My Morning Commute

[GovernorSilver]

I think I may have seen KWL or dbb this morning, but I’m not sure. Ok, I admit, it’s because of the beard.

I doubt it though because this guy shoaled me on every traffic stop – he’d get in front, then I’d pass him with hardly any effort. I didn’t mind, actually because it was lovely weather, and it was kind of amusing.

He also blew red lights.

[dbb]

@GovernorSilver 147633 wrote:

I think I may have seen KWL or dbb this morning, but I’m not sure. Ok, I admit, it’s because of the beard.

I doubt it though because this guy shoaled me on every traffic stop – he’d get in front, then I’d pass him with hardly any effort. I didn’t mind, actually because it was lovely weather, and it was kind of amusing.

He also blew red lights.

I doubt it was me. No recollection of shoaling and I stopped at red lights in a manner that would make Dickie proud. I’ll upload my ride this evening and the flyby should (I hope) confirm I was being a PAL.

[rcannon100]

Fabulous

[Zack]

@Emm 147619 wrote:

Did my good deed of the day and stopped and helped a woman who had a flat. 2 of her coworkers then stopped (seriously, the CRS has an awesome presence on the MVT!), but out of the 4 of us, I was the only one who had all the tools to fix a flat (spare tube, patch kit, tire levers and and C02 cartridge). Kinda shocked me how many people don’t carry flat fixing tools with them, but maybe I’m just paranoid because I got a flat and then had to walk my bike a few miles on one of my first rides in DC. It was nice having their help though–I am perfectly capable of fixing a flat, but they were able to speed up a few steps that always take me longer, and one of them had a small pump, which I prefer for finishing filling the tube up over a C02 cartridge since there’s less of a risk on bursting the tube.

If I get a flat tire on the way home when I no longer have a spare tube I will seriously cry though–we had to use my spare tube since we couldn’t figure out where the hole in her tube was for patching. Luckily I have plenty more spares at home.

Question though–my C02 cartidge is now half used. Do I just let out the rest of the C02? I have a spare one or 2 cartridges at home so I can easily replace it, but right now it’s just sitting half used in my bag…

Be careful letting it out or don’t bother. I untwisted a half full canister from my trigger and it exploded very loudly out of my hand halfway across Wheel Nutz.

[KWL]

@GovernorSilver 147633 wrote:

I think I may have seen KWL or dbb this morning, but I’m not sure. Ok, I admit, it’s because of the beard.

I doubt it though because this guy shoaled me on every traffic stop – he’d get in front, then I’d pass him with hardly any effort. I didn’t mind, actually because it was lovely weather, and it was kind of amusing.

He also blew red lights.

You have somethin’ in it for 3-letter forum names? Twern’t I. I’ve been known to Idaho stop signs, but always wait for red lights and never, ever shoal. And you’d never be able to pass me with hardly any effort. (yeah, right…).

[brokespoke]

Lovely; not a Maserati in sight.

[GovernorSilver]

@KWL 147667 wrote:

You have somethin’ in it for 3-letter forum names? Twern’t I. I’ve been known to Idaho stop signs, but always wait for red lights and never, ever shoal. And you’d never be able to pass me with hardly any effort. (yeah, right…).

Mystery bearded dude (forum name unknown) was definitely doing under 10 mph – that’s how I was able to pass him effortlessly. I don’t think I’d be able to pass either of you 3-letter forum named studs. 😎

Forgot to mention one particular cyclist who passed me yesterday morning. I was amazed how she was able to move at that speed while appearing to be expending even less effort than I normally do – she was pedalling so slowly and smoothly. And on a cute, pink flat bar bike at that – all it was missing was handle streamers. No, the color definitely wasn’t Glitter Dreams.

[bentbike33]

@GovernorSilver 147700 wrote:

I was amazed how she was able to move at that speed while appearing to be expending even less effort than I normally do – she was pedalling so slowly and smoothly. And on a cute, pink flat bar e-assist bike – all it was missing was handle streamers.

FIFY, probably.

[Steve O]

My best Chris Froome impression.

