Bikes and stuff

We have a bike thread about rides but those seem to be mostly populated by super heros who ride hundreds of KM a day and go up YMS like it was downhill.

how about a thread for newbie bikers who just want to share stuff about bikes and biking?

and maybe get some advice and general know how, etc.

ok i can go first, me i moved back to the city after 20 years and got another bike. Had a bike 20 years ago and now of course not as fit as I was 20 years ago. Have a lot more hills i have to walk up instead of bike up as I remembered i could do then.

am thinking of an electric class 1 bike but waiting for prices to come down to where mere working stiffs can afford. my current trek is 650 for example and i dont want to spend 1800 for a similar trek electric (not top of the line mind you just more like bottom of the line).

anyways that will allow me to cycle up hills instead of walking up them. And my theory is that i will end up generally doing MORE exercise not less.
Currently once or twice a week i ride down to the beach and ride back, about six miles and do it in 50 mins or so. Averaging a laughable 6 miles an hour (barely faster than walking) and averaging heart rates of 120bpm or so,maxing out at 160 or so. Doing better as I had been maxing out at 180 bpm and thats not good.

a year ago had a flat and good thing wifey was about and came to the rescue in the prius. Took the tube out,saw a small cut and decided best fix was just to buy and put tire GOOP in it. it has been working well, except of course need to check the rear tire before every ride but it had been holding up at least for the day of riding, even to sausalito and back.

OFF today so had a bike ride in the morning and pumped up the rear tire as usual and came back a ok. It was very winter like in the morning but by the PM it became summer like so wow, lets do the ride again.

half way rear tire went flat. I half rode and half walked home, knowing that i should not ride on a flat tire. but I did half way.

took the tube out, didnt see any damage, just the same small cut and also saw a small pinprick that was stopped by the goop ,but basically the goop had run out. Thought why not be more proactive this time and get a patch and patch up the hole and get goop to re goop the tires again.

got the goop and the patch and patched the tire and inflated to 50psi and all seems good. Then thought wait i need to let all the air out and put goop in it.
Did that and was pumping up the tube again when at near 50psi the tube exploded.
Maybe it was not beaded properly or perhaps i had done internal damage to the tube when i rode it flat? Donno, but half the 14 dollar bottle of goop ended up on the garage floor.

Also thought maybe i should get a new tire because maybe the tire got bigger after i rode on it flat and the inner tube was smaller and thats why it blew?

Found Target had 700c x 38 tires for 20 bucks and inner tubes for bout 4 bucks. Went there at stonestown but saw it was only available online. Waited at the starbucks for an hour while my online order was processed. Kinda dum huh when you are at the physical store but yet have to order online so you can pick up the items at the same physical store you are at already eh?

Anyhows the tube was out of stock but i got the tire.
Came home realized my current tire is fatter at 700c x 42 and the new tire is slimmer at 700c x 38. I guess it will be interesting to see if my speed goes up a bit. Since i mostly ride on the street. I have a hybrid bike but i mostly do street and some paths in GG park and thats it. No real mountain biking or gravel.

IF the 700c x 38 works out better i will replace the front tire too to be the same
Currently plan to ride with the skinnier tires on the rear because these Bell tires made in taiwan can hold up to 75psi and i usually put 50psi on the rear and 40 on the front. Made by INNOVA tires of taiwan.

The tires on the bike now are made by Chaoyang in china and are rated at 55psi max pressure. So maybe the new tires will be better.

Next ride will be sunday when the tire is installed as the part is due around thursday/friday.

may be a bit funny with wider tires in front and narrower in back? or maybe since i only go no faster than 11mph on a downhill there wil be no difference?

what say you , bike experts?

I will now have different widths on the bike
Read many suggest fatter tires in front is better others say the reverse

Any inputs ?

Never read that.
Your butt and body are mostly weighted on back tire, even if some tire has higher psi.
But, can always try as you’re not riding at Olympic speeds.

