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Jul 1, 2019

How to maintain your mamachari tires

How to maintain your mamachari tires photo

Photo courtesy Imoni

I’ve owned, borrowed and rented dozens of bicycles over the years, but my favorite ride is the bike that is widely regarded as uncool, the mamachari. 


Mamachari are workhorse bicycles you can go anywhere on. I’ve pushed single speed ones up mountains, and done 80 km day trips on a three speed mamachari fitted with front and back baskets.They’re great for shopping and day tripping because of the capacity of their baskets and sturdy back racks. The kickstands hold the bikes upright as you load up. 


The two bikes get beat up the way I ride. I hop them over curbs, and just the other day I wiped out on a slick wooden deck. I’ve burdened them huge loads, even moving furniture.


I do a little maintenance on them myself, limited to the occasional adjustment but mostly tire care. For daily riding, the tires are usually a little soft so that I have an easier ride over bumps. For trips, I inflate them until they’re pretty hard. 


Getting Air 

En route, you may notice your tires need topping up. You’ll find that air pumps are plentiful if you know where and what to look for. 


Hand pumps are quite easy to find. Stop by a supermarket and ask at the service counter. The staff will lend you one. Koban, the police boxes, almost always have them. Police are there to help the local community, including getting cyclists on their way. 


Here’s a brief tutorial on how to use hand pumps and floor pumps, and also use an adapter for your pump. 

How to maintain your mamachari tires photo

Many shopping centers have electric air pumps. Look for a sign that says 空気入れ, kuuki ire. Usually these are free to use. My local supermarket even has battery charging for specific kinds of bicycle batteries, too. 

How to maintain your mamachari tires photo

Tire pressure changes with the weather and the weight of the rider and load, and tires just naturally leak, so you may want to check your tires before every ride.


Slow Leak

If your tire and tube are leaking slowly, it could mean that the valve on the tube needs care. Japanese charinko tires usually have Dunlop or English valves. The Dunlop valve has a rubber gasket that can break down, resulting in a slow leak. The gaskets are called 虫ゴム, mushigomu, and you can get them at 100 yen stores and home centers. In fact, 100 yen shops usually have tire care items and even kits. 


Here’s a tutorial on how to check a Dunlop valve for leaks and replace the gasket. When he says “wolf”, he means valve. 


In the worst case scenario, your tube needs patched. You don’t need to remove the wheel to patch. Here’s a tutorial on how to expose the tube and apply a patch



TonetoEdo

TonetoEdo

Living between the Tone and Edo Rivers in Higashi Katsushika area of Chiba Prefecture.


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