Some Ideas To Make Your Life Easier Coat Your Inner Tubes With Talc
Ever had to peel an inner tube out of your tire when changing a flat? Sometimes when a tube has been in a tire for a long time the two almost seem to be welded together. Put your spare tubes in a large plastic bag and sprinkle in a little talcum powder. Shake it up and take the tube out of the bag. The layer of talc will create a slip plane between tube and tire, making mounting easier. Since the tube will be able to slide around a little bit the chance of a fold or wrinkle is reduced and the tire will run more true and with less rolling resistance. I have been using baby powder, but a review of the ingredients shows me it is mostly corn starch so I guess that could work as well. We now carry Rema Tip Top brand tire talc too.
Check Chain Wear
Bicycle chains don’t “stretch”. The links and the pins connecting them wear so that the “Pitch” or the distance between the pins increases. When this happens the chain will then start wearing away at the metal in the cogs and chain rings to match the new chain pitch. In extreme cases a new chain will not mesh with the old rings and the rear cog and the chain rings need to be replaced. Chains are relatively inexpensive so I usually err on the side of caution and replace mine at the first sign of wear. A new chain measures precisely one half inch between pins. 24 links should measure 12 inches edge of pin to edge of pin and can be measured with the chain on the bike. An even better way is to remove the chain and lay it flat and in a straight line and measure the pins which are 24 inches apart. If there is even 1/16 inch of “stretch” in 24 inches it’s time to replace the chain.
How to tell if the chain rings and or cassette cogs are worn? It the individual cogs/teeth have a “shark fin” shape and/or if the leading or pulling edge is deformed with a small ridge, it can affect shifting performance.
There is a small ridge developing on the leading edge of this ring.Close-up of the deformed tooth.
The new VO frame, the Camargue fresh off the boat for Interbike 2013. I’m afraid this bike might be pretty dang close. Made at the same factory as Surly and Rivendell.
Great color on this touring bike!I’m a sucker for the bi-plane forkExtended head tubeSingle ring and IG hub optionSemi horizontal drop out
I was sitting on the top of the counter in the bathroom at Seminole Canyon State Park in Texas writing a blog post using my Droid phone. I was in the bathroom mostly to get out of the maddening wind I had been battling all day but also so I could use the electrical outlet to charge the Droid. My phone just doesn’t hold a charge very long especially when using the internet or GPS functions. Since then I’ve been on the lookout for a way to keep my phone charged while I’m on the bike. “When it rains it pours” and “if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need” etc.
From the left: Camelbak All Clear, Bushnell SolarWrap Mini, Solio Bolt, Bright Bike Revolution
The Camelbak All Clear
The Camelbak All Clear
Obviously not actually a charging device, this is a 750 ml bottle with a cap which incorporates a USB rechargeable ultra-violet light bulb to purify water. I “discovered” this product at summer Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City earlier this year. It takes about 60 seconds to purify a bottle of water and one charge of the light is good for about 80 cycles. There is an LCD display screen on top of the cap which counts down the 60 seconds once the light is turned on so you know the cycle is finished and the water is potable. And it displays the remaining battery charge. 80 cycles will purify about 60 liters of water so this bottle will last the duration of most trips with one charge. But if you are in the middle of say, the Chihuahuan Desert and out of charge then one of the other pictured devices will come in handy.
The Bushnell Solar Wrap Mini
The Bushnell Solar Wrap, unrolled
Basically a lithium-ion battery wrapped in a flexible solar panel. Unwrapping the panel and hanging it facing the sun charges the battery. The battery can also be charged using the included USB cable. This little unit is light and simple with an output port on one end of the battery and an input port at the other. An indicator light on one end glows red when charging and green when fully charged.
The Solio Bolt.
Solio Bolt solar charger and battery
I actually first saw the Camelbak All Clear at the Solio booth at OR. Solio devices use lithium ion polymer batteries charged from rigid solar panels which fold together when stored and can be fanned out and arranged as a sundial. The on off switch indicates the amount of remaining charge by blinking when turned on….one blink indicates 20% charge so 5 blinks means the battery is fully charged. The discharge has two modes, one for Apple devices and one for others. These can be charged via via USB cable as well.
The Bright-Bike Sinewave Cycles Revolution
Sinewave Cycles Revolution converter.
Rear of the Bright-Bike revolution. Zip Tie Included!
For bikes equipped with hub or bottle dynamos this little gem will convert the current from the dynamo to USB output. Any device can be plugged in to recharge while riding, including your Solio Bolt or Bushnell Solar Wrap batteries. This converter plugs directly into the output from the generator and can be installed with piggyback plugs onto which the leads from the headlights can be attached in parallel, so theoretically a device can be charged while riding with the generator powered headlight on. Simply zip-tie the unit onto the bike and plug in your phone, camera, GPS, head light, Camelbak bottle cap etc. How neat is that?
