That does look cool indeed, but my mileage varies. I want oil on my chain because I’m far too lazy to shop for, store, and then find too many different bottles of things. I use the same stuff to lube my chain and cables, and it tends to be cheaper and easy to find.
If you just dab it on the hinge part of each chain link, there’s not much to keep clean.
Actually, the poem is tragic and having the subject later stranded in a car with four flat tires (the same number his bike had in a month) is fitting. Ultimately the subject is bound to meet his doom in a light aircraft accident.
The fictional subject in the poem, that is. Everyone knows that Pandas don’t fly.
If you’re going to accept saving money on gas as an argument you really should be smart enough to do simple arithmatic. At $3/gallon and at 30 mpg car it would take 5000 miles to recoup your bike on based on gas prices alone. If you live 5 miles from work, you’re looking at 500 days of riding to recoup your bike costs, or about 2 years worth of work days (at 50 weeks/year and 5 work days/week). But surely you realized this before you bought your bike.
I’ve always heard it: higher gear = higher numerically on index shifters = smaller rear cog, larger chainring = farther from bicycle frame. For the same speed you’ll pedal faster in a lower gear.
This is right.
This is wrong.
They make it easier to get the wrench into the hex hole.
Do explain. (1) For a given gear, speed varies linearly with rotational speed of pedaling, (2) I go much slower in my lowest gear than in my highest, (3) when in a high gear and I shift down far enough I will be unable to pedal fast enough to maintain the same speed.
IANAMechanical Engineer, but I do know a little bit of mechanics. For a pedaling speed f (in rotations/second) the rotational speed of your rear wheel will depend on F, the number of teeth on your chainring, and G, the number of teeth on the current gear of your gear cluster. The relationship is:
Rotational Velocity of wheel = (F/G) * f
so your forward speed is given by (d is the diameter of the wheel)
Speed = pi * d * (F/G) * f
so if you shift down, by decreasing F or increasing G, then your speed decreases and so f must increase to compensate (and keep the same forward speed).
Presta valves require a smaller hole in the rim. If the wheel was hand built (*) to full tension, the the compressive strength of the rim is the limitation of the wheel strength, so having a smaller hole can really strengthen a wheel with a narrow rim. You also lose much less pressure when removing the chuck from a presta valve vs. a Schrader valve. It is pretty easy to lose 10 psi on a narrow road tire if you are slow opening the chuck.
There is a myth that Schrader valves are not rated to high enough pressure for road bikes. According to Schrader (link)the valve cores are good to at least 200psi, with some versions good to 2000psi. The 200psi may have been an issue with lace-up racing tires, but no clincher tires or rims are rated for near 200psi.
The ball end allen wrenches are great when you can’t get a straight shot at the head of the bolt. Usually they are fine for bolts mated to aluminum threads. Especially with button head fasteners (shallow socket) beware of stripping the bolt head. Stainless steel fasteners are softer and easier to strip than carbon steel. (but they don’t rust).
Agree 100% with the rim strip comments. If this is a high profile, hollow rim, make sure it is a cloth or other sturdy material (Velox and Kool Stop are good) rim strip and covers all the holes. The Velox strips don’t stick quite well enough when first applied. I find it is best to inflate the tire, then strip off the tire and tube and check the rim strip, and reposition it over any exposed hole(s) if needed. Rim strips come different widths, take your rim to the bike shop and let them sell you the correct one.
If the spoke bed is single layer, then you can use a rubber rim strip, but make sure that none of the spokes are protruding past the nipples. If you find a problem, a dremel tool with an abrasive cutoff wheel will make quick work of the offending spoke. Spokes are pretty tough, and will ruin most wire cutters.
Finally, the hole for the valve stem often has sharp edges that can cut the tube right where the stem mates to it. A few strokes with a rat tail file, or scraping with a pocket knife blade will take care of this. A countersink will work too, but only a light touch is needed if it is in a power drill.
*Machine built wheels are typically under tensioned. The machines are getting better though.
Yeah, I did the math, and I realize that “saving gas” is a kind of silly argument. But mentally, the bike is a one-time purchase that I only felt once, and every single time I ride it instead of driving, I get the little mental bump of knowing I’m saving money. It’s not really a dollars in dollars out sort of a deal as it is just a mental thing.
Oh man, this bad boy is tuned up spotless. I got a tuneup about two weeks ago from a professional bike shop. In addition, I got a sweet book on bike maintenance and used it to tweak everything to be just perfect for me. It’s my leg muscles that hurt, specifically my quads. But I think it’s mostly because I spend so much time in the gym in addition to riding my bike that I’m always sore (yes, I get the right nutrition. I just push myself hard.)
Ooh, I’ll take a look at this. The last one head a leak at the valve stem that looked more like a tear than a cut. I’ll update everyone on this stupid piece of shit from hell tomorrow. I would today, but my laptop caught on fire and I can’t get online at home. This is not a good week.
Well, that’s sorta what I figured, but how? In the end you’re still sticking the same “shape” into the hole, so how is it any easier just because a “notch” has been cut out of the wrench to create a ball?
I just looked a set of wrenches other than the ones I linked to in my previous post with a bigger picture and have better idea of how they are easier. But please explain anyhow.
If they’re all from the same shop, it could be that the shop is stocking defective tubes. That’s happened to me, I refuse to buy tubes from a certain shop after checking one right out of the box and finding holes in it.
In case you can’t tell, the reason I decided to check that tube was a series of flats with other tubes from that same store.
:does some math just for the hell of it:
Assuming 175yen/liter for gas, and a 10kpl car (about 25mpg)… Sweet! My bike should be paid off in gas by the end of next week. Total time, about 18 months.
On the other hand, I don’t own a car and would ride the train every day. In that case… 380yen round trip… 100,000yen bike… 263 days commuting, or about one year. Add in that my company gives me a 7,000yen travel stipend each month for commuting, and that brings the total time down to about… 7 months.
Of course, that doesn’t count all the money spent on clothes, parts and other goodies.
Most independant bike shops buy through the same wholesaler, Quality Bike Parts. (QBP) Large retailers, or chains like Performance bike, can make direct arraingments with manufacturers. One problem might be age, though, so it might not be a good idea to buy a 700C tube from the shop that specializes in BMX bikes.
I agree that tube quality can be spotty, but it seems to be the luck of the draw rather than retailers cheaping out. Tubes are not expensive enough to be worth price shopping for, so the shop can charge what it needs to make a profit, regardless the cost. The least consistant feature seems to be the bond between the metal valve stem and the rubber. Probably better than half the customers that buy a tube want it installed, and it is not in the shop’s interest to do the job again (at no charge) when it fails before the customer gets home.
I don’t think it was a case of cheaping out but rather a bad batch. Whatever the cause, I don’t get that particular size (26" × 2½") there anymore.
The ends have a bit of a taper to guide the wrench into the head. Also, you can use these at an angle whereas flat wrenches have to be straight in.
Just makes it easier sometimes.
If gasoline were the only expense associated with driving a car, that might mean something. To be fair, you should include the cost of the car, its parts and maintenance, and the cost of parts and maintenance on the bike. And there’s the matter of tag fees and insurance for the car.
See if that doesn’t alter the outcome a little bit.
I’m thinking this might have been a bad batch. The last two tubes to go suffered from holes at the seam in the tube where the two pieces of rubber meet. This is the only bike shop within forty miles, so I’m pretty much stuck with them. The company that manufactures them is something like QTubes.