As mountain bikers, Presta valves are something we just deal with. However, it's strange how many other things we have optimized, such as headsets, seat posts, drivetrains, wheels, and even shoes. Why haven't we fixed the one thing that's actually broken? Today we'll discuss the kinds of valves cyclists have used over the years, why mountain bikers ended up with Presta, and how new options have become available, like premium, tubeless Schrader, and Clik.
You all can keep your constantly changing disc brake caliper mounting standards. I'll stick with the bog-standard canti posts that haven't changed in forever. :3
The pro racers who do need carbon fiber bikes get them for free. Only the people who don’t need them actually pay for them.
Carbon fiber is light. It’s strong. It can be used to build everything from frames to seat posts to handlebars to cranks. And it’s one of the worst things that’s happened to bikes.
Now, to be clear, carbon fiber makes perfect sense for professional racing. Because it’s basically a fabric, builders can mold it into all sorts of aerodynamic shapes. Moreover, they can tune ride quality and maintain strength while simultaneously keeping the weight to a minimum in a way that’s not really possible with metal tubing. It used to be that racers had to choose between a light bike and an aero bike; now they can have both, all thanks to the miraculous properties of carbon fiber. At this point, there’s no reason for elite competitors to use anything else. Gift Yourself More Adventure
But here’s the thing: you’re not them. I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, but you’re almost certainly incapable of milking the handful of seconds a wind tunnel-sculpted pro-level carbon fiber race machine might theoretically net you in certain situations. Moreover, the pro racers who do need carbon fiber bikes get them for free; only the people who don’t need them actually pay for them. This means that, ipso facto, if you’ve purchased a carbon fiber bicycle, you’ve made a mistake.
“Okay, fine, I may not be Jonas Vingegaard,” you may be thinking. “Maybe I didn’t need a carbon bike. But how does that mean I’ve made a mistake?”
Simple: while you’re not able to extract carbon fiber’s small performance benefits, you are in an ideal position to experience its many drawbacks—and for normal people, carbon fiber bicycles have only drawbacks.
This is Bike Snob NYC writing for Outside Online, by the way.
Simple: while you’re not able to extract carbon fiber’s small performance benefits, you are in an ideal position to experience its many drawbacks—and for normal people, carbon fiber bicycles have only drawbacks.
Probably the biggest drawback to carbon fiber bikes is that they’re like eggs. You know how eggs are almost impossible to break if you squeeze them from the pointy ends, but if you squeeze them any other way you’ll quickly wind up with a handful of yolk? Similarly, while carbon bikes are quite strong when used as designed, what they’re designed for is racing. They’re not designed for crashing, falling off a hitch rack, getting knocked over in the garage by your young children, or any of the other little mishaps that befall normal people’s bicycles as part of the messy business of day-to-day living.
And no, I’m not one of those retrogrouches who’s afraid of carbon bikes and thinks they’re all about to explode at any moment. In fact, I rode a 35 year-old carbon bike through the Swiss Alps. (It was a finely aged hunk of cheese.) Yes, I know they make airplanes out of it. Yes, I know it can often be repaired. Yes, I know the majority of people who own carbon fiber bikes won’t have a problem with them. But airplanes have a whole federal agency looking after them, and who the hell wants to have to send their bicycle frame out for repair because of some dumb little crash in the first place?
race bikes are like eggshells but could CF cargo and utility bikes be lighter than metal and tough enough for hard use, or would they just be the same weight by the time you got all those redundant bias-ply layers in?
@enobacon You could make significantly lighter bakfiets/rickshaws if the box were load-bearing CF, and in general, cargo bikes are made with low to mid range tubing. You could make significantly lighter tubing or composite structures. But race bikes have a very defined loading, and it's harder to do that for a cargo bike, whose load size and location might vary significantly.
Essentially, carbon-fiber is usually heavily optimized for certain directions of load, but not others, and the others are its Achilles Heel as a result, right?
I had a Kestrel 200EMS, the fancy ultra high tensile strength fabric version. It was a great bike, rigid, light, aerodynamic. I hit a pothole in a race and the rear wheel deflected just enough to pick up the derailleur, which ripped off the derailleur mount. It didn't have a separate/replaceable derailleur hangar, so a minor oops trashed the frame. Too bad. It was rock solid until then.
So, why recommend steel and not mention aluminium at all? Aluminium is much lighter (and more expensive) than steel but still ductile (i.e. it bends rather than crack) if you pick the right alloy, and more rust resistant ...and it's still used in airplanes a lot :)
To me, that's the embodyment of the 80/20 rule: You get 80% of the benefit for 20% of the price. Mind you: my main bike is a 28 year old steel bike but if I had to get a new one it'd be aluminium.
