I've been experimenting, trying to find the worst possible commuting route to work. Riding the same route day after day has begun to wear on me, change is needed. If I have to ride my bike down North St. in Somerville, past the Mickey Mouse projects one more time, I swear I'm going to jerk the bars into a damn bridge abutment.
I consulted the good old Rubel map, they claim there are "Green Streets" (preferred cycling routes) through much of Waltham. This is a lie. I have not found a single road in that town which is anything more than tolerable on a bike.
The other night I had survived the mentally challenging route I had chosen through Waltham, only to flat out just a few miles from home out in Belmont. It happened as I was blindly rattling down a hill on a dark, pot hole riddled street. You know a death blow when you feel one. I pulled off to the side before my rim started banging asphalt.
The bike does roll faster with it's new Conti Duraskin 700 X 25's, but I can say with certainty that I never once flatted while running the Conti Top Tourer 2000 700 X 32's. I rode them 3,000 miles (most of the way) across the country, messengered for two years on them, and commuted I don't know how many 1000's of miles on them, not one flat. Just a few weeks ago I whacked a pot hole so hard in the rain that I put a hop in my rim...the tire did not go flat. That was all on the same pair of tires, not just that particular model, sounds insane, but is' true.
Fascinating stuff, I know. Christ, it's two months till my first race and I'm already talking about commuting tires. Maybe I should drive my computer into a damn bridge abutment.
2 comments:
Hey man,
I apppreciate you blog a bunch especially all the tech info: I was wondering if you had to do your IF all over again would you do the same rear spacing or would you opt for something different. I am going to do a SS CX bike this spring/summer once I get my refund but was looking for a little insight on what kind of spacing would somebody who rides his with much regularity would choose.
Again, great reads on your blog.
George
Hey, thanks for reading.
The Pink Bike is actually a hand me down from a former teammate,
he was way into overbuilding stuff, hence the 135mm spaced rear end.
I prefer 130mm if only for the fact that you can use any road crank. Having a lower Q Factor isn't a bad thing either.
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