lz4005

Willful helplessness pisses me off.
Nobody over the age of 10 should be allowed to ride a bike unless they can change out a tube on the side of the road.

Scrodzilla

Agreed. That's just ridiculous. How difficult is it to carry a patch kit, 15mm wrench and tire levers?

Syscrush

What else should they be able to do to earn their cycling certificate?

LoRoK

If anyone rides a bike and doesn't have the tools needed to fix a flat with them, they deserve to walk. It's called a saddle bag (or a backpack, hip pouch, pocket, messenger bag or whatever). Don't ride a bike without it.

ianjk

Patching a tube.

illdthedj

first off, i am a newb and probably dont know enough to warrant a review of a tire, but what the hell....
got a fyxation white wall on the front and the ride felt much better than the stock whatever tire was on there previous. much more comfy. cornering seemed easier/grippier. something i notice is the tread wraps around the sides of the tire.

i cant comment on puncture resistance since ive ridden on it only twice.

they're pretty pricey, and i think made more for trick track riding? only come in 700x28....but regardless, the ride and cornering def. felt much nicer with it on. me gusta

illdthedj

sweet! i can do BOTH those!
ill look for the cycling certificate in the mail next week.

Scrodzilla

It has nothing at all to do with earning any kind of "cycling certificate". It's just something very simple that should be common knowledge if you ride or commute on a bicycle, just as everyone driving a car should know how to pump gas.

Learn things. It's good for you.

jonnycomelately

[QUOTE=PedallingATX;10545287]you guys really need to learn how to swap out tires

gatorskins are not hard to install. at all. i just put one on last night and it took me like 3 minutes.

Ok so assuming you're not a troll -- or for anyone else too -- any tips on getting gatorskins on? I've got 'em and had to change a tube the other day and ended up with blood all over my rim after somehow nicking my knuckles... I ended up using the tire lever in lieu of my then bloodied fingers, even though I knew this wasn't the best idea. At the LBS/bike clinic they suggested either using their fancy tool which looked kinda like pliers, buying one of my own, or using rubbing alcohol to make the tire slide more easily. While I'd definitely stop by there if I was nearby when I got the flat, that's not all that likely, and the tool they had looked pretty heavy. Also clearly it's possible to do w just plain 'ole plastic tire levers. Anyone got any good tricks?

(wtf: noob here needs to learn how to include a quote... sorry)

illdthedj

sarcasm comprehension fail?

LoRoK

[QUOTE=jonnycomelately;10548179]I've rolled the skin right off my thumbs changing tires before. It can be a ***** sometimes for sure. My trick is that when I'm working on a particularly stubborn tire, I take it slow and curse a lot. It helps to change it on the spot instead of waiting till later (and this could just be in my head) since when everything is warm from riding it seems looser and more flexible.

Edit: Wow, you messed up your quoting so bad that mine is messed up too! Awesome!

lz4005

I've always felt tread wrap was more important than tire compound for cornering grip. Or at least its much more noticeable to me.

jonnycomelately

[QUOTE=LoRoK;10548246]*hoping this quotes right*

Well the cursing part I've definitely got down -- roommate was on the phone with her mom and had to go into another room...

LoRoK

Tire "tread" has less grip on pavement than a slick tire.

illdthedj

isn't the opposite true in wet conditions?

Syscrush

This whole argument about "you shouldn't be riding a bike if you can't do <this>" is silly. Obviously, the more you can do, the more self-sufficient you are, and there are clear benefits to a combination of self-sufficiency and preparedness. But almost everyone draws the line somewhere. Almost all of us can change tires and patch tubes. Similarly almost all of us can clean and lube a chain, and adjust tension where necessary. What about replacing a spoke? Truing a wheel? Lacing from scratch? remove & replace cassette? Pull cranks? Correctly space out a chainline? Rebuild a coaster brake or IGH hub? Tune brakes, derailleurs, shifters? Clean, lube, replace cables? Wrap bars? Braze? Lay up carbon fiber? Prep, paint, and polish? etc. etc. etc.

