Is there a flatland shop (or a bike shop that sells flat gear) in the uk?

[deacon]

as above really, seeing if there's any shops in the uk where I can buy some bits.
Also I need some new tires. Khe are selling some flat specific tires on eBay. Any good?
I was keen to get some Ares tyres but once postage is added they're really expensive.

[DaddyCool]

Hi, I can not tell you anything about the shops in the UK but I would like to comment your tire question. Currently a lot of riders use the expensive Ares tires. I did not try them but I assume that they are really good. Some years ago, many riders used the KHE tires because they are so light. I used them already 10 years ago when the came out and still have some on one of my bikes. I always used the Mac 1 size and these are very narrow (around 40 mm). If you like this (or you get used to it) I would say that they feel very good. You can also chose the Mac 1,5 size which is around 48 mm I think. So basically I would clearly recommend them. But after some years around 2011 a quality problem seemed to have occured. I had defects (rupture in the middle after some weeks) on several ones. I got replacement many times from KHE but it was annoying and I switched to the Rubena Dom tires which are similar in weight, size and feeling. But some KHE tire do not show this defect and last until they are worn. The Rubena tires also had defects two times (these cracked at the kevlar ring at the edge of the rim) but overall I had less problems with these.
In general I would recommend light tires because the overall feeling of the bike will be better.
I hope this helps.

[deacon]

Thanks for the advice mate. Think i'll end up trying the khe ones as they're easy enough to get hold of. As a beginner it's unlikely I'll notice too much difference. Nice that they're light but my bike is a tank lol.
Just a bit frustrating that flatland gear is quite hard to get hold of

[Timmer74]

Hey Deacon,
Since I'm in the states I dont know a ton about shops in UK/Europe... But, I have come across these sites and figured I'd throw the links at you:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com

They arent really a flatland specific shop it seems but they do carry a bunch of parts that cross into the flatland world...such as the Mac tires/tyres Daddycool was talking about... I think they're in Ireland but they seem to ship everywhere.

https://www.kunstform.org/en/

Much more flatland parts/bmx centric... Gonna guess and say they're in Germany.

Tire preference is a pretty rider specific choice... I haven't tried the KHE ones yet. Right now I'm riding the "expensive" Ares ones...well, not the kevlar ones. so the slightly less expensive ones . I love them myself. I love them more when the center is mostly bald and the edges have the tread left. I was riding the Odyssey Frequency G's before. But, just a couple days ago I threw on a new pair of those I had laying around and came home and instantly put my bald Ares back on. The Frequency Gs felt so slow compared to the Ares (I pumped them up the same as I do the Ares. Ares can stand a bit more pressure than the Odysseys but i dont go that far...100-110psi). It could be too that the Frequency's were brand new and just needed some brake in time. For what it's worth though, before I switched to the Ares I loved the Odyssey's. If I had never tried the Ares I'd probably still be riding those.

It's good to have you in the global-flat community man. You get some topics going in a rather quiet forum !

cheers

[out~riding]

If your bike is really heavy you will definiety notice a weight reduction with the KHE Mac1 tires.

You can also find fairly easy Maxxis tires in the UK. They have a large variety of tires that are "flatland friendly" and a few pro's ride them, Lee Musselwhite for example.


http://www.instagram.com/p/BbR9gONFVeF/?taken-by=lee_musselwhite

[Paradoxium]

Also in Europe, flat and street parts...

https://www.soulcycle.com/

http://blog.brakeless.ch/products