1 Like

Yes that gives me something to do
Of course I may end up blowing up another inner tube due to improper inflation procedures but hey I just
Bought two tubes

I will report back after I have done some
Seat time

Some say smaller width in front helps to make the bike turn better such as in a 911 where rear tires are wider

Others say this having wider fronts is a known mountain bikers and messenger biker trick

As it reduces total weight and less wide back end is ok as you push it into the ground more anyways and bigger
Track in front lends
Itself to better front grip

Much like a Citroen CX which IIRC has wider front tires

However smaller rear means harsher ride as I have zero suspension front and rear

But I suspect it probably makes no diff to me going six miles an hour and 11 going downhill

1 Like

I bet that’s mostly to have more tore to put down the power.

Yea, gives a bit more comfort in the hands. of course, if the bike can fit them, you can go wider in both for more comfort.

Also front wheel drive, so fronts doing both the turning and driving, so more tore there makes a lot of sense.

mostly this. :wink:

1 Like

Ok got an inner tube that apparently can go 35
To 43
Seems
Super slim though
Got it successfully inflated and the tire attached
Boy the 35 tire looks so thin compared to the current 42 or 43
I have
Makes the front tire
Seem like a clown
Tire
I’m not yet decided after being on a quick ride whether it’s actually faster or slower
I feel the handlebar is higher although it shouldn’t be as the diameter is the same
And weirdly I feel
Like the bike is slower even though I pumped the new tire to 60psi
It feels slower but the gears tell a different story as I am in a lower or is that higher gear

In other words I’m able to use a more difficult gear
So that means I’m more easily rolling forward even though it feels like I’m. Not

Oh well longer rides will tell
Not sure I will end up putting the old tire back
I don’t think I damaged
It
Or maybe even getting a new matching smaller
Tire for the front
As I don’t really ride in the rough maybe skinnier tires will
Suit me
Better on road

Looked on the box and I have 38 tire
Funny it looks so slim compared to the 42 I now have which looks fat

Gonna put some more riding time on it
But currently I feel the drag from the fat front tire
May only be in my mind
Maybe will get one of those skinny tires for the front and check out the results
It’s only 20 for the tire and another 8 for the tube and it wasn’t too much trouble to
Install so it’s a cheap experiment and not much labor

More than spending money I hate to LABOR ha

Went for a lap around the neighborhood tonight
Just a 4 mile stretch up and down with a little elevation thrown in

The front tire being wider also I believe makes it have a bigger circumference and it feels weird like I’m cycling uphill

And maybe because I feel I’m cycling uphill I work harder so my average speed for the lap went from 6 mph to 5.8 mph.

I could’ve sworn I was much faster but the numbers don’t lie. Felt like I was almost doubling my speed

Anyhow, I gave up and I bought another tire for the front. That’s exactly the same as the back also got a innertube, of course, but found out that I got one with the wrong valve instead of the Schrader valve, which I’m used to it has the other kind, which I always forget the name of, which is a problem because I don’t know how to disassemble that to put in the goop and I don’t have the tools for that and I don’t even have the pump to pump up the tire so I’m returning that one and buying one with the proper valve tomorrow, then I’m going to put that new tire on the front and I expect my bike should perform better we shall see

Apparently, there’s a school of thought that wider is not necessarily slower as far as tires go again we shall see

Jesus man just buy a new set of tires and stop messing about.

1 Like

I did
Installing the new one today on the front
Will see if skinny tires all around improves the ride

And why does the Presta valve even exist?
Seems Schrader is better as there are far more pumps available

Fat tires are over rated

Now this dude can ride

MTB?

Forget it

Are you keeping your local bike shop in business?
They able to send their kids to Ivy League school, because of you?

1 Like

Hardly lol

Might be able to buy a coupla bags of dog food

At any rate Poyay is tired of listening to my stories

They are TIRESome

2 Likes

Got another skinny tire I will attach and try on Sunday
Thinking 50 psi front and 60 back
On the 42s I found 40 front and 50 psi back worked best for the road riding I did and was
Not too rough on dirt tracks in GG park

I’m thinking skinny and higher pressure is going to be faster on road for me

But this guy seems to think wider tires with lower pressures could have LESS rolling resistance

Say what?

The math doesn’t math there me thinks

I will see how it is for me on my regular run on Sunday after I got two 38s on

Another tester

It’s well known in the racing world that slightly wider tyres and lower pressures have lower rolling resistance when compared to the ultra skinny, high pressure tyres used years ago. There are other factors too, but that’s the trend these days.

