Handling Corners?

[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?

[Roadtrip]

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?

Depends on whats the widest tire your bike will safely take. I tried running 28x700 tires, but my Ruby wouldn't take anything larger then a 25. Im about your size too, just run close @100-110 psi to prevent pinch flats.

[Owlie]

I reinflate my tires before each ride, just to be on the safe side. I technically don't have to if I'm riding two days in a row. I'm about 136, my bike is probably around 25 pounds loaded, and I run my tires at about 105-10 for the back and slightly lower for the front. (My bike has 25s on it.)

I don't think most road bike brakes will take anything wider than 25s. And they won't take 25s comfortably (you have to deflate the tire most--if not all--of the way in order to get the wheel on and off). I don't have any recommendations--I'm still running the same tires that came with the bike (Kenda Kriteriums). Probably will go with something like a Continental Gatorskin...at least an all-weather tire so I won't be as worried about getting caught in the rain!