I bought a Bianchi carbon bike five and a half years ago. I didn’t think it would matter much compared to my old racing bike, but I smashed all my Strava records with it.
I didn’t get it for free, but it was my best buy ever. I grew to be somewhat of a cycling fanatic. I rode about 70,000 kms on it now I think. Rode it through the Alpes about 7 times, including #tourforlife going from Italy to the Netherlands in 8 days. Also lost a couple of kgs of weight.
My shop said that not only did one of the caliper's pistons crack, TRP doesn't even make the brake in post mount form anymore, so I guess it's back to cable disc brakes again. 🙃
Today in tk's #seabikes adventures: descending from Phinney Ridge without a functioning front brake. 😱
(The bike has TRP Hylex hydraulic disc brakes. I took it to my LBS after and they said that it looks like the caliper might've sprung a leak and has been contaminating the rotor. I've had the brakes for several years now, so I'm not too bothered.)
Oh no! I have Hylex post-mounts on my road-ish bike. They are by far the best brakes I've ever owned. Zero maintenance, save for replacing pads, in over 13000km.
I originally thought I'd just use the stock pads until they were worn down, but they stopped just badly enough to convince me to put in Kool-Stop salmon pads. (It wasn't scary, but I wanted more confidence in my stopping.)
Always remember to sand your brake pads a little prior to installation. 👍
Today in tk's #seabikes adventures: descending from Phinney Ridge without a functioning front brake. 😱 (The bike has TRP Hylex hydraulic disc brakes. I took it to my LBS after and they said that it looks like the caliper might've sprung a leak and has been contaminating the rotor. I've had the brakes for several years now, so I'm not too bothered.)
Today in tk's #seabikes adventures: descending from Phinney Ridge without a functioning front brake. 😱
(The bike has TRP Hylex hydraulic disc brakes. I took it to my LBS after and they said that it looks like the caliper might've sprung a leak and has been contaminating the rotor. I've had the brakes for several years now, so I'm not too bothered.)
Yes, cantis. I like them. 🤷 They work well when set up correctly: straddle as low as you can get them to start, then raise little by little if you prefer. Having a lower cable hanger will additionally reduce system flex and improve stopping.
Even those dreaded Tektro "Oryx" 992A calipers. You need the straddle super low, but they work great that way. (That does also mean that they have limited tire clearance!)
(Oh, and this isn't a "rim versus disc" debate starter. If anything, it would be a "cantis suck" debate. :P )
@enobacon U Brakes are once again resurrected as “braze on centerpulls”. I have some on my old Centurion ProTour. Love the Tektro CR720 cantis, sadly discontinued it appears. Luckily I have a backstock.
Today in tk's #seabikes adventures: descending from Phinney Ridge without a functioning front brake. 😱
(The bike has TRP Hylex hydraulic disc brakes. I took it to my LBS after and they said that it looks like the caliper might've sprung a leak and has been contaminating the rotor. I've had the brakes for several years now, so I'm not too bothered.)
To be fair, bikes are utterly useless for going more than a few miles. Unless you're a fitness supergod.
Also ebikes are a lot more expensive than regular ones and not everyone has the energy for a regular pedal bike (*raises paw*).
But ebikes and escooters are great for getting around town!
So it makes sense to have little personal transportation things like (e)bikes/escooters for in-town and then cars for intercity. Maybe there could be big parking garages on the edge of town, either free (paid for by taxes) or monthly-rate, and just that's where your car lives when you're not using it.
Man, we've got NOTHING within 3 miles and we live in a city... we'd be going like 10 miles to our preferred grocery store. It's outside of our escooter's round trip battery range. (On an ebike we could get more range with pedal assist I bet, but ebikes are like $2000.) The train really helps.
Though a car also lets you go outside your local bubble.
Of course, intercity rail and stuff would help fill that gap, but I bet it would be EXPENSIVE and also good luck getting rail built to every small town in the US (that seems to be a thing in Europe though, so it might be feasible physically, just not politically).
@Thomas Bensler Infrastructure sharing works wonderfully in Taiwan. Many streets here have neither bicycle lanes nor sidewalks. Drivers are more or less considerate of other road users. So do the many scooter riders. Usually, when cars or scooters overtake other road users from behind, the safety distance to the overtaken road user is often more than 20 cm. It hardly ever happens that a rearview mirror causes injuries.
And more and more newly planned and built roads even have footpaths and cycle paths. Which are actually not allowed to be parked on.
Well and then, should the cars are getting less, there will be no more need for dedicated food paths and bicycle lanes.
