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Favorite Bike Websites

02.28.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

Spent some lazy weekend time (when not riding) perusing websites on the iPad. Weekend mornings before of after my bike rides are a good time for that. And of course, the websites I poked around on had to do with biking.

I think most regular readers of this blog will have figured out by now that I’m no speed demon. I like to go fast, but don’t work to get faster — that’s not one of my biking goals. What I do like are longish rides, preferably on roads out in the country away from heavy traffic.

I’m intrigued by randonneurs — those folks who routinely ride 200, 300, 400 kilometers or more on a single ride. I’m not sure I’m up to their kind of on-bike torture testing, but the websites I’ve seen encourage me that maybe some day I can at least try it. So a couple of websites I spent a lot of time with last weekend were rando oriented: Velo Orange Cycles and Peter White Cycles.

Velo Orange is an Annapolis, Maryland company that sells bike parts and equipment that appeal to long distance riders. They also have a limited selection of frames. It’s all good and well to navigate their site and get a feel for what they offer the long distance rider. But if you dig a little deeper, there’s a nice selection of articles about their style of biking. Click the link for “Tech Info.” You can learn how to install various pieces of gear they sell, like their elk hide handlebar covers, as well as get a feel for their philosophy about stuff like handlebars, headsets, and bottom brackets. I’m not mechanically adept, but I find these articles to be good reads. Velo Orange also has a blog on the site that covers their product lines as well as cycling for fun and distance. I like their “Rando” frame, and the pictures of various builds of this frame. If I’m ever destined to get another bike, it could very well be one of these.

Peter White Cycles is up in New Hampshire. He specializes in building wheels, and guarantees them to hold up — even under tough conditions. White offers  frames as well, geared toward long distance riding, commuting, and a bicycle lifestyle. In addition to frames, he stocks various components, such as cranksets, bottom brackets, cranks, chains, lights, racks, bags — the whole gamut. But even if you’re not interested in his inventory, take a look at the tab on his website called “Articles.” He’s got a very personal take on bike fitting, and is passionate about choosing the right light for night cycling. His comments are priceless, too, such as, “If you’re not racing, what the heck are you doing with a racing bike?”

So if the “traditional” approach to cycling appeals to you, you might want to check out these two websites. Even if you’re not sold, you’ll probably take away some useful information.

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Categories // Bikes, Equipment, Odds 'n ends Tags // Bikes

My Equipment

02.12.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

After four years of riding my bike, a 2008 Specialized Allez Elite Compact, it hasn’t changed, but some of the accessories have. I got to thinking on yesterday’s ride about what’s different on the bike than when I bought it. Just a few items:

Drive train: I started with a Shimano Tiagra compact double, then switched to a Truvativ Roleur because it had 172.5 mm crank arms instead of the 175s that came with the Shimano. But I ruined the Truvativ and had the Shimano put back on. So I’m back to where I started, and I’m just fine with that.

Shifters: I popped the cable out of my Tiagra shifter — the right hand one that controls the rear cassette. Bike shop said you can’t service Shimano shifters (I have run into conflicting opinions on that — apparently you can, if you have the time and patience to do it), but all they had on hand was a Shimano Sora shifter. I bought it. It’s okay, but only okay.

Saddle: The stock saddle on my bike was a Specialized Alias, which I liked to start out, but which caused me much discomfort after a while. I switched to  Selle San Marco Ponza, a narrow racing style saddle, which turned out to be good for one hour before it became unbearable. (I rode an MS 150 from Houston to Austin on the thing.) So I opted for something with a little more cushioning — a WTB Speed V — and it was better for my old guy butt. But it lasted for only a year before the vinyl cover ripped apart so badly it was hurting. As a stopgap measure, I took a Performance Forte Classic off my old steel Raleigh to use until I found something permanent. That was in October. I’m still riding the Forte, and it’s working out fine.

Bar tape: Well, we’re going to change bar tape periodically anyway, aren’t we? It’s easy to do, but it takes a little patience and practice the first time. My bike came with blue. I went through two rolls of black, and now I’m back to blue again. I don’t think white is in my future, however.

Headlight, taillight: I don’t ride at night, not because I don’t want to, but because I’ve never had a reason to. However, I do get caught at dusk often during the standard time months, and lights help. My headlight is the one-watt version of the Planet Bike Blaze. As the bike shop guy said, this light is to be seen. If I wanted to see at night, I would have gotten something brighter. I like the strobe setting if I’m riding at dusk — no way oncoming traffic will miss seeing that. I’ve also got a Serfas taillight that wraps around a seat stay. It’s a pretty good light, but the soft rubbery wraps break easily. When the last two go, which may be soon, the light will be unusable.

Tires: I’ve probably gone through more different brands of tires than any other accessory on the bike. It came with the Specialized Mondo, which flatted a lot. I got rid of them in just a few months, and replaced them with Specialized All-Condition. I had a scary blowout while on a fast descent, and was happy to change those. The replacements were Vittoria Rubinos, which developed a flat tread area after less than 1,000 miles. Then I decided to try 25 mm tires, and got Hutchinson Top Speeds. These were flat-prone, too. Continental Gatorskins worked well. They’re not flat proof, but they were darn near. However, when I finally wore out two sets of them, I bought some Vredestein Fortezza SEs. Their flat resistance is as good as the Gatorskins, at least in my experience, but I wish they came in 25 mm. Two millimeters might not seem like much, but my confidence is higher riding on wider tires. I might go back to Gatorskins again for that reason, but I don’t think I’ll wear out the Vredesteins for a while.

