Mr. Beanz

Another Friday and another visit to the now very local Performance shop. Gatorskins for $54 so I picked up a second for the tandem front this week. Rear last week. I slapped a GP4000 on the front last week and flatted. Who said GP's were flat resistant? Heck with it, I'm going both Gatorskins.

Couple extra tubes while I'm at it and since I needed socks, I looked at the sock section which is seriously lacking. Plain white sock for $10? Pfft, I got a few pair of slightly irregulars for $2.50. Gina's pink socks were $4.50, she likes the good stuff. Tried them on and I must say, much better than my current socks that are just starting to develop holes ha ha!

I like buying bike stuff no matter how big or small, it's all good.

Cycling wife understands!


This week


stuff by mrbeanz1, on Flickr


Last week


goodies by mrbeanz1, on Flickr

Getting ready for the "He works hard for his money" pole dance.


work by mrbeanz1, on Flickr

Axiom

Have you tried tire liner? I got a flat a few days ago for the first time in months and I decided to try this tire liner. Lately, homeless drunks keep smashing their beer bottles all over the trail and sometimes it's hard to avoid it. I might change my route and avoid it completely.

ahultin

FYI MR. Beanz, Bikebling in Escondido (and .com) has the gatorskins for 39.99 (wire) and 45.00(folding) my local performance matched them no problem with the printout from the website and thier pricing policy says they will refund the difference within 90 days of purchase so you could price match last months purchase as well (heck with the difference you could buy yourself 2 pairs of the fancy socks )

Mr. Beanz

Cool, thanks for the tip. I wasn't sure if Perf would match the prices of other shops. I guess it won't hurt to try.

Mr. Beanz

I tried them years ago when the tandem was new. The end of the liner actually cut the tube causing a flat on an organized ride.. Since then I tried placing tape over the edge, trimming with an exacto knife, sanding the edges with no success. Also tried different brands. But never the kevlar type cloth cause that stuff is expensive.

I also tried them on my single bike. But with my weight, it cut into the tube as well. It takes 2 weeks to a month (?) but it did eventually in my case.

Mugre

I find an absolute and direct relation to tire size and frequency of flats. In my case I found going up a tire size cheaper and easier than using expensive, just as heavy and poorer riding gatorskins/armadillos etc. On my errand bike I have Schwalbe "city" tires at 32 and 35 front and rear. I haven't had a flat on that bike in over two years. When it had Continental 28's, I got flats about once a month. When my road bike had Specialized Armadillo 25's, I was getting a flat about once a week.

mugre

Mr. Beanz

IMO, the Gatorskins are a decent ride. Armadillos not so nice.



My bikes won't take more than a 25. Even some 25's like Specialized with their large flange on the side have rubbed paint from my frames.


I used an Armadillo on my roadie while training for a big ride. I rode lots of mountain roads with debris and sharp rocks, not one flat in 5000 miles. I was using an Armadillo up until about a month ago when I figurd I'd try something different on my roadie for a while. But they are a terrible ride on the tandem but still good puncture protection.