Posts Tagged ‘bike commuting’

I’ve been biking in Memphis for more than three years now. One thing is for certain when commuting in Memphis — you’ll get lots of flats. Street cleaning is minimal, broken bottles abundant and invisible shards of shredded steel-belted radials are everywhere. When I was using my road bike to commute I chose the expensive yet very tough Specialized Armadillo tires. The Armadillos were a pretty good tire and prevented most flats. They once even deflected an 1/8 inch drill bit which lodged in the rubber of the tire and spun around a few times scoring my frame — but no flat. However, the Armadillo was no match for the shredded steel-belted radials.

I switched to my mountain bike after a year on the road bike so I could take to the sidewalk on the busiest road I traveled. Slicks were out of the question since I often road in wet weather and in grassy areas. Nobbies were the answer for me. It allowed for good traction in all conditions and kept the casing and tube further off the ground and away from the road cacti. Despite the choice of nobbies, flats were still a common occurrence. That’s when I decided to switch to a Slime-filled tube on the rear tire.

I have not had a flat with the 26″ Slime tubes after about 2500 miles of commuting on them. I did have a puncture once that I heard and for which I stopped. It didn’t appear that the tube was sealing so I passed my finger over the hole as the Slime was seeping out. Upon doing this, the leak stopped and I haven’t done anything with it since.

It is noticeably different riding the Slime tubes. Mostly, they make you noticeably slower. These things do not roll well. However, since I’m so tired of flatting after 3 years, I’m willing to sacrifice the performance. And, I only use the Slime tube on the rear wheel as it flats far more frequently than the front.

I’ve also recently started riding a 700C Slime tube on my road bike. My first long distance ride in a while resulted in two flats on the Slime tube. One flat resulted from a small, sharp unidentifiable object. After several attempts at reinflating the tire, I was able to get about 80psi in the tire — just enough for me to reach the half-way point stop. However, prior to arriving at the stop, the tube flatted again. This time it was an all-to-common steel-belted tire shard. Although only a pin prick hole, I could not get the tube to hold pressure and I was forced to install my spare tube. Pulling the Slime tube was fun to say the least. First there’s the green goop everywhere, which happens, burns like hell when you get it in any open sore. Then, trying to fold the Slime tube up into a reasonable size to stuff in my Camelback proved almost impossible since the Slime seals the valve rendering it impossible to fully deflate the tube.

Conclusion: Slime-filled tubes work well for lower pressure tires like MTB tires but they do not suffice for high pressure tires. Thus, don’t buy the 700C Slime-filled tubes.

MTB Slime Tubes Rating: 4 Disabled UDVs
700C Slime Tubes Rating: 1 Disabled UDV

I don’t think bike commuting helps make friends in every city or community but it sure helps here.  Using my bike almost exclusively for transportation in the city of Memphis makes me a bit of a novelty.  Given that midtown Memphis is a pretty diverse place and there are a lot of bike commuters, I’m also not hated for being one that impeeds traffic.

Almost everywhere I go, people talk to me about commuting on a bike.  I have people at intersections roll down their window, usually to ask me a question about why I’m out on a bike.  I just started at a new gym and while very few people want to talk at 6:30am, the fact that I walk in wearing a bike helmet seems to be a great conversation starter.  Sure, most conversations center around the weather for that day but at least people feel compelled to interact with me.  These situations just confirm my belief that bike commuting makes for stronger communities by stimulating people to interact with each other.

In short, save your money boys and girls.  While sleek and sexy, functional it is not.  While I took the Flea, its charger and instruction manual out and examined them thoroughly before my purchase, I missed several things that would have, in hindsight, kept me from purchasing the finicky little bug.    Here’s a list of the things that should have been included or were included and should have served as warning in the instructions:

1.  The ‘Charging’ section of the instructions use the words ‘carefully’ and ‘do not force.’  They should say, ‘Warning:  If you’re going to use this product on a regular basis, it’s doomed to fail shortly after you buy it.’

2.  It also says blinking will stop once charging is complete.  Great.  One time it stopped blinking during charging and the light and then, in blinking mode, it didn’t last the 35 minutes to work.  Thanks.

3.  No claims about runtime are provided.  Performancebike.com’s description says that the Flea will have 3-6 hours of runtime depending on the mode chosen.  These claims are bullshit.  I’ve never gotten more than 2 hours out of flashing mode.

4.  There are no instructions about what milliwatt output your battery should have in order to charge the light.  I use rechargeables for all my biking needs as its the right thing to do when you use batteries as much as I do.  How do I know they’re working correctly for this light? (Rechargeables typically have a lower milliwatt output than Lithium ion or other standard batteries.)

5.  No indication of charge time is given.  Typically, with something that has an internal chargeable battery, this information is provided.  Typically, batteries with shorter charge times have a shorter life than batteries which charge via a slower or trickle charge method. Maybe Blackburn should talk to SigmaSport about how to provide battery-related information.

