[Harry Meatmotor]

What pads were you running? There’s a HUGE difference between SwissStop Yellow Kings and the Black Prince in terms of power and modulation. IMHO the Black Prince pads are damn close to shimano pads on alu rims, but with better modulation. Not nearly as grabby.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@dasgeh 94721 wrote:

Yuba kids’ cargo bike

i’ve been watching coverage/attending interbike for almost 20 years now and that’s one of the most clever things i’ve seen that is so devilishly simple i can’t find any jaded industry-type pessimism to be grouchy about!

[Harry Meatmotor]

@jrenaut 94502 wrote:

My pump has rather suddenly stopped engaging a Schrader valve. I put it on, pull back the lever, and nothing connects. It works fine on Presta valves. Any ideas?

In most Schrader valve pump heads, there’s usually a small pin that opens the Schrader valve when the chuck lever is engaged. My guess is that the pin has either become dislodged, or has broken. The good news is, if the pin is broken, and it’s a relatively common pump manufacturer, most shops may have a spare lying around or can special order the part.

[Harry Meatmotor]

I gotta say, I’m not surprised CLife is closing up shop. It tried a business model that appeals to folks who haven’t been in the business of retail bike shops before. Without divulging too much, I’ll just say that the shop that pays its bills to the wholesaler/distributor is the one that stays open – it’s pretty simple (but pretty difficult, too!). And that usually means embracing all customers, not just the recreational, and not just the high end, and not just the commuter crowd, and not just the tri crowd. There are definitely shops around here (definitely NOT going to name names) that keep the lights on thanks to low borrowing costs – think of it like only needing to pay the interest on your credit card while the principle keeps growing with every Cervelo RC5a you’ve got sitting on display for more than 180 days (that’s up to 3!!!! full payment cycles, even with good terms!!! which you won’t keep if the distributor sees the same bike sitting in the window after 60 days…). Sooner or later a slow season is going to put you under. This area, being quite affluent, leads to quite a bit of high end shop business churn. Shops that think its all about having full size runs of the newest top dollar toy are going to find themselves crumbling under inventory they can only move at steep discount.

Here’s a little insider’s tip – if you frequent the many “blow out” sales that most shops have, pay attention to how much stuff is there that’s super expensive and steeply discounted. If what you see is mostly $25 jerseys marked down to $18, and ugly colored shoes in size 59, that shop probably knows how to handle it’s inventory – it’s not that they’ve run a crappy blow out sale, it’s that they know how not to get stuck with a $14k bike that sat in the window for the better part of a season.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@nsfnsfdave 94343 wrote:

If both derailleurs are adjusted properly you should never get rubbing on the front derailleur no matter what the gear combination.

I’m sorry, but that’s simply not true. There’s much more that affects the chainline on a bike that proper adjustment can’t make up for in every single case on any bike with any mix of components. I don’t disagree that on your bikes it hasn’t been a problem, perhaps ever, but I’ve certainly seen combinations of BB width, crank design/chainring offset, seat tube dimensions/shape, rear axle spacing, and chainstay length that net noisy crosschaining that’s not at all related the mechanic’s ability to properly adjust a front derailleur.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@dkel 94337 wrote:

I was wondering about the single chainring option with regard to this thread. If I ran a 1×10 (which I have considered), would that create additional chain wear from cross-chaining at both ends of the cassette? Obviously there would be no FD to rub, but it would be a wide range for the chain to navigate without relief of switching rings.