All of us can do some subset of this list, and probably some stuff that's not on the list. But a very small fraction of us can do all of it. And is everyone who can do more of that stuff entitled to berate anyone who can do less of it? It seems that some assumptions have been made about how much of my own maintenance I'm able to do based on what I wrote specifically about my screw-ups in this self-deprecating thread, and that's fine, I'm not here to pretend to be a master mechanic. However I take issue with the claim that this person or that isn't qualified or entitled to ride a bike because they're unable to do this or that maintenance procedure.

If you want to ride, then ride. If you want to wrench, then wrench. If you want to be a condescending jerk, don't.

I was happy to see the tire suggestions in this thread. I thought I might see some other remarks about when people have had a string of bad luck coupled with stupid mistakes, but I guess I'm the only one who has either.

LesterOfPuppets

Siping or tread will have no appreciable effect on grip for a typical road bike tire on a typical road surface whether wet or dry.

lz4005

Not talking about tread pattern, I'm talking tread wrap, or more precisely cross section profile. Some tires, like armadillos, have more of a square cross section with sharper "shoulders" as compared to others that are more round in profile. For me that makes a much more noticeable difference than the gummyness of the tire compound. Of course proper inflation makes an even bigger difference than either of those.

Young Version

Well said.

I'm guilty of making boneheaded mistakes in my cycling endeavors. I try to learn from them to avoid repeating them, but I'm not particularly ashamed of making them in the first place.

I don't carry the requisite tools to change a flat when I ride to school, but then again, I live within easy walking distance. I'm willing to risk getting a flat at school if it means not carrying a few extra things in my backpack, which is already full of engineering textbooks.

In conclusion, don't worry so much about what other people can or can't do, as long as it doesn't put you in danger. I hear these "No one should be allowed to ride a bike unless they..." statements frequently on BF and they really bother me. I don't think more restrictions on cycling are really what the world needs.

zonatandem

Agree with MaxSta; we have been running the Maxxis ReFuse 700x25 tires on our tandem for several years.
They are light (275 grams), hi-pressure (120 lbs) and have a folding/Kevlar tire bead along with an Aramid/Kevlar layer that is the best/lightest puncture resistant tire we've used in decades. 700x23s are 50 grams lighter.
X-tra easy to install/remove on our rims: no tools needed! Mileage on the rear of our tandem is usually around the 2,000 mile mark; more miles on the front.We live in the desert in AZ, so lotsa oportunities for flats . . . great puncture resistance.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Syscrush

Wow - that's quite an endorsement. I'm back to getting confused again.

Syscrush

Today after work I picked up a pair of Gatorskins and tonight I put 'em on my bike. Agreed 100% that anyone who says they're hard to put on is just whining.

The look horrible, I hope that they feel OK and last a long f'n time!

BassNotBass

+1. The tread on a tire is there to help disperse water and prevent hydroplaning... something I have yet to experience on a bike, even on fast downhill runs. Granted, mud or sand is a different matter but for mostly street riding, I'm fine with bald tires.

As for the side argument of what repair/maintenance skills an individual is expected to have... that is a completely personal matter. If someone uses a bike as a primary means of transportation yet doesn't even possess even the simplest skills to fix a flat, then who cares? That person is the one who has to walk the bike somewhere and pay to get it fixed. However if they choose to complain about having to do so and expects sympathy for their own self-imposed handicap... then dream on.

jonnycomelately

ummm... really? guess i'm a whiner then. seriously though, is there some trick i'm missing? granted i haven't been changing tires all my life, but i'm currently trying to identify the source of a slow leak on my tube, and have taken the damn tire off i don't know how many times... needless to say it's not getting any easier.

oh, and as for how they feel... i'm sure you've noticed already that it's a seriously rough ride.

Young Version

Don't feel too bad. When it comes to bicycle tires and rims, there can be slight variations in sizing. It's possible that you got a particularly small diameter tire or a particularly large diameter rim, or a combination of the two.

If you take 10 of the same tire and 10 different rims, some will be easier to mount than others.