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Presta, Schrader – What Does It Matter?

06.22.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

The other day, my wife and I took an easy ride in the neighborhood. The ride was uneventful, until we approached a stoplighted intersection for a left turn. I looked behind me, and she wasn’t there! That was odd, since the last time I saw her, she was less than 100 yards behind.

I turned around and doubled back. There she was, at the curb under a large shade tree.

“I got a flat tire,” she said.

I immediately broke one of my tire levers trying to pry her 28 mm tire off its rim. The tube came out easily, but when I grabbed its replacement, I saw a problem. Her tubes have Schrader valves. My pump can only do presta valves.

She rummaged around in her seat bag, and came up with four CO2 cartridges and an inflator. Two of the cartridges were used. Why they were still in there, I don’t know. One emptied from the inevitable misfire. Luckily, the final cartridge filled the tire just the way it’s supposed to.

That night, I turned the kitchen table into Bike Tire Central. I had just taken advantage of a sale at Performance, and had stocked up on tubes. I found one, and took it from its box.

Yes, I made sure to leave it spic and span when I was done.

Oh, crap. It had a presta valve. So did the other replacement tube. But the valve holes in Pat’s wheels are large,  to accommodate Schrader valves. I put one of the presta tubes on, and found it wasn’t going to work.

The rim hole for the Schrader valve is large enough that the presta valve lock ring sinks into it.

I must be something of a packrat, because I seldom throw out anything related to biking. Out in the garage, I found two old tubes with Schrader valves that fit her rims. Both needed patching, but I also had three patch kits lying around.

The tire is okay for the time being, and there’s a replacement tube in her seat bag with the correct valve. She rode 28 miles Sunday morning, and didn’t get a flat. But I can see that Bike Tire Central will be busy again soon, when I get new replacement tires for her and mount them — along with Schrader valve tubes — on her bike.

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Categories // tires Tags // tires, tube

Hot Weather Riding – A How-To

06.20.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

Bill Maroon

Well, summer is here, and that means hot weather riding. We’ve already talked about dealing with humidity. And for many of us, getting an earlier start helps beat the heat. But you can ride when the midday sun is beating down and the temperature is climbing. Bill Maroon, a member of my club, reported on his Saturday ride on a tough Austin route — the Dam Loop. Besides being entertaining, his report is also a good example of what we might do to prepare for and ride in hot conditions. Bill gave me permission to share his report on Bike Noob.

I made the decision the other night that 7 a.m. starts on the rides was too early.  Therefore, I started promptly at 9:30 a.m. for my yearly Texas Sweat-box Acclimation.  A four-hour bottle of Infinit was mixed, half went in the freezer, the other half in the fridge.  One bottle full of water and one half full joined the Infinit in the fridge as well.  All three were my trusty Polar BPA free 24 oz. tall boys.

I drank two 32 oz. cups of water slowly as I ate my breakfast and started getting ready. A double shot of Anderson’s Arabian Mocha espresso was in order to get me moving.  About an hour or so before the start, I took three Endurolyte electrolyte caps so that they’d be in my system early.  Right before the ride I poured the rest of the Infinit in with its frozen half and topped off the water bottles.  The frozen bottle went in the middle pocket with the Infinit and other water bottle on the bike.  I only took a Clif Bar, one package of Clif Shot Blocks, one Clif Shot Gel pack, and a handful of Endurolytes figuring that’s all I’d really need.

The start of the ride was pretty good. I didn’t really start hitting the water until I reached Barton Creek Blvd., at which point I was regularly taking pulls with small sips of the Infinit.  My goal was to kill this bottle of water off by the time I reached Route 620, and my timing was spot on.  A nice tailwind heading north on 620 moved me along easily, and then began the slog on up to Route 2222.  My first pit stop would be the Starbucks at Four Corners and my second bottle was depleted just as I rolled into the parking lot.  Two refilled bottles of ice water courtesy of Starbucks and I was back on the road making my way to River Place.

Knowing what climbs were ahead, I tried to take it easy getting back over to River Place but this is about the time the tailwind turned into a Vicious Evil Headwind (VEH).  Slogging up to the fun descent on River Place hurt and it was pretty hairy at 47 mph downhill into the VEH.  The downhill ended and I was left with the two back-to-back gut checks of the rest of River Place followed by Big View Road.  At this point I was still feeling pretty good but was having some flashback from last years Tour das Hugel (Tour of the Hills) and how much I dislike hills.

Making my way over to City Park I figured that my quads had not suffered enough so on up Courtyard I went (Ed. note: Another big climb, not part of the usual Dam Loop).  Upon cresting the top I figured it couldn’t hurt to have my Clif Shot since I could feel my energy starting to drain and the heat seemed to have gone up a notch or two.  An Austin Flyer rider was on the other side making attempt after attempt to climb Courtyard from the 360 side and just barely making it to the top before starting over.  She was in a very special place of personal torture.

Into the home stretch I killed another bottle of water and pulled into the new gas station on Route 360 to refill.  It was at this point that I noticed that my hamstrings and calves were making it known that they were not pleased with the abuse.  I consumed two more Endurolytes and drained the Infinit.

The stop seemed to make things hurt more and the VEH was not letting up. The rest of the hills from the gas station up to Bee Caves Road were torture with every pedal stroke initiating a series of cramps that threatened to stall me out on the hill. Backing it off seemed to help and I was able to make my way to Mopac without incident.  It was also at this pont that I noticed that my once black bibs were now mostly grey with some white racing stripes.  I guess I was losing quite a bit more electrolytes than I thought!

The rest of the ride across the Mopac bridge and then down to the end was mostly without incident save for a young girl that did a “Right Hook” as I was turning onto the Mopac feeder.  All in all it was a good ride and I definitely made some mental notes on what it takes to ride in this heat.

Stats were 55 miles, 3:38 moving time, ~3500 feet of climbing and just under 4 hours total.

Ed. note: Clearly, I haven’t been paying enough attention to pre-ride hydration. And I think I’ll have to stock up on some Endurolytes and Shot Bloks. Thanks for sharing your experience, Bill.

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Categories // guest post, Heat Tags // guest post, heat

Kickstands

06.17.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 19 Comments

Back when my wife first got the idea to join a big charity ride, she started training with more experienced cyclists. They quickly showed her the ropes, and introduced her to current equipment that she needed to upgrade to. For instance, her old styrofoam helmet had to go. And she was using clipless pedals before I had ever even heard of them. But there was one item that her friends could not convince her to shed: her kickstand.

Pat’s bike stands proudly, supported by its kickstand.

She never considered her kickstand as a problem. Its additional weight didn’t bother her, because she figured she was slow, anyway, and a few more ounces wouldn’t make a difference. Besides, it was convenient to stand the bike wherever, without having to look for a tree, or a wall, or something solid to lean the bike against.

Besides, since she rides a hybrid, she regards the stand as a necessary piece of equipment. It just looks appropriate there, even if it might not be on a road bike.

In our club, one member rides a budget Schwinn road bike, and it still has its kickstand. When he first started riding with us, it was the subject of much behind-the-back comment. Once he showed he was just as fast as most others (he’s a solid B+ rider), the comments stopped — although it still identifies him (“Oh, you mean the guy with the kickstand”).

The kickstand-equipped road bike.

Just how vital is it for a road biker to unload the kickstand? And why? Is it uncool? Or unnecessary? Or a weight burden? What would you tell someone new to road riding?

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Categories // Equipment Tags // Equipment, kickstand

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