apparently works well with tubes. Maybe cheaper to buy tubes and put the sealant in.

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Noble cause, you've asked this here before, right?

 

Permatubes suck.

I'd look at slime/tyre liners/ghetto tubeless. If you can train the mechanic on that then you're golden.

 

 

What happens if a kid has a puncture, do they repair themselves or get rescued?

Nope, did not ask yet.  :D

 

Yeah, I know Permatubes suck, but if I have to choose to have the bikes on the road or standing in a shack 15km from the mechanic and the school, then I choose permatubes. Problem with slime is that if there is a puncture that the slime do not seal, then you throw away the tube. Not even patch and solution sorts it out. Tire liners are options, but again, not failproof. The only solution that is failproof is some kind of a permanant tube in there. There must be someone out there that has a better solution, or otherwise I will have to get some plastic specialist to make me something. 

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Hi Ladies and Gents,

 

I am involved in a project where we give rural school children access to bicycles to assist them to get to school. We have a fleet of a few hundred bikes and growing. We do not donate to individuals. We set up a committee in specific areas, train and pay a mechanic and then give the committee anything between 50 and 100 bikes to allocate to school children. Search for #BIKES4ERP if you need more info.

 

We have 2 issues with the bikes we would like to solve. 1. Punctures, 2. Chains.

 

1. Punctures is easy. Give them Perma tubes or something similar. Unfortunately these things are expensive, so I am looking for someone that can provide us something in bulk. We are talking about 500 - 1000 of these inners. Obviously I need it at a better rate than R200 per inner! Anybody willing to assist or anybody know somebody that can do this? Note that sourcing from China is not an option for me due to the close relation we have with preserving Rhinos.

 

2. More difficult, but not impossible. I ride a belt drive SS at the moment. That relates to very little maintenance. These gates belt drives looks like timing belts to me. Any engineer willing to see if they can manufacture a belt drive chainring and sprocket that can work with a commonly available timing belt? 

 

Please PM me if you can help with any of these requests.

I thank you in advan

I doubt a thick single speed chain will get out lasted by a belt. Those things will last forever.

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I doubt a thick single speed chain will get out lasted by a belt. Those things will last forever.

 

But will it last without having any lube on them? What I think is attractive to me about the belt is the zero maintenance and if it can be something like the timing chain of a taxi, then it is available everywhere! Still just a thought. Maybe the answer is still that the chain must just be thick enough to start with. 

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Very worthy initiative!  :thumbup:

 

One thing to possibly consider regarding the belt-drive conversion is the installation of the belt.

 

I am not sure about your current belt-drive bike, but usually the frames are specifically designed to split on one of the drive-side stays (often seat stay) in order to install the belt.

 

A converted frame is unlikely to have this split. The alternative would be a belt that can split.

 

split-rear.jpg

 

You are so right. My current frame also has a nice split block in there... To convert the frame may blow the budget out of the water. I think durable chain should perhaps be the answer. And training the mech to tighten the chains to the correct tension every time he reviews the bikes at the schools. 

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