Bike tyres, general advice on bike

Rolandtheroadie

After all the good weather it's raining on my day off. Typical.

Untied the bike from the rafters in the garage, checked tyre pressures. 15psi. Read side of tyres, 40-65psi. So i put 50psi in to get me started.
When I spoke of getting off to push, at my last attempt at cycling I was trying to go up hills with that 15psi.

Gave the chain an oil and gave the bike a quick checkover.

Then went out and did 5 miles. Not much granted, but I'm new to this, I should be able to build it up quite quickly.

Probably about 1 mile on road, rest forest tracks. Had to walk once for about 20 ft as what I thought was a path took me to a bit that a bog snorkler wouldnt have got through.

I've seen places today I have not seen since I was a kid, where we all used to run around the forest tracks around here.
The Forestry Comission have also put in loads of pathways, theres a lot to see out there.

So thats me converted.

ventureuk

scotsman4th wrote: »

After all the good weather it's raining on my day off. Typical.

Untied the bike from the rafters in the garage, checked tyre pressures. 15psi. Read side of tyres, 40-65psi. So i put 50psi in to get me started.
When I spoke of getting off to push, at my last attempt at cycling I was trying to go up hills with that 15psi.

Gave the chain an oil and gave the bike a quick checkover.

Then went out and did 5 miles. Not much granted, but I'm new to this, I should be able to build it up quite quickly.

Probably about 1 mile on road, rest forest tracks. Had to walk once for about 20 ft as what I thought was a path took me to a bit that a bog snorkler wouldnt have got through.

I've seen places today I have not seen since I was a kid, where we all used to run around the forest tracks around here.
The Forestry Comission have also put in loads of pathways, theres a lot to see out there.

So thats me converted.

Oh you're done now, I started 5yrs ago, I'll soon own four bikes (collecting another new one in an hour) and cycle almost everywhere in all conditions.

Mountain Bike x 2, Hybrid Commuter and Road Bike

You need to go here for some friendly advice on commuting and MTBking, just avoid the road riders forum, they tend to bite.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/

custardy

I took the bike out for a little test run
just got the 'good' wheels back from servicing
went out and picked up a small nail in each tyre :mad:
hopefully the tyres will heal over it as I CBA fixing them and need the bike ready to roll for Friday
they're tubeless and a right pain to get off the rims and seating them is worse!

Rolandtheroadie

ventureuk wrote: »

Oh you're done now, I started 5yrs ago, I'll soon own four bikes (collecting another new one in an hour) and cycle almost everywhere in all conditions.

Strange you say that, before I got home I was already thinking I'll need one set up for road use and one for off road as well lol.

Custardy, punctures was another thing I was wondering about. Do you carry a repair kit etc with you? I've not even got a bike pump to be honest. Blew up the tyres today using a compressor.

custardy

scotsman4th wrote: »

Strange you say that, before I got home I was already thinking I'll need one set up for road use and one for off road as well lol.

Custardy, punctures was another thing I was wondering about. Do you carry a repair kit etc with you? I've not even got a bike pump to be honest. Blew up the tyres today using a compressor.

easier to just carry a spare tube,then fix the punctured one at home. though for all the weight/cost of a puncture repair kit or glueless patches its really not worth not carrying them.
i carry a UST kit which can be used to repair punctures from the outside without removing the tyre(tubeless wheels only)plus a spare tube
you would of course need a pump too if you are going to do any form of repair
another option is http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f_ProductID=10933&f_SupersetQRY=C275&f_SortOrderID=1&f_bct=c003154c003139c003528

as for my tyres. I think i came accross someones booby trap for bikes. I have no removed 6 small nails from the tyres with other holes found :mad:
Ive never cycled that way(all road with a bike/pedestrain section in the middle where the road is now blocked off
strange that i got that level of punctures. wont be going that way again :eek:though its not a route i would usually take

goldspanners

ive had mine out again recently aswell,ive been using it on and off since january,obviously hampered a bit by the bad weather,but thats been twice this week and just over 10 miles each time,mostly forrestry area and the strathclyde park.
i only travel on the road for about half a mile in a residential area and the standard of driving by motorists when they come up behind you is generally shocking.
ive had folk trying to turn left at cross roads when ive been going straight ahead even when ive been at the junction well before them. then theres the folk that creep just behind you scared to pass you even although i wave them past they still sit there.

last time i used the roads regularly to cycle was about 8 years ago and i never encountered as many idiots in cars then as i do now.
if this is what happens when the driving test gets harder then somethings a miss surely.

TiTheRev

ventureuk wrote: »

Oh you're done now, I started 5yrs ago, I'll soon own four bikes (collecting another new one in an hour) and cycle almost everywhere in all conditions.

Mountain Bike x 2, Hybrid Commuter and Road Bike

You need to go here for some friendly advice on commuting and MTBking, just avoid the road riders forum, they tend to bite.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/

+1 to the Bike Radar crew. Fantastic bunch, and some priceless advice if you can ignore the sometimes patronising comments from NickLouse!

roougers

Good luck with the commute.

I started doing it about 3 years ago, pretty much as a result of impending redundancy. I sold an old set of golf clubs I had lying around gathering dust on eBay and used the money to buy a Specialized racer. I had never actually owned a road bike, and I was so fat when I started, I convinced myself that air was leaking out of the tyres everytime I cycled!! Gradually I got more and more proficient, I didnt loose much weight to start with, but I started eating better, and more geared around my 10 mile round trip commute to work. I went from 18.5st to 12st in about a year and have maintained that since, and I dont feel bad after a binge up on a Fri/Sat as I just cycle harder the next week. Its weird to explain as I was a total couch potato, but there is something really uplifting about cycling that makes me feel 10 times better as a person.

I've still got my old Specialized, its done over 11.000 miles with me now and it shows no signs of giving up, no one has ever tried to nick it because it looks pretty average but it holds its own.

Good that you are offroad for most of your journey, I started in London which was actually not as bad as you would think, cabbies are generally very switched on with cyclists and I would rather hear someone toot their horn than scream abuse, as they very often do in Aberdeen!!

Rolandtheroadie

Thanks for that roougers, I'm looking to lose around 7 or 8 stone, it's good to see someones done it.

custardy

scotsman4th wrote: »

Thanks for that roougers, I'm looking to lose around 7 or 8 stone, it's good to see someones done it.

cycling mos days and with a reasonable diet it will soon drop off
you will still be able to have some treats