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Thread: August Riding

  1. #61
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    NY….Folding beads can stretch a bit after being ridden, which can make them a little easier to get off and on. At first they can be as hard to get on as wired though. If the leak location can be determined from just looking at the tire, with folding I can remove part of the tire, pull the tube out, patch and get back to riding quicker. That’s harder to do with a wire bead. I prefer carrying a folding spare tire when i feel the need although you can coil a wire bead into thirds. Folding tires are a little lighter too.

    Perhaps getting a longer stem on the replacement tubes will help with the pump attachment....if you're using a screw on pump head depending on how hard you attach it that may loosen the stem core when you remove it as most cores loosen counter clockwise....and don't really tighten the stem cap for the same reason, i don't even use them.
    ‘The negative feelings we all have can be addictive…just as the positive…it’s up to
    us to decide which ones we want to choose and feed”… Pema Chodron

  2. #62
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    Plus one on what Rebecca says about the folding beads. I use them on all my MTBs, not because they're lighter, but because they do give a little when I have to change tires. Still a matter of individual tires on specific rims, though. Some combos are a bear, not matter what the bead. Most MTBs tires, these days, are folding, anyway.

    The lighter thing isn't much of a factor on my MTBs and fat bikes, as I said, but that might be something that would be more of an interest on your road bike.

    Curious, though, that your tires are getting so cut up, NY. It's seldom an issue on my trail bikes and they see a lot of nasty rocks and such.

  3. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by Muirenn View Post
    I've heard of people laying tires out in the sun to soften them before first installation. Never tried it, but maybe that would make it easier.
    Sheila…possibly the rubber but I wouldn’t think aramid-fibers like the Kevlar beads in tires or wire beads are affected much if any by sun heat….actually I'm pretty sure aramid-fiber isn’t.

    Did you ever find a good flat pedal shoe for your Krampus? I’m looking for my commuter.
    ‘The negative feelings we all have can be addictive…just as the positive…it’s up to
    us to decide which ones we want to choose and feed”… Pema Chodron

  4. #64
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    I'm with Sheila on the shoes for flat pedals. One of the big plusses for flats is that you don't need special shoes. Just use what you're wearing, hop on the bike and go. As long as the soles of the shoe grab the pins on the pedal, you're set. I use standard street shoes, sandals, hiking boots, even felt lined pac boots in the winter. One thing I do add to my bikes that is helpful for use with flats is a QR seat clamp, since your inseam changes with different shoes.

  5. #65
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    NY, we recently installed Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires on our roadies. They're heavier, but we anticipate no flats for a long time. Haven't had any this year in 1800+ miles. We actually bought them thinking we were going out west (land of goatheads) this summer, and that didn't happen, but they stay on. Here in Florida, the biggest hazard is glass on the bike lanes and roads we have to take to get to and from the paved bike paths. We rarely have gotten any flats other than out west, where we got many. Goatheads are truly satan's spawn!

    Glad you had a good ride and were able to get home without the flat needing to be changed along the way. No fun!

    I haven't ridden in over a week due to ortho/dentist appointments and then a cold, but I am feeling fine now, and assuming my braces (got 'em today) don't cause me to be too miserable, I do plan to ride tomorrow at last. Looking forward to it -- it will help me get my mind off my mouth!
    Emily

    2011 Jamis Dakar XC "Toto" - Selle Italia Ldy Gel Flow
    2007 Trek Pilot 5.0 WSD "Gloria" - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow
    2004 Bike Friday Petite Pocket Crusoe - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow

  6. #66
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    Thanks to both of you…I’ve been using Chromes for their rigid sole and grippy rubber but need some new shoes. I remembered an earlier post of yours Sheila (Maybe i misremembered it ) and I thought you might have found a good solution for your Krampus. I'll probably go with Chromes again.

    eta...Emily does that mean no more wiring of the jaw? if so congrats on getting away from blended food!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and hoping it makes things easier for you too.. +1 on thorns and +1 on marathons....i have them on my commuter and they have taken a lot of abuse without any problems
    Last edited by rebeccaC; 08-29-2017 at 08:20 AM.
    ‘The negative feelings we all have can be addictive…just as the positive…it’s up to
    us to decide which ones we want to choose and feed”… Pema Chodron

  7. #67
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    I've been using the folding Gatorskins exclusively for a while. Very rarely do I get flats, in spite of the goat's heads around here. And it's much easier for me to get them on to the rims than the non folding variety.
    2016 Specialized Ruby Comp disc - Ruby Expert ti 155
    2010 Surly Long Haul Trucker - Jett 143