Here in #Ottawa we have many separate bike paths all over the city, but we also have a lot on on-road dedicated bike lanes. Of course you can also bike directly on the roads as well.
Mixed feelings on this. A good external bb setup is stiff, light, and doesn't require pressing off the arms for every bb service. Some even just use a single bolt to hold the whole thing together. On the other hand, a cheap and defined toolset covers all types of square taper bb, while modern bb's seem to have 20 different tools needed and they all cost $30 or more.
At the moment, my #cycljng is mainly limited by my cardiovascular system and energy. All of that time sick from respiratory illness was not kind to my fitness.
I like 1×, I like 2×, and I like 3×. I also like single-speed, fixed-gear, internally geared hubs, and bottom bracket gearboxes. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. :3
I'm mostly over 3x (and my diy 4x) but nothing I've ridden in 1x gives me enough range for either road or mountain bikes. I would sure like a Pinion gearbox matched to a 10 speed cassette, though. Then I'd be satisfied.
My totally amateur take of anecdata on that would be that 90% of the people only change their 7/8/9 speed because it's rusty from standing outside for years and at least 50% of people with 10+ speed actually replace them because of wear and tear. Prices don't seem to be so different anymore, but I just did a very quick search for Shimano at one online shop. So maybe yes?
Hopefully none of you ever get hit by a car while riding your bicycle. Unfortunately, this happens to thousands of cyclists every year. While some people do recover physically from their accident, they often get slapped with thousands or even hundreds of thousands in medical bills that insurance won't cover. Today, we'll talk about the ways you can prevent that from happening, should you collide with a motor vehicle while riding your bike.
The video is full of good information. The basic point is treat it like any other car crash. Take pictures. Get a police report. Talk to witnesses. Exchange information with the other person. All the stuff you would normally do. Gather as much information at the time of the incident as you can. Maybe you won't need it but you can't go back in time when you realize you forgot something.
While I was riding my main #bicycle on gravel a couple days ago, I was able to easily rescue a front wheel slide.
And when I was riding it yesterday up a fairly steep bit of sandy gravel (for the city), I was able to get past wheelslip and just pedal slowly and softly in a low gear to get up the hill.
Our world is built up of roads and cars to get us to our destination! But what about cycling and even walking? Have we been brainwashed to think that the car is always king?
Si goes on a deep dive into just how we are convinced to think that modern car culture is acceptable in our lives!
For our anniversary run of Rene Herse bikes—and for the bikes we ride in long-distance events—we wanted a better solution: a reliable needle-bearing headset that is Rinko-compatible. This is another project that had a long gestation period: We made the first prototypes three years ago. We ran them in Unbound XL (twice), in Paris-Brest-Paris, Arkansas High Country Race, Dark Divide 300 and many other rides and adventures. Along the way, we fine-tuned many details, both aesthetic and functional. We decreased stack height, lowered weight, and increased clearances to make sure the headset works smoothly and quietly under the harshest conditions. We tested and re-tested, and now the headsets are ready.
Had to use a pair of vice grips to remove the cover of my #Garmin power meter pedals because they were stuck enough that trying to use the hex socket to remove the cover just resulted in it stripping. (Yes, I'm using hex keys that are known to be good.)
The principle of the SCHWALBE CLIK VALVE, winner of the Eurobike Award 2024, is very simple: it works intuitively with a click. What does it need? The valve and the corresponding pump head or pump head adapter. With the Clik Valve, this can be clicked onto the bike valve with minimal force and removed again very easily after successful inflation.
It doesn't matter which valve and pump you currently have - thanks to conversion kits for all existing bicycle valves and most pumps. To change the bicycle valve, simply replace the valve insert (Sclaverand, Presta, Dunlop, tubeless valve), for the car valve there is an adapter that is screwed over the valve (and can be easily unscrewed again to be able to use petrol station pumps).
The pump head adapter can be integrated into the pump head of current pumps (by clamping or screwing in), even with hand pumps. The Schwalbe Clik Valve can also be inflated with normal SV (Presta) pumps - thanks to this reverse compatibility, you are never at a loss in any situation. And SKS will already be offering its own CLIK VALVE pump at Eurobike.
Schwalbe will soon be producing the first tubes with the Clik Valve.
I didn't realize the issues they mention were issues.
So I guess I just don't care: eventually we'll just have another type of bicycle valve on the bikes in garage. As long as there's a little converter thingy available it'll be fine.
The Clik Valve sounds like a good idea and I love the innovation. I'm not about to replace my existing Presta and Schrader stuff, so it's good to see that there are conversion kits.
