I ought to get a decent pump and a carrier, save me carrying my MTB pump round in a pocket. Narrow bore pumps like the one in the pic are very effective if a little slow. I find them actually easier to use than bigger pumps because the force required per stroke is less so you don't give up halfway. Back home of course a track pump is an essential, making the portable pump emergency repairs only and making a degree of compromise no big deal.
My new bicycle
- Thread starter Tony L
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demotivated
pfm Member
Do you carry a repair kit and new inner? Otherwise a pump does naff all.
Tony L
Administrator
Not pocketable by any stretch, but I bought a Lezyne track pump a couple of months ago. It's a superb bit of kit, beautifully engineered with a nice clear and stable pressure gauge, mine is silver in colour with a light wood handle. It almost makes pumping up tyres enjoyable! At present I'm not taking anything out with me so I'll have a long walk back should I get a puncture. I try not to be more than a few miles away from a railway station, but sometimes that isn't possible. I have got one of those tiny little CO2 bottle pumps I was planning to carry with a set of tyre levers and inner-tube just to get me home, but I've never got round to buying a tube or working out where to carry it on the bike!
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Of course. Usually just a tube and levers. When MTB or touring one spare tube and a repair kit. It means that when everything is wet through you can still make a quick repair with a tube swap, if you are unlucky enough to get a second it's not game over. When touring you can repair the tube at your leisure that evening, and it's ready for the next day.
Tony, the usual roady trick is to fold up the tube and stuff it into the back of the saddle. Alternatively get one of those little saddle packs.
Tony, the usual roady trick is to fold up the tube and stuff it into the back of the saddle. Alternatively get one of those little saddle packs.
cliffpatte
Speed camera anarchist
That's a serious amount of wear if you need to change chain and cassette every year.
It's really a racing cyclist or heavy commuter problem Cliff.
When I raced it was three or four chains annually, it's the hills that does it, that and dirt.
I've snapped chains on hills in traffic, it get dangerous if I ignore it, so I keep an eye on it.
The new narrow chains with this bushless tech is supposed to be stronger but it doesn't feel like it, these days though I need only one chain but use three in rotation on one cassette to make it last a long time, it just works out cheaper that way IMO.
I snapped a chain two months ago in town, I'm hard on the gears sometimes, they don't like being crossed over at steep angles.
When I raced it was three or four chains annually, it's the hills that does it, that and dirt.
I've snapped chains on hills in traffic, it get dangerous if I ignore it, so I keep an eye on it.
The new narrow chains with this bushless tech is supposed to be stronger but it doesn't feel like it, these days though I need only one chain but use three in rotation on one cassette to make it last a long time, it just works out cheaper that way IMO.
I snapped a chain two months ago in town, I'm hard on the gears sometimes, they don't like being crossed over at steep angles.
cliffpatte
Speed camera anarchist
Ah, Lezyne, good track pump.
Steve mention saddle packs, topeak do the quick release ones in three sizes, the large one even able to carry an mtb tube along with co2 and levers and a few puncture repair spares, the small one able to do the same with road tubes, the quick release handy if I want to remove it and leave it at home for a local spin, I also keep an emergency ten quid note stashed in there.
http://www.topeak.com/products/WedgePacksQuickClick
Mark
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after looking at saddle bag offerings from Lezyne and Topeak, I went for this one from Evans in house brand:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fwe/saddle-bag-small-ec051515
I like the fact that it secures by twisting under the saddle rails; a really simple and elegant solution. Not that much room; a spare tube, a pack of pre-glued patches and a couple of tyre levers fills it up - so to me, it's the right size and for £10 it seemd like a low risk investment.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fwe/saddle-bag-small-ec051515
I like the fact that it secures by twisting under the saddle rails; a really simple and elegant solution. Not that much room; a spare tube, a pack of pre-glued patches and a couple of tyre levers fills it up - so to me, it's the right size and for £10 it seemd like a low risk investment.
merlin
Avatar changed - Town names deemed offensive.
The Co2 jobs are fantastic IME. Mini Pumps are just not up to getting the pressures into road tyres (or maybe it's my weedy arms!).
