Within the feedback on yesterday’s publish, the venerable “Urchin” shared this new product from Odyssey:
Okay, yeah, THAT’S AN INNER TUBE.
Yeah, yeah, I do know, there are two totally different air chambers, it’s bought two valves blah blah blah, however let’s get actual right here, it’s a goddamn tube. You understand it, I do know it, Odyssey is aware of it, even MTBro within the video tail-whipping repeatedly down the path like a cat with a burr caught to its ass is aware of it:
And if I sound offended, I’m not. If something, I’m deeply reassured, for it proves that completely all the pieces within the biking world comes full circle. I predict as soon as hydraulic disc brakes go absolutely digital (sure, that’s proper) you’ll want some form of redundancy machine within the occasion of both lack of energy or fluid or each. Almost definitely, this may take the type of a discreet emergency lever:
This might act on a wound metal cable connected to an auxiliary stopper that grips the rim:
I’m unsure what they’d name it, however “Contingency Velocity Retardener” has a pleasant ring to it.
In the meantime, yesterday I took to the highway on a bicycle with a cutting-edge air-filled tire bladder system in addition to entrance and rear Continency Velocity Retardeners:
Keep in mind how I stated the Milwaukee was a incredible bike however there’s simply one thing particular concerning the Faggin? Effectively, it in all probability received’t shock you that after driving the Faggin for 3 days in a row then switching again to the Milwaukee I now really feel precisely the other:
As I’ve talked about, I’ve formally given up making an attempt to know bikes. Nonetheless, I haven’t given up bloviating, so listed here are my main theories as to what’s occurring:
These final three days on the Faggin had been chilly and wet, however yesterday was heat and sunny, so naturally I felt higher on the Milwaukee
Because the tires very slowly lose air like all tires do I’ve inadvertently discovered myself in form of a #whatpressureyourunning Goldilocks Zone. Nonetheless, by the subsequent journey they’ll be barely too low, at which level I’ll determine the Milwaukee feels barely extra sluggish than the Faggin, till I lastly get round to topping off the tires, at which level I’ll assume it’s just a little on the stiff aspect once more till they step by step deflate themselves again all the way down to the Goldilocks Zone and the cycle begins a brand new
It’s crimson
All of this obsessing ought to final till the brand new tires I ordered from Rivendell for the Roadini lastly arrive and I begin fixating on that once more.
Now the place the hell’s that UPS truck?
I’ll additionally confess I’m experiencing an identical inversion relating to the drivetrains: till now I used to be considering that the Tremendous File on the Faggin was nicer than the 105 on the Milwaukee, however now I’m wondering if it isn’t the opposite means round. The kinds of people that fancy themselves aficionados and tastemakers typically favor Campagnolo, and it’s not laborious to know why. On the similar time, relating to mechanical, Shimano has the sting in a single space, and I’m shocked no person ever appears to say it: particularly, it’s very simple to brake and downshift on the similar time as a result of the brake lever can also be the downshiftershifter. As I recall, this was how Lennard Zinn justified Campagnolo digital again within the early days of EPS:
As absurdly particular because the above passage from Zinn is, in my case all of that is past theoretical and much more ridiculous, since not solely are my racing days lengthy behind me, however I don’t even have anyone to journey with, which implies I’ve no have to ever attempt to sustain with anyone–and I can guarantee you my common velocity displays this, or at the very least it will if I had been nonetheless utilizing Strava. Which I’m not anymore.
However yeah, I’m actually having fun with the 105 stuff.
Anyway, having established I’m fully unqualified to assessment go-fast highway bike stuff, I’m nonetheless going to replace you on the Pearl Izumi sneakers I obtained again in 2022, seen beneath of their present state:
I’ll remind you that these are their funds sneakers–so budgety in reality that they appear to be marketed as a lot for indoor spin bike use as for precise biking. Talking of which, you’ll see I’m utilizing Look Delta cleats (or their generic equal), which have additionally fallen out of favor amongst cyclists whereas on the similar time changing into the usual cleat for indoor spinning. So why do I exploit them?
Effectively, like many cyclists, I used to make use of Look Delta pedals again when for those who had been a “severe” roadie you both used Look or Time, or perhaps Speedplay. Then someday in the course of the 10-speed period Campagnolo launched the Professional-Match pedal, and someway I began utilizing these:
They had been superb pedals, although in typical Campagnolo vogue they had been fully overdone, proper all the way down to the two-piece cleat with a steel half and a plastic half and even just a little piece of grip tape for the underside of the cleat.
Then Shimano SPD-SL got here out and like seemingly everybody else I switched to these, and I had nary an issue with them. Certainly, I’d nonetheless be utilizing them at present if it weren’t for the Vengeance Bike:
That bike arrived with the Look pedals (Delta, clearly), and if there’s one factor I can’t stand it’s having two totally different pedal programs going on the similar time. (I make an exception for “highway” pedals and “mountain” pedals, however even that I discover annoying.) But because the official Basic Cycle Previous Crap Take a look at Pilot it wouldn’t do for me to journey the Vengeance Bike with fashionable pedals. So as a substitute I purchased some previous Shimano Look Delta-compatible pedals off a sure web site the place individuals public sale stuff. These pedals are very top quality, however typically they seem like crap and no person needs them, so in consequence you possibly can typically get them for concerning the worth of an inside tube or two. So I purchased one other pair, and one other, and earlier than I knew it I used to be utilizing Look Delta-compatible Shimano pedals on all my highway bikes.
I hold that means to modify again to the SPD-SLs, however at this level it simply appears like a problem–and talking of hassles, I simply changed the cleats on these sneakers, however as a result of I waited so lengthy even the screws themselves had been worn down and I needed to Dremel little notches for a screwdriver into them to get them off, however not earlier than first making an attempt to get them off with a pair of needle-nose pliers and badly pinching the pad of my pinkie within the course of, leaving a nasty welt that was as painful as it’s ugly. So let that be a reminder to go forward and test your cleats–or, even higher, don’t trouble with any of this nonsense in any respect and simply journey in sneakers.
As for the sneakers, since getting them I’ve worn them for many of my cleated highway driving and have been extraordinarily happy with them. The heel pad thingy that aids strolling shouldn’t be replaceable, however as you possibly can see it’s barely worn. The Velcro (or its generic equal) can also be pretty much as good as new, and general I can’t discover a single factor to complain about, the disastrous pinky welt being 100% my fault. Often I nonetheless put on my Sidis, which I’ll admit do really feel just a little higher, however they’re additionally fairly beat up, and so they don’t really feel so significantly better that I don’t nonetheless go for these more often than not.
So there you go–although once more, you actually can’t go mistaken with sneakers.