  8. #68
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    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
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    I did another "dark ride" this morning. Same measly distance of 9 miles, a slightly different route. First time wearing tights since I was in Spain, but probably since April at home. It was 51 out, but since it was fully dark when I started at 5:15, I didn't want to have any leg exposed with knickers or knee warmers. I also tried out my new light weight, long fingered gloves, wore a light head cover, and a sleeveless base layer. I pretty much nailed it for clothing, which is tricky, between 50 and 65 for me. Next time, I will go out in a diferent direction and go longer, although 35 minutes of exercise is fine for me this time of day.. On the way home, near my house, I saw my gym instructor running, on the other side of the street. We instantly knew who it was, as how many others are out before 6 AM!??
    Last edited by Crankin; 08-29-2017 at 03:17 AM.
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  9. #69
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    May 2008
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    I tip my hat to you, Crankin. I am pretty sure I would not go out riding in the dark at 51 degrees right now. I am just not ready to play the how many layers game.

    I picked up a new tire last night at REI -- a folding Gatorskin Hard Shell. In the past I've just used regular Gatorskins but the Hard Shell was the only one they had in stock in the size I wanted. When I got home I was too tired to put it on the wheel. So I'll do that tonight. Not sure if I'll go for a ride tomorrow night since I'll be helping to mark roads for our club century during the day. I might go out Thursday night instead.



    I think I need to take the mountain bike out for a spin. I might do a ride in a few weeks that is partially on gravel. It's a fundraiser for a free clinic a couple of hours west of where I live -- a long drive to get there but a beautiful area. And they have free pie afterwards. Lots and lots of pie.

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  10. #70
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    Quote Originally Posted by rebeccaC View Post
    eta...Emily does that mean no more wiring of the jaw? if so congrats on getting away from blended food!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and hoping it makes things easier for you too..
    Oh yes, I've been out of wires for a couple of months now! I got them on on May 16th and off just two weeks later. Then I was in heavy elastics on the arch bars for three weeks and was able to eat soft foods, not only liquid foods. After getting those off in late June, I started adding more and more foods to my diet, just not really hard, chewy, or sticky foods. But about 90% of everything was fine. Sometimes I had to cut things up smaller to eat them since my jaw is still a bit weaker than before, and my bite is still wonky -- though WAY better than before the wiring.

    As of yesterday, I have braces on my teeth to further correct my bite (plus straighten my teeth as a side benefit), leading to another round of food restrictions. Fortunately, I'm used to those by now, so it's not as traumatic. My teeth are quite sore today, so I'm sticking with yogurt, soup, and so forth. Should get better over the days until the next ortho visit! But I still have to be very careful so as not to break or bend a wire or dislodge a bracket.

    I'm just glad to be moving forward!

    But back to the subject of August rides, I got out today after my 1.5 weeks off for four separate dentist/orthodontist visits and having a cold. Nice to be back on the bike. Just a nice 20 miler and beat the rain back!
    Emily

    2011 Jamis Dakar XC "Toto" - Selle Italia Ldy Gel Flow
    2007 Trek Pilot 5.0 WSD "Gloria" - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow
    2004 Bike Friday Petite Pocket Crusoe - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow

  11. #71
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    Sep 2009
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    I don't know where I've been this month. Here it is, August 29 and I've ridden somewhere around 26 days of the month- mostly commuting but rides on weekends too! I won a $50 gift card for my commuting from the local "Rideshare" website that promotes commuting by bike, bus etc. I did a ride up Mt. Lemmon to milepost 9, two weeks ago, a 55 mile ride about a week ago with the JDRF training group - I'm going to ride with them for El Tour de Tucson. (Doing that miserable fund-raising begging....I'm not good at it!), and I did a 38 mile ride on Saturday that cooked me completely. It was about 100 degrees or more for the last 8 miles and I had to stop and go cool off inside a store for a couple minutes about 5 miles from my my house- and then downed Starbucks frappucino to cool down a little more about a mile from home.
    2016 Specialized Ruby Comp disc - Ruby Expert ti 155
    2010 Surly Long Haul Trucker - Jett 143

  12. #72
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    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
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    Glad you were finally able to get back out and ride. When my sister had braces back in the day, she always ate scrambled eggs for dinner on days when she went to the orthodontist.

