Commuting - Finally - commuting epitome achieved!

Yesterday I finally had the ride I'd been envisioning back when I first thought "Hey, what if I rode a bicycle to work...". Perfect weather (22C, sunny), perfect ride. Traffic was working with me all the way - I think my longest pause crossing a road was under half a minute. I don't have a cyclometer or pay much attention to the time usually, but I know yesterday was my quickest time (in and out, but particurlarly the ride home).

What made the difference was... I got new tyres and tubes over the weekend - pneumatic tubes, having been on (what had come to be VERY) worn solid tubes before. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Probably not news to anyone but me, but WOW. When I roll down a hill now, hey look! I actually gain speed! Going up a hill... what hill? where? That speed-bump I just sailed over?? :D
The solids had worn to a point that they had no compression at all and presented a flat ~1 inch tyre profile to the road - so now I'm delighting in feeling like some kind of stealthy bicycle ninja as the road noise is a fraction of what it was. I knew the solids were making the ride harder, but I hadn't realized just how MUCH. It feels like the ride difficulty setting has been moved from "ULTRA NIGHTMARE MOUNTAINS" to "Push me through the park". I don't regret having ridden the solids for so long though... built up my legs like a mofo.

But this change came at just the right time - rear axle broke on the way home last Wednesday, which meant another trip to LBS (and driving to work for two days, grrrr), having just been at the LBS just over a week before that for new crank bearings - I was starting to do the unthinkable... question the whole commuting idea. Initially I was just gonna put an air tube in the back and see how that went, but the shop got a little confused... air tubes in both and replaced the tyres (which were VERY worn... I'd been intending to ride them down to the carcass). Hit my credit card harder than I wanted, but I'm glad I got the new rubber.
Now all I'm doing is passing time between rides :D

Punctures... I know are a matter of time, but I'll deal with them. Today I am one happy commuting cyclist.

Just thought I'd share. :)

Grats, sounds great.

Awesome... when everything and everyone seems to be working with you on a ride, it sure is a fantastic feeling!

Was wondering what you meant by 'pneumatic' - so I went to Sheldon...

Of all the inventions that came out of the bicycle industry, probably none is as important and useful as Dr. Dunlop's pneumatic tire.
Airless tires have been obsolete for over a century, but crackpot "inventors" keep trying to bring them back. They are heavy, slow and give a harsh ride. They are also likely to cause wheel damage, due to their poor cushioning ability. A pneumatic tire uses all of the air in the whole tube as a shock absorber, while foam-type "airless" tires/tubes only use the air in the immediate area of impact.

Airless tire schemes have also been used by con artists to gull unsuspecting investors. My advice is to avoid this long-obsolete system.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_a.html#airless

Wow - I didn't think they really made solid tires. What were you riding before?

Swoop, How did you get started on airless tires? They are rarer than hen's teeth up here. Are they more common in SA?

I've never heard anyone have anything good to say about them, but I've never heard from anyone who rode them much either.

It must feel like you're flying now. Hope you know how to fix a flat on the road now.

I fitted them shortly after I started commuting (actually when I got my first puncture) - figured it was a more reliable way to go for commuting. They're marketed here as "Perma-toobs"... easy to get a hold of, even the big all-in-one superstore chains carry them.

I concur with everything Mr Brown concluded. ;)

Now if you'll excuse an extremely noobish question - do those puncture-repair aerosol spray jobs you get for cars work for bicycle tyres?

Now if you'll excuse an extremely noobish question - do those puncture-repair aerosol spray jobs you get for cars work for bicycle tyres?

Use those puncture repair cans enough and you will soon have solid tubes again. :D
Best to just learn how to change a flat. With a little practice, you'll get to where it is just a minor inconvenience.

Happy commuting, sounds like you're doing great!

Now if you'll excuse an extremely noobish question - do those puncture-repair aerosol spray jobs you get for cars work for bicycle tyres?

These cans are very low pressure -- maybe 20-40 pounds. If you have mountain bike, cruiser, or hybrid tires, they work fine on slow leaks. Higher pressure tires won't work. Interestingly, I have had far better results with "Fix a Flat" than with Slime (a popular bicycle tire sealant here in the US). I can recall one cold, rainy winter night when I was very glad I had that can in my bottle cage. However, you will still have to patch/replace the tube, because it is just a temporary repair. Furthermore, if you run over something like a tack or big hunk of broken glass they will not work at all.

I've been using the Schwalbe Marathon Plus for the last four months and have had no flats. That compares to my usual pattern of one flat a month. They are a very heavy tire, but with low rolling resistance. I'd suggest getting the sturdiest tires you can find, adding tire liners and thick tubes, and still being prepared to fix an occasional flat. In the scheme of things, one flat a year is not a bad deal.

Paul

Swoop,
You must have missed my post on solid tires. The two most difficult climbing days I have had were on flat ground with a solid rear tire, 'cause that's what it felt like - like a climb where it's hard pedaling anyway and if you pause in pedaling you slow almost immediately. A lower gear made it easier to pedal but did not make the bike move more easily. The first day I thought my legs were just really fatigued. The second day I realized it was the tire. It stayed on only as long as it took me to get home and rip it off. Anyone who wants to see what it feels like is welcome to try it out.

like a climb where it's hard pedaling anyway and if you pause in pedaling you slow almost immediately. A lower gear made it easier to pedal but did not make the bike move more easily.

ah, the memories. ;)

Thanks for the advice on the sprays, methinks I'll be repairing the old-fashioned way.

Slime works differently than the puncture repair cans you are talking about. The auto tire repair cans (at least in Canada) are used after the fact, and the tire looses a certain amount of air before it seals itself. Bike tires don't hold enough air for that.
Slime (brand name, AFAIK) is inserted in the tube before a flat occurs, and in theory, the goowy stuff will block the hole as soon as it occurs.

Those who have used it say it adds weight (not as much as your ex solid tires) and works fine for micro holes, but for larger holes, it makes tube repair a much harder job -- if not an impossible one. Those who like Slime tend to live in desert-like areas where there are lots of thorns. I don't use that and tend to have one flat per year.

In theory I would be the ideal candidate for Slime, as my usual flats were slow leaks. In practice, I noticed no benefit from Slime. The primary result was a big mess and a tube replacement on each leak. As Michel says, maybe the folks out West have better luck with it.

My observation was that the pressure can stuff, once present in the tire, did a better job than Slime of sealing a new puncture.

Paul