Presto! Presta

I wish it was as simple as Presto! when using a Presta valve. When it comes to bike valves - I can't stand Presta valves.  Who invented these confounded contraptions anyway?  What is wrong with Schrader valves?



Cofounded contraption

 Oh yeah, they tell you that on high pressure road bike wheels that the valve stem hole needs to be smaller to help with keeping the rim strong.  Does 2 mm. make that much difference in strength?  Other people argue that using a Presta valve saves weight versus using a Schrader valve.  Does a couple of grams affect your performance that much?  With the kind of non-competitive riding I do, I can't see it making that much of a difference.

On my Proctor Townsend which I ride in the basement, I've taken to threading on those brass adapters to convert Presta to Schrader and this has made me happy.  Plus I'm not using up compressed air cylinders which are the only things I have found that work consistently well in pumping up Presta valves.

As a volunteer bike mechanic at "BikeWorks", I've seen a few cases where the cyclist has drilled out the Presta hole and replaced the tube with a Schrader equipped tube.  Not that I think it would weaken the rim but I can't see myself drilling out my valve stem holes - what if I screwed it up and ruined a fine rim?




Brass adapter



Expect the Unexpected

It was with the best intentions that I wanted to bring my summer commuting bike home from work.  The temperature hovered at minus 10, and for the most part the roads had been cleared of ice and snow.  Perfect conditions to ride a bike home that didn't have knobby tires.


Uh oh


Within half a block I discovered that my tires, which had been leaking air for some time, needed some more air.  I pulled out my handy compressed air pump and filled both tires which helped considerably.  Except for hitting some brown sugar near 109 Street, I felt I had made a clever decision to ride home on an out-of-season bike.

Being eager to get this bike home (the Schwinn MOAB), I wasn't fully prepared for the windchill that assaulted my hands as I had forgotten my mitts at home.  The thin pair of full fingered mountain bike gloves I was wearing offered little protection.  I figured I could make it to Mountain Equipment Co-op and warm up in their lobby where I could also pull out a pair of gloves from my backpack.  I hadn't pulled them out earlier because I had discovered that they were both right-handed.

Ta Da! Instant left-handed glove!

With a lot of finagling, which warmed up my fingers, I managed to turn one of the gloves inside out to wear on my left hand.  MEC is used to having bikes in their lobby so I didn't stand out too much.

Crossing a bridge over a ravine, I could feel that my rear tire had gone flat and after pushing the bike to the end of the bridge where a streetlight cast an orange glow, I pulled out the compressed air pump and filled the tire once again.  Within half a block it was flat again and I knew my ride home was pooched.  I could have put the bike on the bike rack of a #1 bus, but I figured that I would still need to walk the bike home from the mall as the 109 bus doesn't have a bike rack.

I also ruined a fine pair of Sugoi bike shoe booties...

An hour and a half from when I started, I pulled back into the parking garage at work and vowed to be more prepared for winter commuting:
1.  Make sure you have all the proper clothing.
2.  If you tires have been going flat - fix them!
3.  Ride the proper bike for each season.
4.  Don't walk for great lengths wearing bike shoe booties

Dang!

Lock It or Lose It

Dig it

It drives my bicycle camping friends crazy, but I lock everything up - even when we are deep in the woods as far as fifty miles from the nearest habitation.  My thinking is that some backwoods jaloonie may very well mess us up by stealthily stealing our bikes while we peacefully snore the night away.  As much as it disgusts us when we meet a motorized vehicle on the trail, we make sure not to hassle the drivers and anger them.  They might very well live in the area and return to raid our camp.

To save weight when we're bicycle camping, I use a seven foot length of aircraft cable which I have looped at either end and then fasten the cable with a light lock.  My idea being that this method, if nothing else will slow down the perps.  I go so far as to hide a bear bell amongst the cable and bikes so that no matter how quiet the creeps are if they try to steal from us, the bell will ring and alert us to the potential calamity.

Cable from Home Despot

Even in my garage, I lock my bikes up using this same cable to thwart an opportunistic thief who might dash into the garage while we are working around the yard.  Again, it will slow the jerk down and give pause to trying to steal one of my bikes.

Two potential winter bikes locked up in the garage

As much as my cycle camping friends scoff at the idea of locking the bikes out in the woods, I notice that they make no fuss when, after all the gear has been removed, I suggest that it is time to lock up the bikes as it is getting dark and becoming difficult to see fine work.

Doing The City's Work

 Riding my 1963 Triumph on a recent Sunday, I was reminded once again that Saturday nights must get pretty wild in this town.  Judging from the number of broken liquor and beer bottles littering the road and presenting a hazard to cyclists and their thin tires.

On my next commute along with my two panniers, I want to strap on a broom and dustpan and a pair of garden shears to my back rack.  The broom and dustpan to sweep up the hazardous shards of glass and the shears to cut away the many branches especially on 102 Avenue near the museum that threaten to send cyclists careening into traffic as they whap the rider's face as they pass.

To be safe, I'll also need to pack some of those fluorescent traffic cones and a mesh vest with reflective stripes.  Of course I'll want a sturdy sign which I will place down the road a piece warning motorists that the lane ahead will narrow.

I imagine that the city will be quite pleased at the work I plan to do to make this a much safer city for all its citizens and I'm confident that all the motorists commuting west along 102 Avenue won't mind a short delay on their way home.  In fact, I'll call my favourite radio station and advise them of the impending lane narrowing and assure their listeners that the work is necessary and will be finished in enough time that they can still make the couch in time to watch their favourite TV shows.

Another Way to Make a Bike Video

Anyone who has viewed a bike video on YouTube will wonder how to make a record of cycling.  I've talked about this for years without actually attaching a camera to one of my bikes until now.

I took a small handicam and by searching around at my local camera store, managed to come up with a reasonably priced solution for securely fixing the camera to the bike.

The large clamp is made by Manfrotto  and the ball head is available at most camera stores - usually in the tripod section.  I know this clamp as a "Maffer" clamp but Manfrotto calls it a "Super Clamp".  I have managed to clamp the camera to one of my front shocks (see photo), to my pannier rack, my handlebars and the seat tube stem.  There seems to be no limit to how it can be attached.

In an upcoming blog, I'll show you some results from attaching the video camera to my road bike and my mountain bike.

*Note:  I've seen a knock-off version of the Super Clamp for half the cost of the Manfrotto offering and I found a no-name ball head as well.