Some Neo-Luddites will cry “I go on a bike tour to get away from technology”
But thus sayeth the Bike Hermit; “If it makes life on the road easier or more comfortable and even safer, then why not use it”?
Some might even say “Why do you need the dynamo hub charger AND the solar batteries?” Well, even on cloudy days I may need to top off the Droid or tablet using the Bright-Bike Sinewave Cycles Revolution and on other, sunny days I may not be riding and I can charge the batteries in the sun or using a wall outlet.
Personally I think this stuff is pretty neat and I can’t wait for my ride across Nevada on Highway 50 next month and the challenges that will present with lack of services or water for stretches of 80 miles and more on successive days. There probably won’t be any surface water to purify and cell phone coverage is going to be questionable too but lack of charge to my electronic devices will not be a limiting factor! I will do a report after the ride and will also be posting a video showing the final setup and use.
We had a chance to take the Surly fat bikes out this Labor Day weekend and this is my report.
From Bike Touring News H.Q. we did a quick 10.6 mile loop that took in some single track so we could see how the bikes handled.
I rode the standard Pugsley and Sky King was riding the Pug Ops bike. The main differences between the two, besides the color, are tabulated below:
Component
Pugsley
Pug Ops
Rims
Large Marge Lite 65mm
Rolling Darryl 82mm
Tires
Surly Nate 3.8″ 27 t.p.i.
Surly Nate 3.8″ 120 t.p.i.
Crankset
Sram X-5 36/22
Surly Offset double 36/22
Rear Derailleur
Shimano Deore RD-M591
Shimano LX RD-T670
Cassette
shimano HG61 9 speed 11-32
Shimano HG62 10 speed 11-34
Shifters
Microshift Top Mount 3×9
Shimano SLX Rapid Fire 3×10
So the Pug Ops gains a little more footprint by using wider rims and tires with a higher thread count. The higher thread count should make for a stronger and more supple casing for better handling at low tire pressures. Even though the tires on both bikes have the same nominal dimensions, the wider rim on the Pug Ops means that the tire is wide enough to potentially interfere with the chain when riding in the lowest gear. That’s why the Pug Ops comes with Surly’s offset double crankset.
The Ride
Surly Pugsley in the Boise foothillsThe smile says it all. Sky King on the Surly Pug Ops, Boise foothills.
We started with about 20 p.s.i. in the rear tires and about 15 in the front but I let a little bit out for the downhill sections. (I need to get me one of those low pressure tire gauges when QBP has them back in stock)
The single track on this particular ride, and most of the other trails in this area, is sand….some of it smooth and hard, some of it with washboard stutter bumps and some short soft and loose sections.
Impressions
Well, as Ed Sanders of The Fugs said (but not about riding fat-bikes); “Shit, it was more fun than squashin’ tadpoles.”
–Gearing; The two chainrings combined with a 32 or 34 tooth big cog in the back provided low enough gearing for everything we did on this ride. I don’t know if the lack of a larger front chainring will be too limiting with regard to top-end speed.
–Handlebars; Let’s just say the Salsa bars that come stock on these bikes are less than optimal from a standpoint of comfort. The sweep angle is anti-ergonomic and made my wrists and the joint at the base my thumb ache after just a few minutes. That prompted a call to Jeff Jones the next day to order some of his Loop Bars. We will have those in stock for customers wanting a comfortable bar with multiple hand positions for their fat bikes.
–Shifters; I am a fan of top mount thumb shifters and not a fan of under the bar trigger shifters. ‘Nuff said.
–Handling;
–Climbing; Another fat bike I rode one time had the tendency for the front wheel to bounce around and/or become unweighted when climbing anything technical but this Pugsley stayed planted and it was easy to get the front wheel to go where I pointed it. And traction, obviously, is not the limiting factor on any climb with 4″ wide tires sprouting aggressive, wide spaced knobs.
–Descending; I’m not a fast descender on any bike but the Pugsley made me smile. Some of the chatter bumps were a little jarring and the chain slapping on the chainstay was annoying, but lower tire pressures could help smooth that out. The bike felt magnetically attached to the ground on the bigger rollers and knobs, it just sucked them up without trying to buck me off. Again, the traction is astonishing when going around corners with some speed. These tires have a round profile and the big buttress shaped knobs on the shoulders of the tread bite into the loose stuff.
Conclusion
This bike makes me want to ride more and that’s a good endorsement. My original feeling towards fatbikes was that they might be a little limited in versatility, but these things are fun! They roll over anything and make it possible to ride terrain you would have to push or carry other bikes over. Single track, dirt roads, snow, deep sand, wet sand, and loose gravel all become fair game. Actually, now that I am thinking about it these bikes may be more versatile and less limited in many ways than non-fatbikes. And the market segment seems to be growing which is good news for the consumer because that means more innovation and products down the pike. Get a fat-bike. You won’t regret it, if you live. (apologies to Mark Twain)