Wheels: The stock wheels on that model year of my bike were Jalco Dynamics 270s. I’ve never heard of them, before or since. They’re a little on the heavy side, but they’re also bomb proof. I’ve never had a broken spoke, never needed to have them trued. Our club mechanic isn’t crazy about the hubs, which are by Specialized, but I’m not sophisticated enough a rider — and I haven’t ridden that many different bikes — to know the difference between  these and a top-notch hub. I suspect if I wanted to make one upgrade to the bike that would make a real difference, it would be to buy better wheels.

Pedals: The bike came without pedals. My previous bike had entry-level Nashbar Look-style pedals, which were okay. For this one, I opted for Shimno SPD-SLs. They have the delta shape, but a somewhat wider platform. They’re good pedals. The cleats need to be replaced every year or so.

Water bottles: Hardly worth mentioning, except that I use whatever cheapie bottles I get as favors at organized rides. I’ve never bought a fancy insulated bottle, and I’ve never used a Camelbak hydration pack. I have one bottle cage on the down tube, and a dual cage setup on my saddle above the seat bag.

Seat bag: I got a run of the mill Inertia Designs bag when I bought the bike, and it looks like it’s been around for four years. Unlike many riders who like really small bags, I think the next one I get will be somewhat larger.

Pump: After fumbling with CO2 cartridges for several months, I got a mini frame pump. It’s a Topeak Road Morph, and I think it’s terrific. So do other cyclists who have borrowed it when they’ve had flats. Certainly more dependable than CO2 cartridges, although nowhere near as fast.

Well, that’s my experience with bike stuff. Lots of cyclists seem to love swapping stories about their gear, and why they bought this or that model, and how well they perform — or don’t. Just thought I’d give you a sample of equipment, Noob-style.

 

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Categories // Accessories, Components, Equipment Tags // Accessories

How Much CO2?

02.09.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

One of the A riders in the club posted on the Yahoo group that he was making the move to CO2 cartridges, after many years of resisting them. That started online discussions that took two separate tracks.

12g threaded

Another member asked, “How many pounds of pressure does a 12 gram cartridge impart to a 700×23 tire? I use 16g cans and still have trouble getting home with the optimum 92-94 lbs onboard.”

The Internet is a wonderful thing. It doesn’t take long before answers start rolling in. Multiple answers.

“I’ve never checked the actual pressure,” answered a fast rider, “but my 23’s are quite firm after using a 12 gm cartridge. I just did a bit of research and it appears that you get about 100 psi in a 23mm tire from a 12 gm cartridge and about 125 from a 16 gm.”

But that doesn’t allow for individual differences. The fellow who posted that probably doesn’t weight more than 130 pounds soaking wet. The original poster followed up:

“Am I the only one who rides 25 mm tires? What did your research say about the pressures in the larger road tire?”

Cripes. We haven’t answered the cartridge size question yet, and now we’re introducing tire size variations? It’s gonna get confusing.

“I ride 25s too,” chimed in another member, “and am somewhat heaver than Steve so you probably will not be surprised to hear that I only roll with the 16s on the road bike.  However, I also put some Gatorskins on the wheels so I don’t get flats very often any longer [although I just jinxed it and am sure to get a flat on my next ride] so the extra cheese spent on the threaded 16 gram cartridges isn’t a big deal.  If you use less than 6 of these a year, it’s not a major expense.” But he also had a practical suggestion.

“Go buy a 12 gram and a 16 gram cartridge.  Let all of the air out of your rear tire, fill it up with the 12 gram cartridge, and go for a ride.  Repeat with the 16 gram.  Which did you like better?”

I imagined pffffft! sounds coming from garages all over the neighborhood as cyclists took him up on that idea.

16g unthreaded

Then, of course, there’s that complication you get with CO2:

“Bear in mind that CO2 bleeds out of a tire much faster than pumped air,” wrote the 130-pounder, “so if you fix the flat in the early part of a three-hour ride, you will find a lower pressure when you get home. This is why, after fixing a flat on the road with CO2, I always deflate the tire and refill it with a pump at home. However, unless it gets down in the low 80 lbs range, you shouldn’t have any problems short of a pinch flat if you hit a big pothole or rock.”

Okay, this is all good information. But one member had a great idea: Go right to the source. The Genuine Innovations website has a link to an inflation chart.

“Unfortunately there isn’t a measure for the 25mm tire,” said the guy who suggested experimenting. “But there is one for 23 and 28. You should be right in the middle. It looks like a 12gm will get you 90psi in the 23mm tire and 62psi in the 28mm tire or about 80psi in the 25mm. If you want a higher pressure, go with the 16.”

What was the second discussion track? Cost, of course.

The original poster wrote: “If you buy cartridges from a bike shop they can be pretty expensive. I just checked online and it appears that you can get them reasonably cheap if you get a bunch of them. For example you can get a box of 50 16 gram non-threaded cartidges for $50 including shipping. And different prices for different amounts. but 50 for $50 seems about the best.”

Another replied, “Buy a box of 12 gram cartridges at Walmart in the BB/paintball gun section. 15 for $7.97.”

“+1 on that recommendation,” said a third.  “I buy mine in bulk from a discount sporting goods store.  The only thing is that these do not have the threads to screw into some of the smaller nozzles.  I had to use it this weekend and a single Crossmark CO2 cartridge inflated my tire in one shot.”

Well, that was settled pretty quickly. Looks like a bunch of my club pals are headed for Wal-Mart to get their CO2. But one of the previous commenters signed off with some wise advice:

“Even though I’ve had good luck with cartridges, I still have a frame pump attached to my bike just in case Mr. Murphy is drafting.”

 

 

 

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Categories // Accessories, Equipment Tags // Accessories, cartridges, CO2, Equipment

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