Max C.

Hello,

I used to ride a couple miles to school when I was 11-14 on a Walmart Roadmaster Mountain bike. Now I'm 22 and want to get back into bike commuting. My intended trips are relatively short trips to the grocery store, bank, etc though I might start riding the bike to my girlfriend's place 14 miles away and am interested in doing some rides with the Midnight Ridazz. Part of why I want to switch to riding my bike, in addition to reducing general wear on my car, is that the roads where I live (North Hollywood, CA) are deteriorating rapidly and I'm tired of hitting pothole after pothole and shortening the life of my car's suspension.

Not North Hollywood, but a pretty good example of what I'm trying to avoid:



I'm currently using a loaner Schwinn LeTour and am worried about those same potholes causing me headaches on a Road bike. I lost the rear tube on Tuesday by running over some glass (resulting in a slow leak... I'm currently on old 700 x 1 1/4 tires with no kevlar ) but a full blow out because of a pothole is what scares me (mostly because of ignorance and inexperience with road bikes). Are road conditions like this a real problem for a road bike? Obviously the idea is to avoid bad parts of the road but sometimes that is not possible here (seriously, I've been on roads in little forgotten desert towns in Mexico that were in better shape). If so should I get a mountain bike and run slicks? Would a pair of new tires (like these) be all I really need to stay safe?

I'm used to driving off curbs and hillsides with a Mountain bike as a kid so I'm just not confident in road bike tires yet.

Thanks!

yokotas13

I ride in saudi arabia on a daily basis with a fuji track pro
I like the deep section wheels for more strength, about a month ago i ate it hard. was riding at night (with pretty good headlights) and hit a huge pothole or something that i didnt see. went over hte bars, huge gash in the elbow, handlebars turned and bike ended up like 5 feet ahead. wheels were golden, not a bit out of true.
Saudi arabia is like a third world country, horrible roads, no sidewalk, no pedestrian or bicycle areas. I routinely had flats till i jumped up to gatorskins (700x25 vs the 23)and i use continental innertubes. i have YET to have another flat in like 4 months. and i tow a burly cargo trailer with groceries too.

basically, if oyu ride in crappy places get stuff that is strong enough to take a beating. that is the uber important thing.

531phile 

I would get a mountain bike with a rigid fork and run 26 x 2.0 or greater tires. I run Schwalbe Big Apple 26 x 2.125 tires and they are nice and comfortable and I feel surefooted even when the road gets rough. It is nice to not worry that every other crack on the road is going to swallow your tires and cause you to crash. They have Kevlar on the belt. Moderately priced at about $35 each. They are not 100% slick. But very close. Maybe about 2mm of tread stands vertically. For a tire this size, I can still roll pretty fast. Another cool thing about running tires of this volume is I don't have to pump it up daily like high pressure skinny road tires. I can pump it up and I'll be good for about a week. I pump up to about 50psi. Some like to go lower at 35psi for an even more plush ride, but I like to go fast so I pump it up it bit more. Max is about 60psi.

I read mixed reviews on the Performance tires. Some love it and some think they are crap. A lot of bike tires get mixed reviews though.

jeffpoulin

Those roads don't look too bad. The 1-1/4" tires (35mm) you already have are a good width for those conditions. Keep them inflated to 60-70 psi and they should roll pretty fast, with enough cushion for the bumps and enough pressure to avoid pinch flats.

Alan@TreeFort

Good things suggested so far... 700c or 27" wheels are fine if you are super concious of where you ride. But with roads like that, not paying attention and dropping into huge potholes will destroy standard 700c wheels pretty quick. If you go with a 700c wheel, get some stellar rims like the Sun Ringle CR-18 and be very concious of where you direct your wheels.

A 26" wheel, on the other hand, will generally be much stronger. Smaller diameter wheels will hold up better, and 26" bikes take bigger tires, so there is a lot more rubber and air pressure to protect the wheel. Schwalbe Marathons or Big Apples are awesome tires that hold up well, roll pretty quick, and have good flat protection.

If you don't want to worry about it, go with a 26", either a rigid mtb, hybrid, or similar. If you want more speed, go with a 700 with beefy rims just avoid the big bumps.

Scheherezade 

Like others have said, an old steel mountain is probably the best solution. But, a road bike should be fine if you learn to scan ahead and avoid things. Some Schwabe Marathon tires in 27" size would be a perfect way to bombproof your current wheels against glass and debris. There are a few potholes on my route that would swallow the 4" wide Surly endomorph tires. Prevention is always better than mitigation. Also, an excellent headlight mounted low on your bike (on the fork) is key to avoiding road hazards at night.

slims_s

My 26 x 1.6" continental sport contacts seem to swallow everything that i throw at them Streets in Buenos Aires are the worst.

Max C.

All-righty, I think I'll play around with the hardware I have for now while I look for a mountain bike. I'll probably grab some new tires and under inflate them a little.

If I change the rims out to those SunRingle rims, can I use my existing hubs or should I buy new ones? The gears are in pretty good shape and the hubs turn well.

My friend is going to have a very nice bike after I finish tinkering haha.

MijnWraak

If you under inflate them, you risk getting more pinch flats when hitting a pothole. I hit a deep hole where one of those 5 inch gas caps go and got one.

I'd say practice avoiding potholes by looking ahead and taking the lane when necessary, as well as the out-of-saddle-swerve maneuver where you stay stationary but move your bike around the obstacle.

exile

Since it is not your bike I wouldn't put much money into it.

I would probably look into getting something like a rigid MTB if you are dealing with crappy roads. You probably won't be as fast as a road bike, but it would be yours and is built to take abuse.

