Old time tire changers

RE: Jeff Fredette

At DW01, Jeff Fredette put on a clinic. He removed and replaced a front tire with a new tube in it in 3 minutes. He did this while explaining to everyone how to do it. His tire irons were about 5 inches long. It is all technique. This was truely amazing to watch. He said that in a competition once, he removed the rear wheel, changed the tube, put the wheel back on the bike and then started the bike in like, 3 min.
If you can't achieve this you cannot be competitive at that level. It was a great clinic and I recommend it to everyone if they get the chance.

Not 100% sure but I think in things like the ISDE you get a set maintenance time. Some of the riders do what I would consider huge jobs, top ends, clutches etc in really short times, I'm amazed.
Heard about joel smets ( MX rider) competing in an enduro, due to moose (mousse?) inserts, he had a lot of trouble changing his tyre/s during a rider only maintenance session at the end of the day. Whilst everyone was sleeping, he was practicing his tyre change, next morning, during a short maintenance session, he changed them no problem, and had time for a filter change or something similiar.
Saw an A grader from our club at an event ( not riding, injured ) hang around the pits, people would come in with flats and he'd just jump on em and get into it, 10 mins later they're on their way, that was after finding tools etc.
I'm going to take my wheel off next time I need a tyre, and spend the afternoon just putting it on and taking it back off, nothing beats practice.

It is true that at the ISDE you only have 15 minutes to get from the final check to your team's work area, work on the bike and then get it to impound without getting any penalty points. I rode this years and I used Tubes and was able to do a rear tire in 8 minutes which for a girl is pretty good. My first try this summer took me 45 minutes but after learning a better technique I was able to get down to the 8 minutes. When at the ISDE it is eaven easier because they require us to use an ecology tire which has soft side walls and was 140/80's so they were really soft and easy to work with. If you had the Dunlop 739 then that is much harder to do. If I ever do the ISDE again I will run the Mousse's because once you know the technique they are actually easier. The 2 girls from Switzerland that did the ISDE did their rear tire with mousses in 6 minutes. That leaves enough time for airfilter and oil change.

some classic Super Hunky humor regarding tire changing
http://www.off-road.com/dirtbike/columns/checkpoint/2001dec.html

Girlrider, are you the nicole that wrote the ISDE article for off-road.com? If so I must say good stuff, sounds like a great ride :)

Yes that was me. If is a fun ride but be sure to be in shape because the long days will get you otherwise. Glad you read the article. A similar story may appear in Cycle News soon.

To answer the question YES it is quite possible for an ISDE guy to change BOTH tires in 10 minutes. I watched Dick Burleson do a rear in about 5 minutes two years ago.

Keep in mind that the ISDE 10 minute deal for both, "unassisted", occurs behind the team van, not on the trail. The rider has his mechanic there with all the tools ready to hand him, the tubes in the tires, and a lift stand. The mechanic cannot touch the bike.

As Dick put it, "you have to be smarter than the tire". There are things it will and won't do - know what they are. I do mine dry, no lube or WD40.

I did a writeup awhile back on the tips that Burly taught me. One of the big ones is using one rim lock and having it positioned close to the stem, not across from it. I re-drill my rims and relocate the lock. This is more important on the rear. Using 3 irons - 2 long ones and 1 spoon - seems to make a difference too. Partially inflating the tube and inserting it into the tire before starting helps also.

In the old days I think they used to grind the bead of the tire or the rim a little bit to make just pulling one side to replace a flat tube easier. Not sure if they (ISDE riders) still do this.