In Steve's defense (as amusing as this has been), I'm thinking his only real error was in mixing his measures. Perhaps, Steve, you meant to say '50kg heavier' as you offered your post-breakfast weight as 100kg.
Perhaps it is time for my neighbors south of the 49th to revisit a full conversion to the metric system (except for carpentry!) But, perhaps this suggestion falls squarely under the topic of Leah's thread. What I should have known. On Monday, May 4, 2020 at 7:29:43 PM UTC-7, Steve Palincsar wrote: > > > On 5/4/20 9:41 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > > I nearly talked myself out of this thread because I’m about to make > myself look really stupid, but it was so funny that I’m doing it anyway. > > > > I’ve been somewhat of a mess my whole Biking Life. I adored bikes, > always, but I never had a proper bike education or a nice bike until 2012. > I was born to the least mechanically-inclined parents on earth, and my mom > was more proficient than my dad. I grew up riding the worst bike you can > imagine, always with nearly-flat tires. Maybe once a year, usually in > spring, Dad would haul my bike to the gas station and fill the tires with > air. It was like riding on clouds. But eventually, my tires would lose air > again and I’d have to wait until next year. Not that I’d notice anything > was amiss - I was too busy riding barefoot all over small town North > Dakota, falling out of trees, eating penny candy from the bowling alley and > building forts. Tires, what tires. > > > > I grew up, went to college, met and married my husband, who grew up on a > farm. We moved across the country with almost nothing and started our life > and careers. My farmer father-in-law came to visit and outfitted our garage > with tools he thought mandatory, including an air compressor. I think it > was my 27th birthday that my husband told me he wanted to get me a bike. I > knew just the one, it was *really* expensive at $125, but it was my > birthday and I would get the best: A blue Schwinn Sidewinder from the local > Walmart. > > > > While he was visiting, my FIL (again, a farmer and not a bike rider) > noticed my bike tires were pathetically low. Of course I hadn’t noticed; > flat tires were de rigueur for me! He filled them with the air compressor, > pushed on the tire and declared it good. And from then on, that was how I > did it. > > > > I’ve heard you all talk about your supple tires and not wanting them > rock hard, and I knew *I* had supple tires because when I squeezed them, > there was a tiny but perceptible give to the rubber. I mean, that’s what > you all meant, right? So I made sure I never filled my tires very fully > because supple tires were the ticket. > > > > I ended up with a floor pump last year. It has a gauge that tells you > “how much pressure you runnin’”. I have started using it lately and began > to pay attention to what my tire pressure was. 20-25. Huh. I remember folks > discussing tire pressure and I didn’t recall theirs being so low. So, I > asked Joe, who seems to answer most of the questions on the List and > doesn’t seem to resent it. He (through fits of laughter at his keyboard, > I’m sure) said that yes, I actually should be pumping up my tires to a > certain number and that yes, they would feel rock hard, and no, squeezing > them is not a good test, and indeed I would not explode my Big Bens (with > max psi of 70) if I filled them to 55 psi. > > > OK, let's deconstruct this a bit. I looked them up: according to > Schwalbe's web site a Big Ben no matter the diameter is either a 50mm or > a 55mm wide tire. As you know, pressure is related to load: the > heavier the load, the more pressure you need. No different here from > your car or truck. I figure I'm probably 50 lb heavier than you (100 kg > after breakfast today) and I run my 38mm 650B tires at 4 atmospheres, > around 60 psi. So if you at 75% of my weight are running a tire that's > maybe 15mm wider than mine and 5 psi less than I am, I'd say chances are > pretty good that you're inflating those tires to a much higher pressure > than you need to. Chances are, if you reduce your pressure to perhaps > 40 or maybe even a few psi less than that, you'd get a better ride. > You'd probably have less rebound after hitting a pothole, too. That's > another -- quite dangerous -- downside to overinflating a wide tire: it > can rebound like a basketball, pulling the handlebars right out of your > hands. I've got a jagged lump in my collar bone because of that. > > > > > > I was today years old when I learned that your tires are *supposed* to > feel rock hard and be filled to an actual number. > > > Not a big wide tire like that. Now sure, a 23mm tire at 100 psi is > definitely going to feel rock hard. I can feel the (ultra supple EL > casing) sidewalls on my Herse Loup Loup Pass tires give when I squeeze > them. > > > > I was today years old when I learned that my “supple tires” were just > tires that were low on air. > > > > Who else has managed to miss the obvious when it comes to bike stuff? > > > > Leah, who would like you to know she is smart at other things. Just not > bike things. > > > -- > Steve Palincsar > Alexandria, Virginia > USA > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/ee657147-8927-4764-945f-c252ff0e115f%40googlegroups.com.
