spokes
12-08-2003, 08:40 AM
hey all. i'm trying to get back on my bike after a month off. (i do love the biking, but commuting mixes the joy of biking with the ick of rush hour and the ugh of hauling myself in to work. it's an odd feeling: "yes!! i'm on my bike-- wind in my hair, legs working like mad, heart pumping... But the faster i pedal the sooner i'm at work:( ")
so, up here in the deep arctic of toronto;) the snow is soon going to become a concern. (please don't mock the torontonian-- i know many of you are waist deep already!) . i asked my lbs about winter tires and took my bike in. (it's a louis garneau 2.1 --extra small apparently--i'm 5'1" when i hold my breath.) i was very excited, as one of the shop guys showed me semi-slicks as an option if i was planning to ride through winter. (this after they took back my first bike because i got four flats in a week with the skinny tires that came with that bike -- 650s apparently.) when i called on sunday to check on my baby (my two-wheeled baby) i was told that semi-slick (ar anything else for that matter) won't fit under my brake system, and neither will fenders (unless i do the half a pop-bottle thing). my tires originally came with 700x23 (i think) and they upgraded to 700x28 to solve the flat problem. the shop guy also said that biking with only slicks in thewinter is not a problem-- in fact he prefers it because the snow doesn't get caught in the knobby bits.
so i guess i have a bunch of questions about this:
--is this a common problem with road bikes? (no room under the brakes, i mean) or is it just bacause it's an xsmall? (i suspect they are feeding me b.s., especilly after the old thread i read while looking for an answer in the old posts-- it was entitled 'lies bike shops tell you'. my lbs is a chain store:eek:
--is riding on the street on slicks as bad as i make it out to be? i picture myself sliding everywhere. could i get along without fenders too? i wouldn't ride with too much snow on the ground -maybe 1/2 at most. and they clear the streets pretty quickly too.
--he mentoned studded tires and i didn't follow up on it because i was p.o.'ed. would studded tires fit? do they make studded tires this small?
thanks for the help, ladies, i really appreciate it. damn the man!! especially the condescending bike shop man who sold me the @#$% unsuitable bike in the first place!! :D
so, up here in the deep arctic of toronto;) the snow is soon going to become a concern. (please don't mock the torontonian-- i know many of you are waist deep already!) . i asked my lbs about winter tires and took my bike in. (it's a louis garneau 2.1 --extra small apparently--i'm 5'1" when i hold my breath.) i was very excited, as one of the shop guys showed me semi-slicks as an option if i was planning to ride through winter. (this after they took back my first bike because i got four flats in a week with the skinny tires that came with that bike -- 650s apparently.) when i called on sunday to check on my baby (my two-wheeled baby) i was told that semi-slick (ar anything else for that matter) won't fit under my brake system, and neither will fenders (unless i do the half a pop-bottle thing). my tires originally came with 700x23 (i think) and they upgraded to 700x28 to solve the flat problem. the shop guy also said that biking with only slicks in thewinter is not a problem-- in fact he prefers it because the snow doesn't get caught in the knobby bits.
so i guess i have a bunch of questions about this:
--is this a common problem with road bikes? (no room under the brakes, i mean) or is it just bacause it's an xsmall? (i suspect they are feeding me b.s., especilly after the old thread i read while looking for an answer in the old posts-- it was entitled 'lies bike shops tell you'. my lbs is a chain store:eek:
--is riding on the street on slicks as bad as i make it out to be? i picture myself sliding everywhere. could i get along without fenders too? i wouldn't ride with too much snow on the ground -maybe 1/2 at most. and they clear the streets pretty quickly too.
--he mentoned studded tires and i didn't follow up on it because i was p.o.'ed. would studded tires fit? do they make studded tires this small?
thanks for the help, ladies, i really appreciate it. damn the man!! especially the condescending bike shop man who sold me the @#$% unsuitable bike in the first place!! :D