There’s a guy who tests loads of tyres and post results here:

All of this is only of any relevance if you’re racing though. I run 40c gravelking slicks on my commuter. My arse and wrists prefer lower pressures and the cush.

1 Like

Yes, it does seem counterintuitive to me that wider tires with lower pressure would equate to lower rolling resistance like for example, on my Prius C it’s supposed to have 35 psi front in 33 in the back I find the optimum for me is 34 front and 32 back if I went 32 front and 30 in the back the car rides really squishy really comfortable but it doesn’t have a lot of performance. The car only got 100 hp to begin with so having Tires at less than optimum really does affect it so when I do run it at 35 front 33 in the back, the car performs a lot better so much less rolling resistance, so I would apply the same principal to bikes but apparently that’s not always the case however I have put the skinny tire in the front now I have two tires both 38 instead of 42 and 38 whole lot smaller than the 42 was just a whole lot smaller you wouldn’t think that they were 38. You would think they were like 35 or something, but I just rode a bit tonight and it was fantastic for me. I felt like my bike has now become some sort of a sports bike so like going from a sedan to a sports car Now I ride on road mostly with some dirt paths thrown in but nothing strenuous where 42s come in handy for more cushion so for my purposes, I think these 38 are really really good. I’m enjoying it on Sunday. I’ll do a bigger ride and I’ll see how I feel and I think I like it later will ride across the Golden Gate Bridge proof will be like how much better these tires are but I’m liking it with a short ride tonight I certainly don’t feel I have more rolling resistance with skinnier tires and higher PSI. These tires are supposed to still also be hybrid tires. They’re not road tires. They’re 38 hybrid tires my Regular ones came with the bike with 42 hybrid tires

I’m glad I had that flat leading me to discover these tires

And so far have not felt the ride was rougher noticeably

Hopefully these tires will hold up well too
Wee shall see

Some reviews said they were crap

But then every product has great reviews and crap reviews

Worth the 60 dollar investment for two
Tires and two inner tubes

What was proven not good was to have the bigger tires up front
Felt like I was going uphill all the time

Read you can upgrade to 42 for gravel ?

You can run whatever will fit in your bike to be honest. Most gravel tyres run around that size and will have some tread/knobs to dig in a bit. Basically, somewhere between a road and MTB tyre.

1 Like

Ok i am back from my first “real” ride on my bike with the new set of tires and here is my ANALysis. I am ready to bore my cat POYAY again now…and you. if you stick around. My bud who is into bikes is even bored by my ANALysis.

Ok, these 38s have little knobs all over while the 42 i had were slicks in the middle and knobs on the side. So initial observation is that with the smaller diameter of the wheels i am able to take off noticeably faster and reach my normal Blistering SPEED of SIX miles per hour at a faster clip ! And since i mostly cruise control at this BLISTERING speed of SIX miles per HOUR. it seems to be fine. And i do tend to use ONE gear higher . So the general rolling resistance must be , may be lighter? \

However i find that on a stretch of a fast descent down to the beach from my house (there are a coupla streets where it can get up to maybe 11mph on a gravity fed descent). And i feel the bike is SLOWER, it is held back, probably by the nobby tire surface? Or could it be by (GASP) MORE rolling resistance on the new tires??

But at any rate i see this as a good thing as i do have to brake normally harder anticipating having to stop (or not) at the next STOP sign . And there are a few. I generally look both ways and if the coast is clear i will shoot through without stopping but both hands on brakes expecting to have to come to a screeching halt. So the tires holding me back to a lower descent speed is probably overall safer and desirable. So when i next ride the next long downhill from the GG bride to Sausalito I shall be at a more controlled descent . On my old tires the speeds gets up there to as fast as anyone else really. Probably 20 plus mph.