Max C.

Hmm, wouldn't running them at a high pressure increase the chances of popping the tubes when hitting a pot hole? My tires are rated for 90PSI so I was thinking of following jeffpoulin's advice and setting them to 80PSI for a little more resilience. I know that worked well for my mountain bike but thats obviously a different beast.

I think I might get one anyways just to compare. Used bikes are relatively cheap and plentiful around here. I wasn't planning on adding really expensive parts to the bike, I just want it to be safe and other things like Racks and Saddles I planned on taking off the bike when I return them (I may also hold onto the tires) so I don't mind spending a little bit here to experiment.

Alan@TreeFort

Yes and no... high pressure makes the tires more likely to get punctures. However a "pinch" flat is caused by having too low of a pressure so that the tire hits a bump with such force that air in the tube more or less completely decompresses in that area, causing the tube to "pinch" and flat. Pinch flats usually look like a snike bite, with two small holes in the tube.

Running a max 90 PSI rated tires with 80 PSI is fine, and actually a good idea. PSI recommendations are generally a range, not a specific number. But running a max 90 tire at 50 will almost definitely give a pinch flat sooner or later.

exile

Switching over racks and saddles shouldn't be a problem. However if you buy tires make sure your new bike supports the tire size and/or width.

The road conditions you show look normal (I know that's sad). Try to avoid potholes or standing water as much as you can. Basically be as careful as you can. Tires may help avoid pinch flats, rolling resistance, or debris flats, but if you get a new bike, make sure they will work with it.

Max C.

Right, that was my understanding.

Those Strata K tires (Link are pretty inexpensive ($13 per tire) so I might consider those "rent" in exchange for having used the bike, or since I'm probably going to get my next bike through a co-op I just found in the area, I may end up with a similar bike if I choose to stay on a road bike and I'll just swap the tires.

It is sad that that's normal... Other parts of LA that I frequent are much better but I guess by the time the roads here get fixed those good roads will look like that too.

Alrighty, I think I'm set. Thanks again for all the help. I'll be sure to lurk some more .

jeffpoulin

You might want to double-check the size of your rim and tires and make sure they're compatible. In your OP, you mention 700x1-1/4 tires, but also say that it's an older bike (the Schwinn Le Tour was made from 1972 to 1988). Note that older bikes used 27" tires which are NOT interchangeable with 700c tires. There's an 8mm (1/4 inch) difference between a 27" wheel (630mm rim diameter) and a 700c wheel (622mm rim diameter). If you put a 700c tire on a 27" wheel, the tire bead won't seat correctly and you'll get blowouts especially at higher pressure.

The Strata K tires that you linked to come in two diameter sizes. 27x1-1/4 and 700x28mm or 25mm (1" or 7/8"). Before buying tires, double-check the diameter of the rim. I'd be very surprised if a true 1-1/4" tire has a max pressure rating of 90psi. Most tires that wide have max pressures of 70-80psi, while narrower 28mm tires may go to 100psi or more. For rough roads, I'd stick with 35mm (1-1/4") tires.

To know the rim size, you may have to measure it yourself. The tire size is printed on the tire itself. Usually something like 35-622 which means the tire is 35mm wide and goes on a 622mm diameter rim. Real 27" tires are very hard to find these days, so the Strata tires that you linked to are a good find.

In general, I like to inflate tires to about 5psi below max on the rear and 10-15psi below max on the front. I put less pressure in the front because the front wheel bears less weight, and less pressure gives a softer ride with slightly better traction with your steering tire (where you really want better traction). More pressure in the rear will help minimize tire resistance so you won't feel like your wide tires are slowing you down.

Max C.

I've been reading up tire info on Sheldon Brown's site (found it care of here and some googling) so I did read about differences between those rims. My tires have the following printed on them: 32-630-27 (27 x 1-1/4) Inflate to 90 PSI. I got crossed up when I was writing my original post and mistyped 700c x 1 1/4. The tires have been running well at 90PSI (my cut down was when I was running an iffy tube I couldn't get much above 60). The tire fits well to the rim so I believe this is correct.

I did goof a little and put a 700c tube (all that was available and I needed the bike) on the rear when i replaced it. It's a 25-32mm wide tube and I read it's non-optimal but works (I've already put 4 miles on it with no problems yet). Would it be worth switching to a 700c rim/tire down the line if I stick with road bikes?

jeffpoulin

Ah, that makes sense. You have 32mm tires (32-630) which are really 1-1/8" (despite the label saying 1-1/4"). 90psi is not uncommon at that width. Still fine for rough roads. Your tubes should be fine too. 27" wheels are rare these days, but I wouldn't replace them with 700c wheels on this bike unless they're in bad shape. If you do, you'll have to move your brake pads down about 4mm, so you might want to check that your brakes have enough room for that.

Max C.

I think I actually do have enough brake adjustability. However, my brakes seem a little screwy or are just different from modern brakes. I remember having some adjustment screws on my mountain bike but on these it seems like the only way to adjust them is to add or remove length from the cable that pulls both cables at once (one cable goes from the right brake lever to a Y cable bracket). Whoever set them up made this pretty short and I'll probably have to redo it and set them a little wider apart as I'm getting an occasional brake rub if I have to hit the brakes hard (shifts the brake assembly just ever so slightly).

If I get free or cheap rims I might consider the swap but otherwise I'll stick with what I have. These rims might have to be trued as they wobble a little bit more than I saw recommended (2mm is what I've read, sound right?) and it might be cheaper to just get new(er) used rims.