I was prepared to dismiss this as standards proliferation but I actually like it. I appreciate that it's compatible with Presta pumps and the conversion kits seem pretty reasonably priced.
I've seen a lot of people struggle to get pump heads to fit well on both Presta and Schrader valves for a variety of reasons - insufficient hand strength, not knowing which position the locking lever is supposed to start in (it varies between manufacturers), damaged pump head gaskets. This seems to address all of those.
If it works as well as they advertise, I'd really like to see this standard take over.
My biggest concern - and I don't see it addressed anywhere - is that it might not be an open standard, and unless Shwalbe and the inventor are reasonable about licensing fees it might just inspire more competing standards.
It'd be nice if it means breaking a valve stem isn't as easy, I guess? Or if it became the new defacto pump so I don't have to worry about breaking cheap plastic Presta converters on cheap emergency mini-pumps for Schrader valves?
I don't necessarily doubt it might be better, but I doubt that it isn't just marginally kinda sorta better.
I am reasonnably curious. It looks cool, however I am not sure I am ready to retrofit all my pumps (1 for each bike + track/home pump) for click adapter + all my bikes valves. I'd have to do the math. I guess it is an easier choice for people who have only one bike.
I've lived with presta valves for decades after all.
After reading the article, I'm still having trouble understanding what it does differently.
If the promises are true, then good, Presta is fragile, and a not-fragile option would be nice. I won't buy it unless my pump already fits, and that was not entirely clear (adapter? do I have to carry it?).
I immediately thought of the Idaho Stop. WA implemented part of it, but we're still not allowed to treat red lights as stop signs. That should change, IMO.
Pretty sure they only made the beads so tight so that they'd form a more effective "seal" with the rim's well to make inflating with a compressor or similar easier. That results in two side-effects:
The tires are a bear to get on the rim!
As soon as pressure is lost, the beads want to migrate to the center of the rim's well.
The Schwalbe G-One Allround tires don’t roll noticeably slower than the GravelKings, but they do feel less “wobbly” at the same pressure and definitely bite well into gravel. #bicycle #cycling #biketooter #mastobikes
I've been running 38mm Panaracer GravelKing tires tubeless on my Soma Stanyan for years, but the front tire I just put on has enough wobble to rub in one spot on every rotation. (The wheel itself is true.)
Two shops told me that the tire wasn't seated right, but I checked and remounted multiple times and it's seating fine. Even used some rubbing alcohol to lubricate the tire where it seated, but it always mounts up perfectly fine. The tire is the problem.
The second shop gave the real answer after chatting with the folks there for a bit: I should go down a size. It's a real bummer, but even the Soma website says it can do up to 35mm. :(
The only other realistic alternative is a new frameset, or at least a new fork, but that will have to wait for a while. :(
Only problem is that I now have to find a completely different tire since both the GravelKing and Rene Herse tires don't go any smaller than 650B×38mm.
THE SPECIAL ONE. G-One Speed is above all a promise of maximum speed! This tire extends the range of use for every road cyclist. It rolls fast on the road, but at the same time safely on unkept cycle paths and gravel roads.
your can buy replacement clamps. I had such a failure the other day. A few bucks for the clamp, new bar tape (needed it anyway) and about 30mins of effort and I was back on the road. https://mastodon.social/@lildude/112547022754772368
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Whoops. That would explain why my right brake lever suddenly became loose on my ride last week when I hit a particularly brutal bump I only slightly avoided. #BikeTooter
When @clover and I got to the bottom of a long hill while #cycling yesterday, I heard the tell-tale sign of a #tubeless leak in my front tire, a well-used #Panaracer #GravelKing. She even said it was smoking, but I knew it was just sealant blowing out.
Thankfully, it was at the end of our ride and I didn't have to deal with steering on a floppy tire. I did snap this picture, though.
I tried seating it again today and it just wouldn't hold air because of the same spot. That's when I noticed the bulge in the sidewall near the bead, so I decided to toss the tire and put on a fresh (identical) one I had in reserve. The new tire seated without issue, aside from how I had to do it twice because I put it on the wrong way the first time. :P
This isn't a knock on Panaracer tire quality, of course. The tire's been through a lot and there was only so much tread left anyway.
The real downside is that the bike will be "offline" until tomorrow so that the sealant can make its way into all the tiny leaks while the wheel is resting in a safe environment.
A randonneur-style handlebar bag with a lightweight metal basket frame that uses hinges instead of bends would hold its shape extremely well over the years. 🤔
Now that the Nivex derailleurs have been in production for a while, Rene Herse is taking analog shifting to the next level with the Floating Chain. This system is lighter, has less resistance and costs far less than all derailleur systems available today.