When charged and flashing, this light is impressive.  Drivers of undesirable vehicles definitely notice you.  However, due to the unpredictable nature of the runtime, I had to attach a backup light which I use more than the Flea.

Pros: Great illumination for something so small

Cons:  See above, Dainty charger which does not lend itself to multiple uses or transport, poor instructions/product information

Overall Rating:  Two Broken-Down Undesirable Vehicles.

Update:  The Rattleback tire failed after about 2500 miles.  The mechanism of failure was quite disappointing.  About .75 miles from work the sidewall blew out (And no, it was not from the brake rubbing, I checked).  I had to hoof it the rest of the way in a downpoor.  It was good to find out at I can run that far with relative ease.  But it meant that I had to catch a ride home with a friend in his undesirable vehicle — not something I like at all.

Sidewall Failure

After the Rattleback tire failed, I contacted Sweetskinz and showed them the blowout.  The representative said that that tire wasn’t really designed for how I was using it and said he would send me a couple of more tires.  He sent me the Eclipse.  After about 6 years on the front and well over 5000 miles, my Hutchinson Python had had it.  So I through the Eclipse on the front.  It looks cool but that’s about it.  In tight corners, it feels like you have the brake on due to the tread pattern.  The tire also feels squishy and rolls to the side easily even after I replaced the rim with a wider one.  The compound is also weak, at best.  I burned through the red compound relatively quickly and found the ugly cream colored compound beneath.  After about 2000 miles on the front the tire is virtually trashed.  I would not recommend these tires unless your a very casual rider and only put in about 1500 miles every few years.  Sorry, Sweetskinz.  Good concept, poor durability and performance.

I came across the Sweetskinz website while searching for different styles of tires for bike commuting and bike commuting at night. I thought the tires looked pretty cool and thought they would be especially eye-catching at night. About two years later after wearing out one knobby while bike commuting, I thought about Sweetskinz again and was determined to give them a try. I bought the Rattleback Semi-slick as I thought it was the least dorky of the patterns offered. When I received the tire I was surprised at the weight – these things are a big chunk of rubber. Of course, I also tested the reflectivity of the tire which appeared to be pretty good. I have been riding the tire for over 4 months now (about 1500 miles). I do like the tread pattern and I have only had 2 flats over this time. This is pretty good for a back tire in Memphis given the abundance of road cacti here. I have not had anyone comment on the night visibility of the tire which I had expected. The reflective material is only a thin covering so it immediately wears off of the tread and thus is not visible from behind. Being visible to undesirable vehicles traveling perpendicular to me doesn’t really seem all that necessary. I would much rather be visible to vehicles approaching from the front or rear. I don’t think the Sweetskinz really help with that. The most reflective portion of the tire, the sidewalls, quickly become coated with brake dust and other road filth, especially in the wet winter months when you need visibility the most. You can wash them with soap and water but I’m too lazy and it’s too cold for me to do this.

The Sweetskinz Rattleback Semi-slick receives a 2 Broken Down Car Rating

Best Uses: Drawing attention to your bike, bike commuting, street riding
Likes: Good tread pattern
Dislikes: Expensive (~$45), heavy, poor tread pattern (Eclipse model), poor durability

I love the ease of use of my Crank Brothers Eggbeater pedals.  I’ve used them extensively for off- and on-road purposes.  Mud clearance, ease of engagement, ease of clipping out and range of motion are incomparable.  Customer service has also been responsive and informative.  However, I have experienced numerous failures with Crank Brothers pedals.  I have had the spring break, end-bolt disappear, cage bent, cleat fail and other miscellaneous failures.  I’ve even started to have a collection of old pedals where one broke and I keep the other for replacement of future failures.  It isn’t always the same-side pedal so it’s not something funky I’m doing with one leg.

I believe the cleats are designed to fail before the pedal as they’re made of a pretty soft metal.  However, in my experience, they tend to last as long as the pedal.  Overall, I think Crank Brothers pedals are very comfortable to use but have average or below-average durability.

Here are several tips if you use Crank Brothers pedals:

1.  Don’t buy the Smarty pedal.  It’s worthless.  It may fail almost immediately.

2.  Inspect your pedal and cleats regularly after 1000 miles (assuming your an urban commuter).  You don’t want a catastrophic failure to occur when you’re hopping a curb.

3.  Only buy the pedals which have forged cages.  The Smarty and others have a stamped cage that is weak at best — must be built in China.  However, don’t blame it on China.  The designer, in this case Crank Brothers, tells the manufacturer what to make.  The design responsibility lies with Crank Brothers.  They only make what Crank Brothers tells them to make.

4.  Save your old pedals.  You’ll likely want to buy more Crank Brothers pedals because of how easy they are to use but if you ride a lot, the pedals will fail and you’ll need a spare.

A User Need for Crank Brothers:

I want pedals and cleats that will last  5 grand of urban commuting yet are still as comfortable to use as your current designs.