Handling Corners?

[westtexas]

Ok, I'm officially curious. My wheels are the stock wheels and I'm thinking of gifting myself an upgrade in the coming spring. What did you upgrade to?

Well, I built the bike from scratch. I don't know what the stock wheels are, but most stock bikes come with pretty low end wheels (unless you're in the high end market I guess). I put Mavic Ksyrium Elites on my bike - it was a compromise from the Zipps the shop kept trying to sell me - and they are worth every penny.

[Velocivixen]

@Bethany1, you poor thing. Yes, as you have found improper tire pressure affects ride and performance. Tubes can lose about 3 psi per day! That's typical. I rode today and adjusted the tire pressure prior to the ride. If I ride tomorrow I will check them again! I guarantee that I will need to "top them off" with air. I check my tires prior to every ride.

[pll]

Well, I built the bike from scratch. I don't know what the stock wheels are, but most stock bikes come with pretty low end wheels (unless you're in the high end market I guess). I put Mavic Ksyrium Elites on my bike - it was a compromise from the Zipps the shop kept trying to sell me - and they are worth every penny.

Mine came with DT Swiss R-1700 wheels. Relative to what I had before, almost anything was an upgrade. I have been looking at the Ksyriums -- the folks at my bike shop like them. Hmm. More tempting than ever! I have to set a tough goal for the winter months, so that the wheelset will be my spring reward. <or should I get a pearl necklace instead?>

[Bethany1]

I'm always paranoid about the street intersections and take them carefully. I live in a quiet neighborhood where you only see cars about 5% of the time. It's that 5% that you have to watch out for as you don't know which street you'll see them.

I was taking the corners better than I ever have, but still wanted to be safe and see the cars. I just completely misjudged the cornering on that one. I wasn't going fast, just turned too wide. Left turns scare me because of the added vigilance needed to watch for cars.

My son fell over laughing when I asked him about my tires today and told him I hadn't checked the pressure since I purchased the bike except for the time I had a flat tire outside of town. I had no idea that the tires would lose air over time. That made him laugh even harder.

[Velocivixen]

Ohh...I would like to see that chart too. My tires are 700x32 and max inflation is 95 psi. It doesn't give a range, so at 138 or so I like my tires at 80 psi. I think either Rivendell bike site has tire pressure range on it. I'll check & post it.

[Velocivixen]

Here it is: http://www.rivbike.com/assets/full/0...ick_a_tire.pdf

Hope it's helpful.

[maillotpois]

See also: http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#pressure and the linked Bicycle Quarterly article.

[Bethany1]

Thanks for the websites. According to the rivbike site I need wider tires at 200-235 lbs. Mine are 23x700 and it recommends 28-32mm.

Any thoughts? And is that why I feel so unstable on my Madone? Wider tires feel safer but they don't feel fast.

If I go wider, any reccomendations on tires?