andre nickatina

get gatorskins and never look back, or learn to skip. problem solved.

sweetbike

Skipping for downhills brotha, or applying pressure to the back. I still have my rear tire for several months not by not skidding but by skipping.

onetwentyeight 

spoken like someone who doesnt go down enough hills. a gatorskin can be killed in an afternoon, ive seen it done. a lot of people use the vitorria randoneurs in the rear. i can make a gatorskin last about 2.5-3 months by being conservative, but its not as much fun that said, i am a big fan of the gatorskins, they ride really nicely for a tire with such flat protection

andre nickatina

i think it all depends on weight, i clock in at about 155-160 pounds and had an armadillo last me a good 6 months (it's still lying in the basement and hasn't gotten down to the threads), and i learned to skid on this tire and would literally just bike in front of my house for an hour doing skids over and over to get the technique at different speeds, or just skid at every intersection just for one, or just down entire hills with my weight really far over the bars. everyone on here talks about how armadillos don't last worth ****.

gear ratio could also determine it, because i have 19 skid spots right now as well as before, whereas a friend ran 48x16 (the worst gear ratio ever by the way, if you skid) and skidded through a decent michelin tire in about 3 days.

you can't even tell i've been skidding on my gatorskins right now, and when i'm downtown it's skips pretty much every block, skids down hills if it's hectic.

but yeah, after learning skips i rely on them instead of backpedaling for most of my braking, only skid when i really feel like it or the situation demands a skid instead of a skid (not often if you get good at skipping).

onetwentyeight 

yep skipping is an essential skill to know, and skid patches make a big difference. i dont know how anyone rides without knowing how to skip. i know kinjo can do it though, weve ridden together several times

DerekRI

So, which definition of "skipping" are you guys referring to right now? Hopping the back wheel slightly, or the alternating short skids?

onetwentyeight 

both, as they're pretty much the same motion. i use the hopping one more but i dont really lift my tire off the ground so much as just unweight it.

deathhare

Skipping seems to be an unclear term. I prefer mini-skid

onetwentyeight 

i like skipping because the motion one makes when skipping on the ground is nearly identical to what one does on the bike.

deathhare

Wait, you skip while walking? Youve been in SF too long, man.

onetwentyeight 

learn to love life, son!

and yea, too long. native.

deathhare

dystaind

Ahhh I came into this one really late.

Iamarapgod-- SF and Pittsburgh have similar "terrain" in terms of hills. However-- San Fran roads are in better condition, have an occasional bike lane, and have streets you can turn off of. Pittsburgh's roads are chewed up, based off crazy buggy roads, and have no such bike lanes.

I'm currently in the 'burgh and though I love it out here, I'm excited by the prospect of moving to SF come this summer and next year. So you might be hearing more of me...

Retem

I don't skip I run low gears and I back pedal while standing it works just fine for me but I also don't really mess with the hills I am working on getting the wiggle down

oh hey adam if you have the wiggle on a pdf I would like a copy

I also notice I m much slower than most people maybe because I crawl down hill
any tips or tricks I should learn before may lemme know gents

breadbox

wiggle is marked. Start at the bike path behind Gayfway and follow the bike lane graphics on the street.

andre nickatina

but skips and mini skips aren't the same thing, with a skip you're doing a mini skid every half rotation, whereas a mini skid is just that - one skid that is more just like the back tire brushing in reverse for a second.

i didn't know how to skip until like 2 weeks ago but man, it improves the riding experience 10x. before that, i'd either do hardcore backpedaling or just skidding whenever the situation demanded it, now i barely backpedal and when i do, it's not a hard, knee breaking back pedal.

onetwentyeight 

i dont know what youre talking about, our roads are GARBAGE.

retem - https://joelpomerantz.com/unqdesignpa...glegraphic.jpg

Kinjo

I appreciate your advice but riding fixed everyday in SF for years without a brake has made me skip out of necessity. Believe it or not, even skipping can wear down tires in this town - going over and down the Presidio ridge, upper to lower Haight, down to Sausalito off the Golden Gate bridge, down Gough St, etc.

I'm glad you made the point about skipping for non-SF riders and newer folks but I hope you understand that this hilly town is a tire eater!

Kinjo

128 and I have skipped together down many hills in SF and Lake Tahoe! Ummmmm...that sounded very unmanly but whatever.

m i a h

Pittsburg roads must really suck then, cuz here they seem to work on the roads to make them worse.

Retem

yeah sacramento roads are bad but atleast they are flat sf roads are bad and they not flat

dookski

cities have hills. you just adapt out of necessity. i've been places with worse roads than sf, but you learn to avoid them. back at home (wisconsin) i had my commute down so well i could avoid potholes even under snow cover.

dystaind

Hate to make the "My town is worse" argument but I think it's pretty justified.

They are bad. The road construction here is pretty slow and incessant... it gets slower because of snow and rain (Pittsburgh just got snowed on. Probably about 3 inches in one day... in the middle of March too)

They also oversalt roads here. It wicks the water out of concrete and the whole shebang becomes pitted and crumbles easily... so they redig up roads and work on them some more.

Trust me, I've lived in California for 18 years of my life. I've lived about 1/4 of my life in San Francisco... and yeah the roads are bad.

But they aren't Pittsburgh bad.

Retem

yeah in sacramento our roads are built on an aquifer so the pot holes open up every time it rains and dryes out like mini sink holes

scott77

wiggle is easy..

from safeway/church:

duboce to the park, go right

left at the coffee shop
go 2 blocks, turn right
left at the BJ (burger joint)
right at the liquor store
left on fell