So all in all, i think I am liking these tires. HOWEVER, if i had seen the Michelin tires of the same spec for five bucks more a piece i would have gone for those rather than BELL (unknown) . Didnt know Michelin and Continentals were only five bucks more a piece.

but all in all i like these tires.

asleep yet?

oh yes in case you have not yet fallen comatose by my ASSessment I can also add that on the road next to the beach at ocean beach there is often blowing sand on the surface in places. And i find with these narrower tires i am more able to cut through up to one and a half inches of sand to reach the road surface underneath and not come off my bike. The Fatter 42s tend to handle less of a sand depth before the front wheel slides .

So another (small) plus?!

actually to be honest (not that i am not normally) i have to say that the gravity fed descent is the “real” test of rolling resistance. And it is clear the winner is the 42s and not the 38s which are noticeably SLOWER .

We are talking the same street the same bike the same rider and no on both occasions the rider had not yet had lunch to skew the variables.

SO OK those who think the fatter tires may have less rolling resistance, I think you WIN.

HOWEVER, (BUT there is always a BUT). i DO THINK for me the smaller diameter allowing me to get up to “my” cruise speed of a BLISTERING SIX MILES AN HOUR (did i say that yet?). is helpful to me and even the slower gravity fed descent is an advantage to me. So these tires are a WIN for me especially in view of the ability to cut through sand and the fact that the ride quality seems to be the same at least on road.

PS 2nd ride of the day, sunset. 6 mile course 160 feet elevation gain 7 and a half mph average over the course completed in 45 mins. so i guess the smaller diameter improves speed although i am pretty certain now the rolling resistance is not less with the new skinnier tires at 50psi front and 60 psi rear. Maybe i should up the pressure on the next ride to 55 front/ 65 rear (tire sidewall says recommended 50psi up to max 75psi).

not better rolling resistance but smaller diameter improves over-all speed…check.
however, going through a different part of the park this PM saw my downhill speed move past 25mph estimated so the new tires really don’t seem to retard downward gravity fed speed too much I think.

No skinny tires won’t work here

1 Like

ok are you ready for more pedantic bike tire news? I am talking to the audience of one (me) i realize and after this post i shall refrain unless i have more exciting news about tires and what not like now… (ok its just more pedantic useless info but hey…)

went on a ride further out today to the GG bridge and the descent back towards baker beach is a very steep one and one i find myself usually going quite fast. but…these new skinny tires with the knobby surface was …quite slow…so i am convinced now that they have much higher rolling resistance. I had no idea that tires made that huge a difference… Guess being new to bikes and all that. Thinking back when my bud joe and i rode to sausalito last he had on new knobby tires and i had my 42s and i was so much faster rolling downhill. I thought it was my bike was new and the bearings were newer, but in fact it probably was the tires… Saw a youtube vid about bike tires and the people showed how some tires are really fast and others are not. However one aspect of these new Bell tires I got is that they have this extra thick one mm protection layer that apparently is useful in stopping some twigs and shit from puncturing the tire. Which is a useful thing. My current 42s dont have that layer of protection.

However i thought why not put the old tires back and lets see if indeed the rolling resistance improves back to where they were. Also the 38 mm tires even though labelled as Hybrid were really no good on the off pavement sections of the GG park. They rode very rough other than on dirt, when stones and what not makes it uncomfortable. Whereas i never noticed anything amiss on the 42s so yeah the 42s are good on gravel and the such.
But as i was replacing the rear tire i notice i did in fact ruin the tire when i rode on it flat it was obvious the sidewall was damaged. so i took the front 42 and put that on the rear and then took it for a spin. I found that having the 42 up front and 38 in back, like i tried last week was very bad, felt like i was pushing the front and was cycling uphill even when level. But but. with the 42 on the rear and 38 up front on a demo ride tonight i felt that the ride is better and i was able to maneuver very well. So that could be good. May as well use the tire as its two years old … And then when that goes bust use the new tire now which is on standby.

have to take it on a longer run now to see how it goes. I think the downhill has slightly increased at least with one of the old tires. Or maybe its just in the mind. Of course i hope that having faster rears wont have me pitching over on the handlebars on a steep downhill with the fronts retarding forward movement. I didnt mind so much the slightly slower speed on the previously “over” fast downhill sections as I think the bike slowing on its own is probably safer, but I think what the rolling resistance must be doing when I am riding on flat or uphill sections, making me work harder than i need to.

1 Like