Jan Heine, head of R&D at Rene Herse Cycles, explained: “One-by drivetrains have simplified bicycle gearing, but it’s time to go a step further. Most cyclists need only three gears: one for uphills, one for flat roads, and one for downhills. The steps between these gears tend to be relatively large. Large steps between three gears are easiest to accommodate on the front, with a triple crank. So we’ve effectively turned the one-by around and put all the gears on the front.”
The Floating Chain system uses a triple crank and just a single-speed freewheel on the rear. As an added benefit, front derailleurs are lighter, more reliable, and less prone to damage when the bike falls over.
In the interest of keeping the system simple and to reduce mechanical resistance to a minimum, there is no chain tensioner. The chain length is selected for the big chainring, and it’s allowed to float freely when it runs on one of the smaller chainrings. There is no need to keep the lower chain run tensioned, as long as you don’t backpedal for more than half a revolution of the cranks.
My alloy HED rims never go out of true and the braking surfaces have lasted for years. You get better quality when you pay a bit more irrespective of material.
I'm discussing this elsewhere at the mo too. I don't get the 'it's carbon so must be better' obsession. I ride both and have alloy rims that ride every bit as well as my carbon and indeed better in some circumstances.
@crowdotblack @lopta I wouldn't want >30mm alloy rims either, but >30mm carbon can be harsh once terrain gets lumpy: Riding more than say 150km off-road km in a day on my 43mm rims can leave me feeling battered and seeking out road routes as an alternative.
@crowdotblack @lopta I wouldn't want >30mm alloy rims either, but >30mm carbon can be harsh once terrain gets lumpy: Riding more than say 150km off-road km in a day on my 43mm rims can leave me feeling battered and seeking out road routes as an alternative.
@crowdotblack @lopta I hear nothing but good things about Rene Herse tyres, but can’t bring myself to risk the cash: a risk only in that I know I’m as likely to rip or pinch a £40 sidewall as I am an £85 one, and RH are never available at sale prices unlike the big brands. Maybe I’ll treat myself some day.
Replaceable derailleur hangers and the problems they can pose
Replaceable derailleur hangers Several years ago, I wrote an article called 'Chaos, the new standard'. That article holds so much truth even today that I thought a follow up was in order. So, here it goes. A company that's been around for 51 years, as we have, will tell you the importance of standards. This is a short article detailing one such detour that we took in the 1980's.
What are standards, and why should you care? If you are a person who wants to buy a bicycle that you will ride for 20 years plus, then standards mean a lot to you. For instance, I ride a Rodriguez road bike the we built here in 1999, and I'm still riding it today. I consider myself a Forever Bike person. I will still be able to buy parts for this bike in 20 years too. Any part that needs replacing we will have in stock. That's because it's built around ISO standards (International Standards Organization). ISO standards were settled upon by the bicycle industry in the 1970's in an attempt to make sure that people could get their bicycle fixed in just about any country, and well into the future. It's worked miraculously....until recently.
First time we've gone riding together since before the pandemic! @clover has been suffering from asthma for a long time and it has hindered her #cycling, until now! #ebike (1)
I liked the other post because it was a nice bike post, but it wasn't from someone I thought I knew. And then this popped up and I went "didn't I just like that photo?". Anyway, sounds like you two had a great day!
I would love to give it a try sometime to compare to the Can-Am Semiautomatic on the Limited. I would miss a clutch but I think the idea is a huge accessibility win giving a lot of flexibility and options to new and existing riders.
Really glad it's not too different from a "normal" bike in terms of looks and parts. Feel a whole lot better buying from an established brand (even an evil one like Specialized) rather than one of those companies that was formed to capitalize on the e-bike trend.
If you ride, your brain knows how motorcycles work intuitively, but we bet you'll struggle to explain it accurately. We're trading opinions for science in a pursuit to understand how motorcycles really steer.
These dynamics also apply to #bicycle riding, obviously.
Had an awesome time at the California Superbike Class I went to last weekend! While I was one of the bigger weenies on track as far as speed is concerned, I learned a lot of good handling skills for two wheels. The BMW S1000RR was pretty cool, too, aside from the maintenance alert coming up every time the bike was booted up. #motorcycle (Albums (59 photos total), 14 photos attached)
To get there, my dad and I did a road trip with an overnight stop halfway between home and Willows, CA, where this session was taking place.
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in reply to Neil E. Hodges • • •≠ is ignored
The class war is always the poor versus smarter people
Gas the poor
Neil E. Hodges doesn't like this.