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  13. #73
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    Feb 2005
    Location
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    I actually asked my DH about which Gatorskins I had last night. I didn't know, because they were on the bikes when I did the builds on both of them. I remember asking the shop(s) to use them, but not the discussion of which kind. They are the folding ones. However, I still wouldn't want to try to get them off or on!
    I might have to try, as yesterday morning I rode through a pile of broken glass on my ride. I checked my tires when I got back and last night, so far, OK, but a little leery of going out alone today. It's raining now, but supposed to clear up and I do want to ride at least 20 miles today. We are leaving for Philly tomorrow, where my younger son and family are temporarily hanging out until they go to Ft. Benning. Decided not to take the bikes, as we want to concentrate on the visit.
    Last edited by Crankin; 08-30-2017 at 10:11 AM.
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  14. #74
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    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
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    I don't want to get pushy about my preference for flat pedals and by flats I mean thin platform pedals with pins on either side, not the old blocky cruiser pedals we had on Schwinns when we were kids or that are still found on cheaper bikes. My advice for anyone is to try flats if interested, but give them at least a couple of months. At first, there is a feeling of insecurity with not being locked in with SPDs if you've been riding them for years, but it passes as you become familiar with the flats.

    I switched over to good lightweight flats on my road bikes a couple years, ago, now, and in the beginning I kept notes for a month on my average speed on the same long pavement loop with the flats versus my SPDs. Meant a lot of switching pedals on my Trek Domane WSD road bike, but I really wanted know the trade offs. Sometimes even did back to back rides on the same day with the different pedals for the sake of comparison.

    My findings - and I stress that they were my findings for my riding and they may or may not apply to others - is that there was no significant difference in my average speed for the two types. If anything, my speed was a bit higher with the flats. Go figure. I did greatly reduce foot cramps by going with the flats, though, and that was one of the things that lead me to try them in the first place. So many thousands of miles over so many years of my feet being clipped into one single position on the pedals for hours and hours at a time with the SPDs had caught up with me. It was a repetitive stress kind of injury. I couldn't go for more than a couple of hours without my feet cramping and, yes, I changed seats, seat positions, you name it. Very painful.

    The flats cured it, though, by allowing my to move my foot on the pedals a bit, same as moving my hands around on the drop bars reduced hand numbness and fatigue. The cramps disappeared almost immediately, as long as I remembered to keep my feet moving and stretching. Two years, now, many long rides with the flats and no cramps. Don't even think about it, now. Problem solved.

    For trail work, switching from clipless to flats, I did have to adjust my riding style to avoid my feet bouncing off the pedals when not being locked in with eggbeaters as I rode over gnarly stuff. That was actually very easy, though. I now get at least one wheel off the ground when hopping logs and rocks and on some serious drops with me and the bike landing hard with no loss of contact with the pedals. More importantly, flats let me move my feet around on the pedals for technical advantages. I sometimes ride on the balls of my feet when steering though turns for the sake of balance and sometimes even drop a foot to pivot through a really tight twist when I'm getting a little wild with the speed. I then go with the flats of my feet on the pedals for more power when climbing. Huge difference in power. All in all, pretty amazing how changing positions with your feet on the pedals adds to your riding, same as changing positions with your hands on the bars. Going back to clipless would now be a real handicap for me on my MTB riding. No way. And remember, this is all with fully rigid MTBs, no suspension. It's all a matter of technique.

    As for the flats on one side and SPD on the other pedals, totally worthless on the two versions I've tried. Neither side worked as well as a standard all flat or all SPD.

    Again, not telling anyone what to use. Not my style. Sold off all my clipless pedals, though. Flats, only, for this gal.
    Last edited by north woods gal; 08-30-2017 at 10:53 AM.

  15. #75
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    Concord, MA
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    I used SPDs at first... couldn't stand the restrictive float. I can see how you had cramps with SPDs, NW. I switched to Speedplay X pedals. They are not even made anymore, but I see no reason to change to the newer version, as you can still get them. I kept SPDs on my mountain bike, which was dumb, since I already was scared to death and never really progressed much, flats would have helped. I had the campus pedals on my Jamis Coda; one side SPD, one side flat. They always flipped over to the unweighted side when I clipped out and I had to kick it over to get back in. However, I did ride that bike twice with the flat side and regular shoes, which was a disaster. In traffic, I had no muscle memory for pushing off unclipped. I have ridden beach cruisers/rental bikes with flat pedals, but with no pressure around me (cars) it was OK. I sold the Coda (wish I hadn't) when I got my Guru. That had Speedplay Frogs, which are great to walk in, but I always seemed to fly out of the left pedal. I read about it on line, there was an issue, mostly because it's so smooth clipping in, you can't hear the little click, so hence, you aren't actually in when you think you are. I bring them for when we go on tours in Europe. When we came back from Spain, we never put them back on the bike, and when I had to ride the Guru over the past month, DH put his old Speedplay Xs on the bike, since he bought the newer version, when he got new shoes.
    I don't like change with any part of my bike! I don't have a good idea of how pins work. Do they stick into some kind of special bottom on a BMX shoe? If I ever get another bike like the Coda for just going into town, I might get flat pedals.
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