Grant weighed in on today's BikeSnobNYC post: <https://bikesnobnyc.com/2025/03/27/nailed-it/>
"Not to brag, but in the '70s thru about the early '80s I used to get three flats a month. (I rode the then-popular Specialized Touring II tires, and a fresh rear one wore out in 600 miles.) I always patched, never tossed a tube unless it was slashed, and that's how I became good at flat repair. TODAY'S tires are relatively flat-resistant except agains nails and goatheads, and many of today's riders are wealthy tech titans (no offense to many of them) who don't know how to fix flats because they're too rich to bother and they flat so rarely, and they don't want to take the time or demean suffer the stress of sitting on the side of the road getting blackish hands and still failing. I'm one of the few, or maybe the only one at RBW who hasn't tried tubeless. I've seen every unique-to-tubeless problem many times---failure to seal, dried sealant, fits so tight that cussing ensues. Typically, the guy will give them a second chance, but not a third, and I think we're all on tubes again. A TubelessCompatible rim + TC tire with an inner tube is really hard to put on or take off, YouTube tips or not. It's hard to find non-TC tires or rims, but they're out there. A normal rim with TC tire is fine, a TC rim with normal tire is fine, but both makes it hard. Sorry so long." After this informative discussion I for one am happy to stick to tubes... although I have the exact setup Grant describes above, TC rims and TC tyres with tubes, which I am dreading removing when the time comes. Kat On Friday, March 28, 2025 at 1:00:12 PM UTC+10 [email protected] wrote: > Drew, > > I thank you for sharing your first experience riding your new Clem. > > I smiled in reading your enthusiasm in spending the last two nights and > one morning before work dialing in your Clem. > > "Riding like a surfboard" is a very fine way to explain how it rides. Yes, > the Clem rolls over most everything with big tires. When I go off road, I > use my SIMWORKS HOMAGE 55mm tires. > > I would love to see close up pictures of your orange Clem. > > Ride on ! > Kim Hetzel > PNW. > > On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 12:59 PM Drew Fitchette <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> I just spent the last two nights and this morning before work dialing in >> my Clem, and took it out for a ride on my lunch break today only to find a >> creak happening somewhere around the bottom bracket/crank... which had me >> laughing at how you can feel like things are perfectly in place only to >> have to go back to the repair stand. >> >> Really love the ride on this 59 Clem though, what a huge contrast it is >> to the 54 Appaloosa. Long and luxurious like riding a surfboard, and the >> Shwalbe G One's(with tubes!) roll over everything. Has me wondering if I >> should put swept back bars on the Appa Again... or keep the Bullmoose for >> more variety. >> >> [image: IMG_9144.jpeg] >> On Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 1:31:14 PM UTC-4 Jason Fuller wrote: >> >>> Leah, regarding tracking apps - I have RidewithGPS too and while I like >>> it for designing routes, I find Strava way easier to use for recording >>> rides - also, I'm not sure how to track per bike in RWGPS if it's even >>> possible? In Strava, you have to add bikes (err, "gear") in the browser >>> version and then you can select it when you upload your ride. The free >>> version is totally find, I can't see any reason to use paid for >>> recreational use except to support them financially. The Bombadil has been >>> getting more miles than the Hillborne over the past while but the Hillborne >>> still leads in total miles (a little over 12,000 km vs 8500km); Bombadil is >>> definitely my "grab and go" choice when I don't want to think about it, >>> it's ready for anything! >>> >>> On Thursday, 27 March 2025 at 08:55:27 UTC-7 [email protected] wrote: >>> >>>> On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 2:18 AM Leah Peterson <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> >>>>> I log my rides using my Apple Watch. It works great for keeping track >>>>> of mileage but *it does not track mileage according to bike.* And >>>>> that bothers me. Pam has her cycling computer and knows exactly how many >>>>> miles she gets every year on her Betty, but with 4 in the rotation, I >>>>> can’t >>>>> see keeping up batteries on all their cyclometers. Only the raspberry >>>>> bike >>>>> has one. I do have Ride with GPS and am constantly frustrated with it. It >>>>> is, admittedly, new to me though. I planned a ride around the lake with >>>>> some of my bike club friends and it took us on wrong turns more that once >>>>> and then barked at me the whole time. Do you use it? I’ve never gotten on >>>>> Strava because it intimidates me. People will be looking in on me and >>>>> that >>>>> seems weird. I might be wrong, since I’ve never actually used it! >>>>> >>>>> >>>> The way I track mileage per bike is using Strava linked to a Garmin >>>> bike computer. After the ride, the Garmin uploads to Garmin Connect (which >>>> lets you track mileage per bike, but since they debuted the feature after >>>> Strava I've stayed with Strava), which then syncs to Strava which lets you >>>> track which equipment you used on the activity. You can keep all your >>>> rides >>>> private if you like and just make the ones you want public viewable by >>>> all. >>>> (I do this because my CEO follows me on Strava so I don't publish the mid >>>> day escapes --- he's a cool guy, but I don't have to rub it in his face :-) >>>> >>>> As for tubeless, I've rented 3 bikes with tubeless, one from the Santa >>>> Cruz factory, one from Whistler, and one time from another private shop at >>>> Whistler resort. 2 times out of 3 I ended up with a flat that the sealant >>>> didn't work on, and ended up with me riding to the shop to get it fixed >>>> because the tubeless tire was so stuck onto the rim I couldn't get it off >>>> with tire levers. One time the tubeless tire had an insert so I just rode >>>> it back to the shop (the shop was kind enough to refund me the day's >>>> rental >>>> and fixed it up so I could keep riding after lunch), the other time I was >>>> stuck pumping up the tire every 3 miles (no refund, and the mechanic was >>>> shocked that the flat was unrepairable). Both experiences convinced me >>>> that >>>> if I rode tubeless on my personal bikes someday I'll be stuck hiking 20 >>>> miles out of the wilderness with an unrepairable flat. >>>> >>> -- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/ksvlbi-Jd6w/unsubscribe >> . >> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >> [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/c5393274-2d45-4cbc-b32a-55dbb4163013n%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/c5393274-2d45-4cbc-b32a-55dbb4163013n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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