The Bicycle / Biking Gear Thread

Tig said:
What are you riding, 18mm tires? The only time I used that much pressure was with Continental tubulars in the velodrome.

These days, the smallest tire I'll use is a 25mm, 80-85 psi front, 90-95 psi rear. Like most people that have lower pressure, I've experienced far fewer flats the last 10 years.
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I run 25's but have been keeping things at around 100. But I weigh north of 180, so would be a bit worried about snakebite pinch flatting way down at 80 and 90. Mebbe I am wrong. :)
 
23's. I don't get flats - I get punctures. My version of those semantics is that my 'flats' are all from goat heads (see horrendous pic below); I don't have ruptures or splits. Shrug. I weigh 210. I like rolling fast and hard. I steer carefully and hop any sort of root-ridge or etc.

Never had a slow leak issue I couldn't pinpoint until a few weeks ago, and it seems to correspond with hitting a pothole. And when I spun my wheel at home, I can see a tiny imperfection, but I can't quite convince myself that's the reason the tire flattens (over 24-48 hours).
 
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What tires do you have. Like I said before I've not seen anything that could handle those kinds of pressures. You might have been lucky with some that could but it seems really high.

For goatheads etc lots of people swear by gatorbacks though I'm not sure that they are a lot better than the Cont Grand Prix 4000s II I use. I got 4800 miles on my first set before I got a flat. The 2nd set wasn't as lucky I had 2 flats in about 2500 miles. After the second flat I started getting slow leak flats (be ok for the ride but flat in a couple of days. I could, though, always find the leak though they were very small. Turned out there was a piece of metal (or kevlar from the tire idk) that I couldn't seem to get rid of so I replaced the tire with a new one. I sanded down the area and have kept the tire for emergency since I haven't gotten around to buying new ones (still hoping for a sale :P)
 
I am riding Panaracer Stradius Pro tires. They're not "nice," but I've also used Vittorio's, Conti's, etc. I've had one tire failure in about a decade. That was when I hit a bottle. I actually don't like the Panaracers, but I got a bunch of them free, so ... meh. I need to take some time this weekend to figure out if it's the tire or the rim. One thing I like about what I have is the comparatively soft bead (although that could putatively be the problem). What I don't understand is why a tire / tube combo would work so well on the front rim, but not the back. What am I missing here?

I don't really care about punctures, because I get good tubes for $5 and can change a tube in a few minutes. And if it's a goathead and I extract the tip well, and I'm using a Slime Tube, it usually self heals.

I'm honestly wondering why "lucky" with the tire pressure? I have ridden on and off since the 70's, and have never, ever gone below 120. I don't get a lot of flats or punctures -- but I'm also an insanely OCD bike handler (as in, "don't move off the painted white line for the next tenth of a mile"), so it's not like I hit a lot of pebbles.

Haven't had the time to do a thorough trouble shoot (hopefully Saturday).
 
I have no idea how tubes are designed, especially for the values. So by lucky I meant if the tube is expected to be inflated to 115psi it might have some %age designed overpressure say 20% which would put it at near 140psi. But just because they design some OP doesn't mean all valves would work at that pressure and some might start to leak. It may also be that tires used to be run at higher pressures (I don't really know cause I'm not a big cyclist) but now are running at lower pressures. I'm not saying that this is your problem but you've said you run these high pressures yet cannot find a leak so I'm putting on my old troubleshooting hat and trying to give you some ideas. Since I'm an old retired guy my TS hat might not work anymore :grin:

If you are happy with the way you run the tires I am not an expert to say it's wrong. I only mentioned it because of all the tires I've bought recently both 700x23, 27x1 1/8 and 27x1 1/4 none have had a rating above 120 so my thinking was that the valves wouldn't be designed for 1.5X operating pressures like we did in the Nuclear industry
 
Tig said:
https://www.roadbikerider.com/the-tire-pressure-revolution-by-jan-heine-d1/
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I'm familiar. He's a bit of a crank, but his physics are good. If you read his pieces, the point is "you gain in speed by reducing your vibration," and vibrations are not a problem for me. I ride straight on smooth, flat asphalt. Higher PSI does, in fact, equal lower rolling resistance.

Yeah, I got very sidetracked by family issues this weekend and didn't have the time to do the trouble shoot. Frustrated.
 
Frustrated. Wanted to buy an indoor trainer, and I think what I'm finding out is that no one really makes a good solution. So many great features, and yet also so many Amazon / REI / Performance Bike reviews expressing frustration as well as disappointment with quality.

Anyone here like their trainer?
 
Danhedonia said:
Frustrated. Wanted to buy an indoor trainer, and I think what I'm finding out is that no one really makes a good solution. So many great features, and yet also so many Amazon / REI / Performance Bike reviews expressing frustration as well as disappointment with quality.

Anyone here like their trainer?
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I sold my mag trainer years ago. I occasionally want one when the weather sucks for a week, but the good ones you can use on Zwift or TrainerRoad are a bit pricey.

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Tig said:
I sold my mag trainer years ago. I occasionally want one when the weather sucks for a week, but the good ones you can use on Zwift or TrainerRoad are a bit pricey.
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LOLOLOLOL at "pricey" on this board. You mean the good trainers cost 1/3 of most of the guitars that I buy that I don't really need?

Sorry if the tone doesn't convey - am saying this in fun. I look at any biking as a way for me to improve the odds of staying out of the hospital. Which was really surprisingly expensive for me last time around.

I'm looking at $600 trainers, $1,200 trainers, and Les Paul Cu .... JUST KIDDING. And $2,000 trainers. Hoping to find a $600 one that will suffice for at least a year, which should be long enough for me to figure out if I can dig it.
 
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My second road bike (not including the one below and the Schwinn in '77) 1988, a Cannondale Criterium with Chorus /Record mixed Campy and the original Roval wheels, plus an aluminum Vitus fork.
Dig that seat cover on the San Marco Rolls saddle!
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My first single speed road bike, 1972!
This was before the maiden voyage, judging by the bars and seat.
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my second road bike, a 1982 Braun (named for the bike shop that put them together based on your input). My first one I bought when I was about 10 with money from my paper route, prior to that I had a sweet single speed with a banana seat and high rise bars in metallic green :grin:. I still ride about 50 miles a week on the Braun and yes this is a relatively recent picture

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It actually looks and sounds too warm for me though it probably colder where you live SVL so it might be more practical than here. My biggest problem when it does get cool is my hands get cold (I don't wear gloves). If we get a place up in Washington I might have to revisit some of my current riding conditions (no rain, no gloves, no riding if it's too cold for shorts). Still not sure I'd ever want wool, too many bad memories of sweaters :grin:
 
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