On Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 10:00:42 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 12:09:53 PM UTC-4, duane wrote:
On 10/07/2019 10:45 a.m., sms wrote:
On 7/6/2019 11:22 PM, Chalo wrote:
I was just observing to one of my coworkers that tubeless is the new
sewups-- inconvenient, messy, time-consuming, and totally useless for
99% of the people who think they're essential.

Anyone not going tubeless is standing in the way of human progress.

Seriously, for racers the weight savings make some sense since their
support vehicle will just hand them a replacement wheel and tire if they
get a flat, but for normal riders they're just an expensive hassle.

If you come across someone on the side of the road, asking to borrow
your pump, standing there in Lycra with empty CO2 cartridges on the
ground, you can be pretty certain that they're using tubeless. Any
minuscule time savings due to the slight weight savings is lost in the
noise when compared to the additional time to fix a flat.


Not sure what Lycra has to do with it or CO2 for that matter but
tubeless tires here are pretty much a rarity so I would be that they
aren't using tubeless.

And anyway, I'd likely lend them one of my CO2 instead of my pump since
I wouldn't want to wait for them to pump up their tires.

I know one guy using tubeless in my club and the last time he rode with
us he had a slow leak and had to stop every 20 km to pump the tires.
That's out of ~400 members.

Maybe I'm missing your point amid the lycra/co2 smoke...

I've helped strangers and friends by letting them use my pump. I didn't begrudge
the time at all. Generally it allows for some friendly conversation. And on one
ride that I've described from a couple years ago, three failures of various CO2
cartridges were a blessing. They allowed me some badly needed rest until the
guy with the flat finally borrowed my pump.

And since this is a discussion group, we could (ahem!) discuss the relative
advantages and disadvantages of both CO2 and lycra.

Unless, that is, tech skepticism is not allowed. If that's a rule now, I guess
only gushingly positive comments are appropriate.

I rode for three hours in the (unexpected) rain last Saturday in lycra shorts with a synthetic chamois, merino-poly bicycle specific sleeveless base layer (Showers Pass promo), lycra arm warmers and poly-wool blend cycling socks. I remained comfortable, although a little cold on some of the descents.

I could not imagine having been in cotton shorts or even nylon running shorts with cotton underwear, a Joerg approved cotton-tee and cotton socks. It would be like wearing a swamp with my ass sloshing around on the saddle. I would have frozen on the descents and remained wet for the whole ride. In fact, I would have turned around on the outskirts of Portland.

When the sun came out, I dried out in probably ten minutes -- or felt dry in ten minutes. I was bone dry by the time I got to Hood River except my socks were still damp, which I noticed when I took off my shoes. They still felt comfortable. Cotton socks would still be damp today.

And if you flat when its cold and miserable and raining, a CO2 inflator is a godsend and beats the hell out of flogging a clown pump -- same goes for when you're tired. CO2 has its environmental issues, and I still bring a clown pump as a back up, but there is no question that an inflator is a super-fast and convenient way of filling a tire. If you're an idiot and can't use one properly, that is a whole other issue -- and if you're that much of an idiot, you'll probably break off a valve with a clown-pump anyway. You should learn how to use the equipment or call an Uber.


-- Jay Beattie.