The Cycling Thread

[maviczap]

Wear the old ones out first, keep the new ones in a cool dark place until you're ready to swap them.

Originally Posted by carelesschucca

Mav you're a star yet again, I've just reserved some and I'm just heading up to the store to get them...

I don't know if I should put them on the bike straight away or just stick with the tyres I've got.

Yeah if Mav hadn't suggested the gatorskins I wouldn't have seen em. Also heading over to the Halfords by us in 20mins or so. And I will be putting em on straight away!

Was just looking at that full Ultegra B'Twin again there Dean, very tempted! Could have that set up with the correct pedals etc and keep my little white one for commuting. And have 4 bikes kept in a one bedroom flat

[Dipper]

Just to throw my 2p worth in, make sure you get folding tryes, wire beads are heavier and harder to get on ...not good when you've got a puncture at the side of the road. AJC if you're not worried about weight or rolling resistance too much the tyre that offers best puncture protection by far is the Schwalbe Durano Plus.

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by Dipper

Just to throw my 2p worth in, make sure you get folding tryes, wire beads are heavier and harder to get on ...not good when you've got a puncture at the side of the road. AJC if you're not worried about weight or rolling resistance too much the tyre that offers best puncture protection by far is the Schwalbe Durano Plus.

That's good advice, with Continentals being some of the hardest.

Unless you have one of these

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/koolstop-...ate-prod34684/

No more blistered thumbs

I find the wire beaded tyres are easier, once they're been on the rims for a while.

Another tip I read the other day, was to inject 50ml of tubeless tyre sealant into your inner tubes. Must be similar to the Slime inner tubes

[carelesschucca]

Right questions again.

How far do you guys get out of a chain?

I bought a chain wear tool this evening when I was picking up the tyres.
I've only done 623km and this is the result, and I'll be honest I'm not happy.


And yes the bike needs another wash after todays ride.

Cheers Dipper, but the Gatorskins have already been purchased and fitted. They took the 20% off the sale price as well so got em for £28.80 in the end. Also replaced my two tubes from today and got some pre-glued patches for emergencies.

I think they are the wire beaded ones but I got em on (then one of them off, then back on again) pretty quickly, with only minimal swearing and thumb flexing, so they are okay. Hopefully I don't need them off again too soon!

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by carelesschucca

Right questions again.

How far do you guys get out of a chain?

I bought a chain wear tool this evening when I was picking up the tyres.
I've only done 623km and this is the result, and I'll be honest I'm not happy.


And yes the bike needs another wash after todays ride.

Pass, usually a winter. I abuse mine until the spring, and then put a new one on, although I've usually swapped from the winter bike to the summer bike.

But cheaper to change a chain, than the front and rear cogs. I don't subscribe to the bike shop myth that you have to change the cassette, when you change the chain. I'm sure its just used to sell more stuff.

OK, the shifts will be back to super slick, but that's expensive.
__________________

[Dipper]

Originally Posted by carelesschucca

Right questions again.

How far do you guys get out of a chain?

I bought a chain wear tool this evening when I was picking up the tyres.
I've only done 623km and this is the result, and I'll be honest I'm not happy.


And yes the bike needs another wash after todays ride.

In the winter around 1500 miles on a 11 speed 105 chain before it hits .75% wear then it gets changed. It gets a quick clean and sparing lube at 700-800 miles and that's it, I've tried cleaning and lubing more frequently and it makes no difference. Top tip always remove as much excess lube as possible, it's the internals that need the lube any on the outside just holds dirt and grit which gunks up derailleurs and causes wear.

[Dipper]

Originally Posted by maviczap

But cheaper to change a chain, than the front and rear cogs. I don't subscribe to the bike shop myth that you have to change the cassette, when you change the chain. I'm sure its just used to sell more stuff.

OK, the shifts will be back to super slick, but that's expensive.

Spot on Mav, my current winter cassette has done 5000 miles, it's still shifting fine. I think the last one was changed at over 8000 miles when it stopped shifting nicely.

Originally Posted by maviczap

That's good advice, with Continentals being some of the hardest.

Unless you have one of these

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/koolstop-...ate-prod34684/

No more blistered thumbs

I find the wire beaded tyres are easier, once they're been on the rims for a while.

Another tip I read the other day, was to inject 50ml of tubeless tyre sealant into your inner tubes. Must be similar to the Slime inner tubes

I was getting 1 or 2 punctures every time I got on the bike over winter until I changed to Conti GPS4000S2 with very light Conti 50g tubes and Stans sealant... not a single puncture since. I've currently got Schwalbe One tubeless tyres on the bike with Stans sealant which looks even better.

To add to Mav's post...

30ml of sealant is all that is needed in a 25c tyre. 20ml is too little, 25ml is on the line... anything more than 30ml is pretty much wasted and only slows the tyres, but YMMV.
The only downside to Stans is that it needs to be replaced every 6-8 months because it goes off in the tyre. My tyres don't last that long so it is not a problem.

There's plenty of Youtube videos on how to get sealant past a presta valve... I use a 100ml hydroponics syringe with the supplied tubing which just goes onto the threads on a presta valve. Measure and squirt.

Slime... IME it has a high viscosity and can be hard to inject. With a presta valve the valve core needs to be completely out of the stem... If the core is just in the stem it is often enough to plug the stem (easy to clean). With the valve out hang onto it or it is going to be a fishing expedition to get it back.

And... if a tyre goes down overnight it was because it wasn't checked for debris before putting it away. All is not lost, pick the debris out, rotate the tyre to spread the sealant and re-inflate. 99% of the time it'll be fine. I've had plenty of experience doing this with my MTB in the briar patch I call home and tyres got so many thorns I never picked them out - there'd be quite literally thousands of thorns broken off in my tyres. With road tyres (which are not as tough) I think it is best to check them so that flint for example is not tearing the tyre and tube to pieces... it only takes a few seconds to check each wheel and give it a spin at the end of a ride.