IMHO the jury is still out on this from a more or less typical 700c-wheeled commuter bike perspective. I can’t think of any bikes out there aside from some very new race-inspired cyclocross bikes running a 1×11 setup. The 1×10 groups seem to be holding up pretty well, but again, they’re usually 26″ or 29″ or fatbikes that see a bit different kind of abuse than a commuter. I’m interested to see how the 1×11 setup penetrates the gravel bike market – in fact, i think it was Wolf Tooth that introduced a 50T narrow-wide chainring at inter bike this week that when coupled with an 11-38 or 11-40 (or even 11-42) cassette could net you the same gear ratios as a compact (34-50) with an 11-28 cassette. The murmurs on the forums are that the narrow-wide chainrings work really well, but tend to wear out a little faster than normal chainrings. again, that’s in the dirt on MTBs, not on commuter bikes or road bikes.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Supermau 94038 wrote:

Thanks for the input. I just started riding again this spring after at least ten years away, and even ten years ago I knew little about the nuances of shifting. I corrected all that on my last ride. I had a solid 25 miles to practice with. I did double shift and spent more time going between the big ring and the middle and I definitely learned a lot.

I must say though, my bikes make no huge racket unless I’m shifting under stress, which I try to avoid. They generally shift pretty smooth and quietly. Unless our definitions of “racket” just aren’t the same.

a small addendum to the SRAM & Shimano 22 speed stuff is noisy complaint: the noise is from the chain and chainrings – i think we’re getting to the limits of drivetrain offset in terms of cassette width, tho not necessarily the number of speeds. I did see Phil Wood’s tweet of a picture of a 13 speed cassette and I can’t imagine how much that tweaks the driveline if you were to run that as a 1×13 setup.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@hozn 94307 wrote:

… And the tubes do make a difference — latex is better than butyl…

If you’re spending $60+ on a high TPI casing tire (typically double what a normal “nice” wire bead tire costs), why not spend twice as much on latex inner tubes? They make a shockingly big difference, and they offer better puncture resistance, too.

[Harry Meatmotor]

Good middle ground

I’ve ridden studs (26″ MTB) and while it is a bit comparing apples to oranges with different tire sizes, I found the Top Contact Winters to be completely predictable on all but the worst conditions last winter. The only time I couldn’t either get enough traction in the back to get moving, or steer without washing out the front tire was on the 14th St. bridge, when it was a snow-plow induced icey-sand-and-slush-thrown-over-the-pedestrian-barrier hell hole. I could barely even walk through that shit. The nice thing about the Top Contact Winters is that you can run them down to about 27-30 PSI in the muck, and up to 60 PSI in the dry and they roll much better (and safer) than a set of studs. And they just barely fit under my SKS P45 28-37mm fenders.

[Harry Meatmotor]

I’m just gonna drop this little stinker in here:

I get that it’s annoying to have minor derailleur rub in cross chaining situations, but I’d tend agree with the opinion that you simply shouldn’t use that gear anyhow. The basic premise is this: when the chain contacts fewer teeth on a gear, it greatly increases the wear on both the chain and the gear. Seriously, you’re effectively halving the life of a chain, ime. Not only does it cause the valleys between the teeth to wear quickly, it wears out any shift ramps stamped or machined into the sides of the teeth because the chain is leaving the cog at a sharp angle. Cross chaining in the big-big combo isn’t quite as bad, because the chain loading is spread over a greater number of teeth – however, the side loading caused by the exit and entry angles in the chain line will cause increased wear on the cog and chainring – especially to any fancy shift-enabling tooth shaping.

One thing you can do on most modern indexed shifters is to do a double-shift or triple-shift in the rear and a single shift in the front, at the same time. So, if you find yourself in getting near the small end of the cassette, try and get used to doing a double-shift down in the rear while at the same time doing a single shift up to the big ring. In most gearing combos, this will put you in just about the same number of gear-inches. You can do the same if you find yourself in the big-big combo, only in reverse.

One final rant – some newer front derailleurs (SRAM’s Yaw technology, Shimano’s Di2 system) will allow cross chaining with no rub on the FDer cage – but in my experience the chain, cassette, and chainrings still make a huge racket even when perfectly adjusted.