On the cross bike I fitted slime tubes and haven't looked back. Not a flat to fix in 18 months. Thinking of doing the same on the road bike as it makes no real difference unless you are racing or chasing Strava segments up hills.
Still on the subject of cycling, what on earth were the Columbian Cycling Federation thinking of when specing the kit for their ladies team.
On the cross bike I fitted slime tubes and haven't looked back. Not a flat to fix in 18 months. Thinking of doing the same on the road bike as it makes no real difference unless you are racing or chasing Strava segments up hills.
Still on the subject of cycling, what on earth were the Columbian Cycling Federation thinking of when specing the kit for their ladies team.
If you really had touched 48mph on a bike you'd know. My best is 47.8 according to my on-bike speedo and it was *bloody* fast. Interestingly I did the route regularly, max speed was very line dependent, you could easily get early 40s but every 1mph after that was hard to find. I never really learned how to maximise it. I reckon max design speed for a bike is about 40, beyond that you are pushing your luck.
I do know there are some big hills around there and 40mph is easy enough, so if you were trying for a high speed then it's as good a place as any.
I do know there are some big hills around there and 40mph is easy enough, so if you were trying for a high speed then it's as good a place as any.
John
Rack’em Up!
That is crazy fast!
Tony L
Administrator
Yes, I think it's a GPS glitch to be honest. My usual top speed is somewhere between 33 and 39 mph on that route, and whilst I'm getting better / more reckless the more I get to know the road and bike I don't think I did anything hugely different today. Changing the bars and getting really comfortable on the drops has made quite a difference on that descent.
PS GPS can be a bit odd, e.g. according to Cyclemeter when I arrived back my home was 75 feet higher up than when I left it.
cliffpatte
Speed camera anarchist
I remember when I was about 17 going past some cars going downhill on the West Road out of Newcastle (about a 1:6 hill), and looked through the window of one of the cars and it was doing over 40 as I went past it. My bike was a nothing special racing bike with 5 gears. I reckon a modern XC bike like my Specialized Epic Comp would be pretty stable at 50mph, albeit rather scary.
merlin
Avatar changed - Town names deemed offensive.
50mph is where it starts getting interesting 
It's perfectly possible on a gradient of 10% + with a stretch of more than 500m.
Bizarrely it doesn't necessarily seem to appear that fast if the road is smooth and there's not that many points of reference. I always think if you fall off at 50 it's unlikely to hurt more than if you hit the deck at 40.
Looks like a fun ride Tony.
It's perfectly possible on a gradient of 10% + with a stretch of more than 500m.
Bizarrely it doesn't necessarily seem to appear that fast if the road is smooth and there's not that many points of reference. I always think if you fall off at 50 it's unlikely to hurt more than if you hit the deck at 40.
Looks like a fun ride Tony.
Tony L
Administrator
It's an amazing ride - the climb up from Littleborough to Blackstone edge is a very long calorie-burning grind in the lowest gear, but once at the top it's like a roller coaster from then on and unlike most hills it seems to give back more than it's taken from you. The gradient down is less steep and the ride much, much longer, just mile after mile of gentle descent getting steeper, faster and more twisty towards Mytholmroyd. The first time I did it I was clinging onto the bars and brakes in fear, now I tuck down and throw loads of power on and barely touch the brakes at all!
I'm not a cyclist but on skimming through this post (i like pictures of bikes even though I don't ride them - they just look cool IMO) I saw the references to speed. I've attached a screen shot of my mate's strava from a fortnight ago. The sudden deceleration is due to a wall that he went through causing amongst other things broken neck, broken ribs, loss of some teeth and gashes all over. He's out of hospital and recovering at home. Remember kids to always wear a helmet (esp when going downhill at nearly 80km/h).
cliffpatte
Speed camera anarchist
By the looks of it, it isn't far from where they filmed Last of the Summer Wine, and I remember that being "right hilly" round there. We've done a bit of cycling in that area, but you don't go around at 40mph plus when you've got the wife and teenagers in tow.