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Sep. 25th, 2023 11:14 amI had a sticker on my bike helmet reading "I don't have a gender I have anxiety." I really loved that sticker: it became my favorite one on my helmet. But I've realized that I do have a gender, and, in fact, I always did. It just took a long time to figure that out. So it's time for that one to go. But I'm preserving it on a piece of paper to go in my files, because that's the kind of sentimental girl I am.
I got new tires for my bike! Without the technical stuff: someone on Kijiji was selling a slightly used pair of commuter tires that usually cost $40 - $60 each for $20 for the pair. My tires are showing their age and I was angsting about spending a chunk of money on good tires to replace them, so it was great to find these! The seller was in northwest Regina, so I picked them up on my bike.
I found a stepstool in the dumpster at my condo building yesterday, so now I have a stepstool and can stop standing on stacked pain cans or a rolling chair. I was planning to buy one sooner or later, so that was a nice find!
Bike tire technical commentary: I've been running Gatorskin 28c tires for many years and I trust them. When I was tracking things, I've ridden as far as 2000 miles without a flat. The ones I bought are Armadillo All Condition 25c tires, which are supposedly comparable to the Gatorskins in puncture resistance.
I was actually thinking about moving to a set of wider 32c tires next time, so having the narrower 25c isn't ideal. They need to be inflated to a higher pressure and will ride more stiffly, and possibly have less cornering grip. But I do really need new tires, and I'm pretty conservative when cornering anyway since that's how I broke my wrist back in the day.
These tires seem kind of weird to me. I would have thought that most people buying narrower tires like this would have them on road bikes and want to maximize speed, which these heavier, stiffer tires aren't designed for. But I also would have thought that people who want heavier duty tires that will stand up to commuting and minimize flats would typically want wider tires than this.
*shrugs* I dunno. I'm going to put them on my bike today and see how it goes. One of them - the one that was on the back, I'm sure - does have a little wear, but the other one looks nearly new. I think I'll get a lot of miles out of them, if they're as good as reviews suggest.
Sheldon Brown's website says you should *always* have the tire with the least wear on the front of the bike because it's the most important one for handling in emergencies, and is the one mostly likely to cause serious injury if it suddenly goes totally flat. I think that makes sense, but i also am a pretty heavy person who needs a really solid back wheel and who doesn't actually go so fast that a crash is likely to cause serious injury, so I'm going to put the worn one on the front. It won't be more worn than the back one for long anyway!
ETA: These tires were far easier to mount on the rims than the Gatorskins have been. I didn't even need a tire lever for it. That makes me a little bit concerned, to be honest. Still, they seemed fine on my little test ride. Maybe they're a little stiffer: maybe it's confirmation bias. I did realize that some of my inner tubes are for 28-35 tires, so they aren't going to work in these tires. But I have several that are sized 25-32, so those will be good.
I got new tires for my bike! Without the technical stuff: someone on Kijiji was selling a slightly used pair of commuter tires that usually cost $40 - $60 each for $20 for the pair. My tires are showing their age and I was angsting about spending a chunk of money on good tires to replace them, so it was great to find these! The seller was in northwest Regina, so I picked them up on my bike.
I found a stepstool in the dumpster at my condo building yesterday, so now I have a stepstool and can stop standing on stacked pain cans or a rolling chair. I was planning to buy one sooner or later, so that was a nice find!
Bike tire technical commentary: I've been running Gatorskin 28c tires for many years and I trust them. When I was tracking things, I've ridden as far as 2000 miles without a flat. The ones I bought are Armadillo All Condition 25c tires, which are supposedly comparable to the Gatorskins in puncture resistance.
I was actually thinking about moving to a set of wider 32c tires next time, so having the narrower 25c isn't ideal. They need to be inflated to a higher pressure and will ride more stiffly, and possibly have less cornering grip. But I do really need new tires, and I'm pretty conservative when cornering anyway since that's how I broke my wrist back in the day.
These tires seem kind of weird to me. I would have thought that most people buying narrower tires like this would have them on road bikes and want to maximize speed, which these heavier, stiffer tires aren't designed for. But I also would have thought that people who want heavier duty tires that will stand up to commuting and minimize flats would typically want wider tires than this.
*shrugs* I dunno. I'm going to put them on my bike today and see how it goes. One of them - the one that was on the back, I'm sure - does have a little wear, but the other one looks nearly new. I think I'll get a lot of miles out of them, if they're as good as reviews suggest.
Sheldon Brown's website says you should *always* have the tire with the least wear on the front of the bike because it's the most important one for handling in emergencies, and is the one mostly likely to cause serious injury if it suddenly goes totally flat. I think that makes sense, but i also am a pretty heavy person who needs a really solid back wheel and who doesn't actually go so fast that a crash is likely to cause serious injury, so I'm going to put the worn one on the front. It won't be more worn than the back one for long anyway!
ETA: These tires were far easier to mount on the rims than the Gatorskins have been. I didn't even need a tire lever for it. That makes me a little bit concerned, to be honest. Still, they seemed fine on my little test ride. Maybe they're a little stiffer: maybe it's confirmation bias. I did realize that some of my inner tubes are for 28-35 tires, so they aren't going to work in these tires. But I have several that are sized 25-32, so those will be good.