[Harry Meatmotor]

Personally, I’d say proper fit is going to be the biggest thing that will determine how much you’ll love your new bike. Any competent LBS should know how to get the bike properly fit to your body. If you get the feeling that no matter what the shop does to adjust the fit of the bike, and you can’t get comfortable, you might be better off with a different bike. Keep in mind it might take 20-30 minutes of pedaling before you start to notice any fit issues – so be prepared to take your time. If you feel rushed by the LBS, you might want to try coming back to the shop during a less busy time. Further, if you’re feeling pressured to close the sale and you’re still a little unsure, there’s absolutely no harm in asking for more time. Sometimes shopping with a more bike-knowledgable friend can help – especially if they can come out on the test ride with you. If it’s quiet at the shop, you may be able to get the salesperson to accompany you.

When you’re out on a test ride, try riding the bike over varied terrain, over some bumps, maybe even down a curb if you’re confident enough. Piloting the bike should feel intuitive – it shouldn’t surprise you if you hit a bump or roll over some loose gravel. Try riding a low speed and check for things like toe-overlap (where, when you’re turning tightly and pedaling, your toe may come into contact with the front tire). Toe overlap can be a little unnerving, and it helps to know if it’s something the bike “features”. Also, while you’re riding, don’t hesitate to shift through all the gears, if anything’s amiss, definitely tell the salesperson if the bike isn’t shifting well. Sometimes this is due to poor adjustments, sometimes it’s due to poor shifting choices. With internally geared hubs, however, the shifting should be as simple as it gets.

Try to get a feel for how powerful the brakes are by gradually applying more and more pressure to the brakes – remember, the front brake is about twice as powerful as the rear. If you’re feeling confident, try applying enough rear brake to make the bike skid a little. Like I said earlier, you’re trying to see how the bike *could* surprise you as well as seeing how comfortable it is. Ask the salesperson where a good hill is, and depending on how committed you are to getting a little sweaty, try riding down the hill at speed (15-20mph), braking to a stop, then climbing back up the hill. See if you notice the difference in weight between bikes, and try pedaling out of the saddle. Most bikes behave a bit differently when you’re seated versus standing on the pedals.

Try carrying the bike up some stairs, if you can find a staircase – if you’re going to be doing this often, you want to get a feel for how much of a difference a few pounds could make.

My last bit of advice is that you’re shopping for a bike and a bike shop – you want to find a shop that you feel treats you with dignity and respect, first and foremost. You want a sales staff that you feel confident is selling you into a lifetime of cycling, not just selling the shop out of a new bike. You also want a service staff that isn’t too grumpy.:p

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Vicegrip 93372 wrote:

I hope this is race tactics and not shop ride cat 6.

Shop ride Cat6 tactics are much less refined, and more like:

if the … anything … ATTACK!!!

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Powerful Pete 93355 wrote:

Yes wonderful commute… I second your proposal. We keep this weather year-round and significantly improve quality of life in this area.

San Washington Diego of Columbia?

[Harry Meatmotor]

to further elucidate the more ELITE intricacies of half-wheeling, here are some tactical considerations:

if following the lead rider in a group of racers, half-wheeling allows you to stay in the lead rider’s blind spot.

by staying in the lead rider’s blind spot, you can ATTACK and gain a second or two before the lead rider can respond.

the half-wheeling rider can react to any accelerations by the lead rider without having to go around the lead rider.

the half-wheeling rider can still use a small amount of drafting – particularly if there’s a crosswind.

the half-wheeling rider can still see the lead rider’s face and will constantly be watching to see if mock agony changes to true agony, especially on climbs. if the half-wheeling rider sees true agony, ATTACK.

[Harry Meatmotor]

the 1st street cycle track is getting worse as far as joggers go. Insight to the mindset of the jogger:

(coulda posted this on missed connections, but eh… whatevs)

You: two joggers running NB on the 1st cycletrack, taking both lanes
Me: rings my bell twice
you: nothing
me: slows behind you and says “you realize you’re running in the street, right?”
you: (pointing to the sidewalk) “but there’s people on the sidewalk!!!”
me: ugh…

I’ve resorted to skipping that cycle track most days.

interesting aside

i’ve now been flashed at and honked at twice in the last two weeks by oncoming car traffic along that section of 1st St with my Exposure Diablo 5 on high!

[Author]

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