I took the entire back wheel of Bobbi's bicycle to the bike shoppe today, handed it to the salesperson, and said "I think my roomie needs a new tube."
After a perfunctory glance, it was handed back with the statement "I think your roomie needs more than just a new tube."
And it was true: It was easy to spot where the air had got out once it was pointed out to me, since the ragged hole was surrounded by cording from the tire carcass. It was the closest thing to a blowout I'd ever seen on a bicycle tire. Yikes.
The only thing they had in stock to fit was the Bontrager Hardcase which, with tube and labor, cost almost as much as if she'd had a blowout in her Hyundai, but is reckoned to be well-nigh bulletproof.
As an interesting side note: The wheel with a flat tire fit in the Bimmer's trunk, but just barely. With a freshly inflated tire mounted, it needed to ride up front with me.
While I waited for the work to be done, I drooled on the Trek Soho in the showroom. Someday it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.
The brake pad on my bike managed to work it's way up the holder and rubbed a hole through the tire and caused a blowout (the tube expanded out of the hole and went POP like a balloon). It happened right after I had gotten done doing a 60MPH run down one section of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and had just pulled into an overlook for a break. If it had happened while I was at speed..
ReplyDeleteGet the Trek Soho, life's too short to waste on crappy velocipeds. Disc brakes are nice.
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassing to get a speeding ticket on a bicycle.
ReplyDeleteWell, OK, bragging rights, too, but still...
WV: unram. Am not, I'm an Aries!
And I've been contemplating a Montague folder.
ReplyDeleteYa like city bikes, eh?
ReplyDeleteClevercycles in Portland sells em ... a little over 2k each.
Heh.
I was going to comment about spending ELEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARSES on a bicycle, but got distracted by this dictionary of bike slang. Choice nuggets:
ReplyDeletebeartrap 1) v. to slip off a pedal, causing it to slam one in the shin, when one gets kracked with a pedal. 2) n. the toothlike scars resulting from being beartrapped.
death cookies n. fist-sized rocks that knock your bike in every direction but the one you want to proceed in.
organ donor n. someone who rides without a helmet. Also called a "metal head".
There goes the rest of my afternoon.
Not just any city bike; there's something about the aesthetic of the Soho that just really catches my eye. Actually, the Soho S in Stealth Fighter Black is even cooler and more spartan-looking, but I'd rather have a gearset and the disc brakes...
ReplyDeleteBack in my college days I was working in a computer lab on campus late at night and I heard an earth-shattering kaboom out in the hallway. A couple of us went out to check it out, saw nothing and came back. Wasn't until I tried to ride my bike home that I realized my bike tire had exploded, right through both sidewalls.
ReplyDeleteNo idea why it blew, glad I wasn't riding at the time.
-m@
Soho: Didn't know bikes came in tacticool ;-) All it needs is a couple of accessory rails, a light, a laser, and night vision optics.
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of BikeLine, tho. I bought my bike from the now defunct BikeLine on Mass. Ave. The Carmel and Bripple Bikelines treat me like I bought my bike from their mortal enemy. Plus, it cost less than $2K, which makes me some kind of low-rent third world ghetto denizen.
BGI, in contrast, acts like they're glad I came and would like to see me again sometime.
What is the word on the street about the long-term reliability of the eight speed internal hub? It seems like it would be great not having to worry about a chain jumping from sprocket to sprocket, but that is a bunch of stuff inside the hub!
ReplyDeleteLoved the Wayne's World reference.
ReplyDeleteBack in College I worked as a Janitor at the Klein (owned by Trek) Bicycle factory.
Gorgeous bikes. Cost more than my car.
And then there are bicycles like this one.
ReplyDeleteBontrager Hardcase is a bad-ass tire, and may be close to bulletproof. No more pinch-flats either!
ReplyDeleteBikes come in tacti-cool. They even have tacti-cool names a-la the Cannondale Badboy.
WV: waymo - bikes are waymo expensive than you think!
Tam, you just want it because it says "assault" in the description. And because the color reminds you of your titanium sport.
ReplyDeleteI killed three in-hub three-speeds in my callow youth during the mid 70's, but those were tosspot Sturmey-Archers. That belt-drive must be pretty stealthy, quieter than a typewriter?
ReplyDeleteI think I would go with The PDX slap some fenders and chain guard on it (If required) and go from there.
ReplyDeleteI'm always a bit leery of the more esoteric components like the belt drive and the internally shifted rear. I like being able to buy parts at any bike store as well as having a wide variety of mechanics to fix my inevitable screw-ups.
I've been itching to replace my 7100 for a year or two (ride my road bike most of the time now) thanks for link and getting me interested the hybrid again.
I really wish I could simply commute via bicycle. One of those Treks of the Novaras from REI would be an incredible bike.
ReplyDeleteAlas, at 10 miles one way, via the freeway, my commute is just too far for a bike ride.
-Rob
Dirtcashr:
ReplyDeleteThe tech has gotten a bit past those old three-speeds ....
Something really odd about the pictures of that Soho on the Trek website. The hubs have disc brake rotors attached, even though they're supposed to be using Shimano roller drum brakes. WTF?
ReplyDeleteBTW, haven't heard about whether the big black boat anchor is operational in Roseholme Cottage, yet. Yer keepin' me in suspense, here!
Dirtcrashr,
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to buy my 7100, there was a guy test-riding a District around the parking lot. It was freaky quiet, all the more so for being brand new and tight as the proverbial drum. I crap you negative, all you could hear were the tires whispering on the asphalt. I'm surprised those things don't mow people down on the Monon trail in job lots...
G98,
ReplyDeleteIt's been quite a week. (<- That was understatement.)
Stand by for email.
I guess I lucked out. I dropped of my rear wheel at the bike shop an hour ago, and they said it wouldn't be done till tomorrow, so I didn't have an excuse to drool. Keep contemplating a 29er single speed hardtail of some shape or form....
ReplyDeleteI'd give that belt-drive setup a fair chance. I don't mind bikes making well-tuned mechanical noises, just the same.
ReplyDeleteJim
I went over to Chain Reaction Bikes and took a look at the Soho: on-sale for $1,049.
ReplyDeleteBrakes my bad: they look like discs but they're hub-drums - the visible disc-thing may be a heatsink?
The Gates belt was dry and quiet - no more greasy lube-prints on shoes and shins. they also had a District. Muy Impressivio.
Kristopher - I was told about the Rolf 14-speed also. I'm sure the hub metallurgy is superior to the mid-70's whatever. That's about when what was unacceptable became more and more obvious. American bikes were built like American cars: Mavericks and Vegas - either ponderous and doughy or anemic and rattly - and I rode the Gremlin of Bikes. And then an Angel named Shimano appeared.
@Dirt-at that time, you were riding the wrong bikes.
ReplyDeleteI have guns that cost less than those bikes!
ReplyDeleteI was riding the only bike I could afford on the salary of a high-school ice-cream scooper.
ReplyDeleteSavage looking machine, but I'm probably headed for a Montague Paratrooper, with the case, so I can have something for the boat.
ReplyDeleteTried carrying a regular bike on deck. Not what you want on a smallish sailboat. Also, I can get a 2 inch shorter stand-over height on the Montague. Typical Mick, short legs and very long torso.
But damn, I like that belt drive.
We know why you REALLY want it. According to the reviews, it
ReplyDelete"Drives Like A Prius".