@wlukewindsor Oh, my bad! My road bicycle is Shimano all the way. What I was talking about is to ditch the 105 entirely (with ultegra RX in the back) and replace it with SRAM Force AXS group set with, sadly, the rim brakes…🤣 @cycling@rower
When @glitter and I got to the bottom of a long hill while #cycling yesterday, I heard the tell-tale sign of a #tubeless leak in my front tire, a well-used #Panaracer#GravelKing. She even said it was smoking, but I knew it was just sealant blowing out.
Thankfully, it was at the end of our ride and I didn't have to deal with steering on a floppy tire. I did snap this picture, though. :blobfoxsweating:
I tried seating it again today and it just wouldn't hold air because of the same spot. That's when I noticed the bulge in the sidewall near the bead, so I decided to toss the tire and put on a fresh (identical) one I had in reserve. The new tire seated without issue, aside from how I had to do it twice because I put it on the wrong way the first time. :blobfoxgooglymlem:
This isn't a knock on Panaracer tire quality, of course. The tire's been through a lot and there was only so much tread left anyway.
@nik After years of struggling because I was afraid to raise my saddle after tearing a quad in 2013 (?), I started raising it some, then noticed that I was able to pedal in smooth and quick circles instead of by mashing down. That circular pedaling is what good technique is. :blobfox: I also had to move my saddle forward quite a bit because my legs would drag me forward with their circular pedaling otherwise.
As far as handlebar position goes, that resolved itself once my core was strong enough. :geblobcatshrug: If you don't try to hold onto the bars for dear life and just let your hands fall where they will, that'll tell you where to move the bars to.
@ssamulczyk@cycling@rower 😁
Just your average winterbiking Canadian here... We had a high of 11C yesterday. But it could snow again this week.. In fact, we kind; f hope it does. Wildfire season has already started 😟
@ssamulczyk@cycling@rower Our kids loved to travel in the trailer. K2 was 20 days old when we took her the first time - it was cold and snowing on that day... 😊
@rcr Ours too, but fortunately, the boys are now cycling on their own bikes... As they grew older they started putting things to my rear wheel and getting other stupid ideas together... :bulbasaurroll: This trailer is for just one kid so I'm hoping there will be nothing like that... @cycling@rower
@sumek A nie wiem! Ludzie różnie oceniają Decathlonowe rzeczy. Letnie ciuchy mam z Martombike głównie, ale zimowe z Deca trudno pobić pod względem jakości do ceny. Spodnie jakby co nie są zimowe tylko takie przejściowe 3/4. Zimowe też mam pełne, długie i z Deca…😁
I really like these panniers, though I'm glad that I found a quicker way of managing the shoulder carry strap than the rather daft built-in things #BikeTooter@fedibikes@cycling
@kim@achadwick@cycling I keep it closed using the strap that comes over the top from the back, and have also used the drybag method. The front hook is just there to add tension to the longer strap -- in all my years, I've never had a problem with the strap getting particularly muddy, unless I'm also getting muddy anyway. But different use cases, maybe?
@ravenbait@achadwick@cycling Recumbent low-rider racks put the front panniers in splatter range of the front wheel, while the rider stays high and dry. Of course, the great thing about Ortliebs is you can just run them under the tap.
The over-the-top strap is incredibly useful for overloading the pannier gracefully, dangling random things from, or crossing over with the pannier on the other side for additional security, and I do miss it on my flap-closure Altura panniers (which got relegated to shopping duty when I discovered they were being eaten by the disc brake on my tourer).
Isn’t it nice to know that you can take your bike into any bike shop and get it fixed? Even if you’re in Mexico, France, Italy, Montana, or even India? If they don’t have the part to fix your bike, they can easily order it and have it fixed in a day or two. Well, it wasn’t always that way. You see, in the 1970’s the International Standards Organization (ISO) spent years of painstaking work involving over 30 nations to develop standard sizes, thread pitches and specifications for common bicycle parts like bottom brackets, hubs, freewheels, head sets, etc…
Before the ISO endorsements were made, each country had its own standards. Even within a country, you could find different standards for different manufacturers. A bicycle made in France used different parts all around than a bicycle made in Italy or the United States. This made life difficult for both the bicycle dealer trying to help a customer, and also for the customer who had purchased a bicycle with standards not common in their area.
While rifling through my 1970’s Bicycling magazines, I found an article on this while the standards were still in development, and it brought to mind many situations that are occurring now in our industry today.
While we have always tried very hard to manufacture our bicycles using standard size parts and specifications to make things easy for our customers, many manufacturers are now veering far from the ISO standards in an effort to create what’s called ‘proprietary’ parts. These are parts designed specifically for that particular frame. It can be something as small as the part that holds the rear derailleur to a carbon frame, or something major like a specific bottom bracket that’s only available from that manufacturer.
I think people should be aware of proprietary parts as they can make life difficult for the customer, as well as the bike shops trying to help that customer. This is especially true for the cyclist touring foreign countries.
Replaceable derailleur hangers and the problems they can pose
Replaceable derailleur hangers Several years ago, I wrote an article called ‘Chaos, the new standard‘. That article holds so much truth even today that I thought a follow up was in order. So, here it goes. A company that’s been around for 51 years, as we have, will tell you the importance of standards. This is a short article detailing one such detour that we took in the 1980’s.
What are standards, and why should you care? If you are a person who wants to buy a bicycle that you will ride for 20 years plus, then standards mean a lot to you. For instance, I ride a Rodriguez road bike the we built here in 1999, and I’m still riding it today. I consider myself a Forever Bike person. I will still be able to buy parts for this bike in 20 years too. Any part that needs replacing we will have in stock. That’s because it’s built around ISO standards (International Standards Organization). ISO standards were settled upon by the bicycle industry in the 1970’s in an attempt to make sure that people could get their bicycle fixed in just about any country, and well into the future. It’s worked miraculously….until recently.
@rekiwi That sounds dope! I wish my kids were so eager for cycling! I’m trying to show them it’s an adventure, but age is their limit for now (7, 5 and 0,5). I’m a gravel converted roadie, doing half of the yearly distance at night, so I hope one day they will go out with me instead going to bed…😂 We will eventually get there! @cycling@rower
My 8 & 11yo boys race track cycling during summer. The local club charge $A5 (=€3/$US3) per session which includes use of a track bike and about 3 races over the course of 2 hours.
Emphasis on fun. They both get up early every Sunday and prepare their own bags so we get there on time.