Wheels.11 - Bicycles and other non-motorized wheels

{Wheels.11.2}: '85 VW Vanagon; '89 Mazda 323 {patrice} Mon, 08 Mar 2004 00:27:15 CST (1 line)

{Wheels.11.3}: {michael33} Mon, 08 Mar 2004 04:17:53 CST (0 lines)
{erased by michael33 Mon, 02 Oct 2006 06:03:29 CDT}

{Wheels.11.6}: {michael33} Mon, 08 Mar 2004 18:06:51 CST (0 lines)
{erased by michael33 Mon, 02 Oct 2006 06:03:31 CDT}

I love this place. I can always find a useful answer to any question. :-) I'm thinking 3 gears will be plenty for me. I expect to be a casual rider, not going for speed, and mostly wandering up to a coffee shop or grocery store.

I have a six-speed bicycle, the first one I've had that wasn't a coaster bike. I'm glad I got the six speeds, especially since we have a few hilly roads around here. I don't ride fast, but there are times when I even wish I had more. (Come to think of it, it may be a 5-speed -- I forget!)

Hah! Kitty, things have changed, believe me, in 20 years!

I have a (nominally) 24-speed bicycle, but that number comes from multiplying the 3 gears on the chainring (at the pedals) times the 8 gears on the cassette (at the back wheel). In reality, there's a tremendous amount of overlap in those combinations; and in practical terms, I have a 10-speed . . . all eight rear gears connected to the middle of the front gears (which is where I nearly always ride), then from the lowest of those combinations, I can drop down one more step on the chainring or, from the highest combination I can go up one step on the chainring.

When I bought the bicycle (it's a road bike), I had them swap out the standard chainring for a mountain-bike chainring for the lower gears. The kind of riding I do, I don't need those high-end speeds, but I do need all the help I can get on the steep hills.

On my previous bicycle, I used tires that were slick on the center and knobby on the sides. In straight-ahead riding, I'd have the low-resistance slick surface under me, and on corners I'd get some of the knobby into play. Sounds great in theory, but the only time I ever had the bike slide out from under me was on knobby tires--taking a corner too fast. Equipment cannot replace common sense.

I do recommend Kevlar-lined tires. When I was commuting to work on the bicycle, I got several flats from things as small as staples--just the little, skinny things you use in offices. But after I put on the Kevlar tires, I never had to change a tube again.

{Wheels.11.12}: {michael33} Mon, 08 Mar 2004 23:54:11 CST (0 lines)
{erased by michael33 Mon, 02 Oct 2006 06:03:34 CDT}

{Wheels.11.13}: Michael Cerkowski {michael33} Mon, 08 Mar 2004 23:55:52 CST (4 lines)

Oh, and my E-bike has just the sort of center slick, edge knobbed tire described above. It weighs 80lbs, so I won't be leaning it much anyway, but thanks for the warning. Next tires it gets will be Bontrager Kevlars.

{Wheels.11.15}: {michael33} Tue, 09 Mar 2004 14:57:07 CST (0 lines)
{erased by michael33 Mon, 02 Oct 2006 06:03:36 CDT}

{Wheels.11.25}: OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {jsk} Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:05:42 CDT (0 lines)