[cvcalhoun]

@Emm 147619 wrote:

Did my good deed of the day and stopped and helped a woman who had a flat. 2 of her coworkers then stopped (seriously, the CRS has an awesome presence on the MVT!), but out of the 4 of us, I was the only one who had all the tools to fix a flat (spare tube, patch kit, tire levers and and C02 cartridge). Kinda shocked me how many people don’t carry flat fixing tools with them, but maybe I’m just paranoid because I got a flat and then had to walk my bike a few miles on one of my first rides in DC. It was nice having their help though–I am perfectly capable of fixing a flat, but they were able to speed up a few steps that always take me longer, and one of them had a small pump, which I prefer for finishing filling the tube up over a C02 cartridge since there’s less of a risk on bursting the tube.

If I get a flat tire on the way home when I no longer have a spare tube I will seriously cry though–we had to use my spare tube since we couldn’t figure out where the hole in her tube was for patching. Luckily I have plenty more spares at home.

Question though–my C02 cartidge is now half used. Do I just let out the rest of the C02? I have a spare one or 2 cartridges at home so I can easily replace it, but right now it’s just sitting half used in my bag…

I admit, I don’t carry flat-fixing tools. The reason is that I get a flat maybe once every two years. And by the time I do, in my experience, whatever pump I have been carrying for the intervening two years has malfunctioned by that time.

Does anyone have any experience with how long an unused CO2 cartridge will last? And with how long an unused tube will last? If I actually had confidence that everything I needed would last for a couple of years, I might change my habits (especially now that my ride involves a long stretch of the CCT where it’s not practical to get off and take a bus if I get a flat).

[ursus]

@cvcalhoun 148165 wrote:

I admit, I don’t carry flat-fixing tools. The reason is that I get a flat maybe once every two years. And by the time I do, in my experience, whatever pump I have been carrying for the intervening two years has malfunctioned by that time.

Does anyone have any experience with how long an unused CO2 cartridge will last? And with how long an unused tube will last? If I actually had confidence that everything I needed would last for a couple of years, I might change my habits (especially now that my ride involves a long stretch of the CCT where it’s not practical to get off and take a bus if I get a flat).

I carry flat-fixing tools because if I didn’t I would certainly get flats.

Years ago, I got several flats a year, perhaps one per month. Belted tires have made flats much less common.

[Crickey7]

I absolutely love my Topeak Road Morph (they have a few in the “Morph” line). It’s reasonably priced, has lasted at least as long as any other compact pump I’ve ever owned, and as for how it works, I am not exaggerating when I say I look forward to helping people pump up their tires. https://www.amazon.com/Topeak-Road-Morph-Mini-Pump/dp/B004GDBQO6

That being said, changing tires under certain circumstances can be difficult. Removal is easy with the right tools, But the tires can be hard to mount, especially in colder temperatures. That’s also when your tendency is to go a bit faster and that, combined with low light conditions, means it’s easy to miss whatever flatted you in the first place. Then you get the dreaded second flat.

I just bought my first tubeless wheel. They claim that smaller punctures are self-sealing. Anyone know if that’s really true?

[Anonymous]

@Crickey7 148178 wrote:

I just bought my first tubeless wheel. They claim that smaller punctures are self-sealing. Anyone know if that’s really true?

Well, you use sealant with them, but yes they are then self-sealing. And then the little plug things that I learned about here from hozn or vvill or someone make fixing larger punctures about as fast as you can open your bag and get the plugs out. A huge gash would presumably require putting a tube in.

[hozn]

@Crickey7 148178 wrote:

I just bought my first tubeless wheel. They claim that smaller punctures are self-sealing. Anyone know if that’s really true?

I will echo what Amalitza said, but add a couple of notes/caveats:

For road, you do need road tubeless-specific tires. The higher pressures do not work with regular clinchers; apparently you risk death if you try that.

The regular Stans sealant tends to work better at pressures below 70-80psi in my experience. So I found 23mm tubeless tires a little small (since I want more pressure) but 25mm+ is great. Stans sealed 3 punctures in my Schwalbe One 28mm tires, never needed to put a tube in and the rear tire lasted 3500 before threads started wearing through.

You will probably need to top up the sealant every few months.

I hear Orange Seal works better than Stans (but it also costs more). Stand also makes a race version of their sealant that is thicker, but it also dries up quicker. I also hear adding glitter helps with larger holes or higher pressures.

Finally, beware that using co2 in the tire dries up the sealant — not sure if it’s a chemical reaction or what.

The tubeless repair plugs Amalitza mentioned are fantastic. I have those in all of my saddle bags.

Tubeless is great, though. I am running tubeless on all three of my bikes love it. Good luck!

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Crickey7 148178 wrote:

I just bought my first tubeless wheel.

Just one?

[Author]

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