A lot of people with flat tires visit my shop. If you ride enough you will inevitably get a flat a two. Fortunately there are many things you can do to reduce the chance you will get a puncture.

1. Tires should be in good shape. Bald, worn out, or tires that are cracked from age are easy for glass and such to penetrate the tire.

2. Tubes must be FULLY inflated. If your tubes are at a low pressure then any minor bump in the road can cause the tire to fold in and pinch the tube! I see this type of flat all the time. The proper pressure is usually written on the side of the tire. Check them about once a week.

3. rim and rim strip in good shape. Rims are not commonly a problem but still while fixing a flat check the rim

4. Do not hop curbs! You are not 60lb kid on a BMX. Any proper sort of commuting bike is not made to take those sort of stresses!

5. Ride in a predictable, smooth fashion. Weaving back and forth, hauling ass around blind corners, while fun means that your less likely to see that pothole/fallen branch/ extended curb/ etc.

6. Don’t ride in the gutter! To be polite to other traffic you should ride towards the right, but not so far that you risk running over all the debris that inevitable collects near the curb.

7. Stay off sidewalks! Sidewalks sometimes have a lot more debris on them than then the streets. The streets actually get swept occasionally as well as passing cars tend to push debris towards the gutter. Sidewalks almost never get cleaned!

There are also lots of products out there that claim to reduce or eliminate flats. Some of them do help. In some extreme situations they might even be necessary.  Personally I consider them a waste of money for normal riding. I run the cheapest tires and tubes possible. It’s been three years since I got an actual punctured tube(it was a small thorn that penetrated through a kevlar tire!)! I’ve had two other flats. Both was a result of being lazy,  not keeping my tubes fully inflated in one case and in the other I had worn the tire so bald I created a hole in the tire and popped the tube! But still I’m averaging about one flat a year, not too shabby!

I can afford to break my own rules because I always keep my flat repair kit with me and I have a huge amount of practice fixing flats. It doesn’t take me long!  If you don’t know how to or have the tools to fix one you are well advised to take care to follow these guidelines! Depending on the shop it can cost $10-$20 a pop (no pun intended) for a flat tire. It gets expensive quick and what are you going to do if it’s midnight and all the shops are closed?

Whether you have a vintage 10 speed with friction shifters, or a flashy new bike with index shifting and 30 speeds many of the same principles apply.

The gears on the inside (the ones closer the center of the bike) are your low speed gears. You should shift into these just before coming to a stop or just before starting to climb a hill.

The gears towards the outside are your high speed gears. As you gain speed you work your way up into these.

When it comes to riding around town the goal is to move efficiently with a minimum of wear and tear on the bike and you!

If you find yourself standing up to pedal your are in the wrong gear. Putting your full weight into cranking those pedals is hard on the bike, hard on your knees, and when eventually some part of your drive train suddenly, violently fails you will probably lose control of your bike and get hurt. I’ve seen people literally break their faces when this happens. If your bike has multiple speeds you should use them!

What gear should you be in? Whichever gear lets you comfortable stay in the saddle and does not force you chain to run at an extreme angle. That is called “cross-chaining”. It refers to when your chain is in a gear combination that runs the chain very diagonal increasing friction, wearing your components faster.

Assuming that you are starting off in your lowest gear (i.e. your chain is towards the insideas in the picture) you start pedaling as you get up into the saddle.

Spin those pedals until your feet are spinning just a little faster than you would prefer. Now it is time to shift.

First shift the rear derailleur (that should be the shifter on the right).

While shifting you should not press hard on the pedals. Spin them gently! Once you feel the shift happen then go ahead and press hard. (Note that some modern drive trains are designed to shift even when under full power. This assumes that the drive train is in good condition and well maintained. It is a feature intended for racing. For day to day transportation your drive train will last longer if you shift it gently)

Now if you have the room to continue gaining speed you’ll eventually need to shift again. Shift the rear derailleur again while spinning gently. Continue the process until you get near the center of the rear gears.

For example if you have an old school 10 speed, your rear gear cluster has five gears and the center is gear three. Now, still using the 10 speed as an example, you’re ready to shift your FRONT dérailleur. It’s the same procedure as the rear you just use the other lever. Once your up in the big ring up front keep pedaling and for your next shift you’ll go back to your rear dérailleur and continue with it till your chain is all the way to the outside.

Now you’re in your top gear. If you’ve got enough room its time to haul ass!

The previous example used a bicycle with only two rings up front. What if you have three rings like many modern bikes? Well you should just divide your rear sprockets into thirds. Then shift through one third of your gears on the rear, then shift the front, another third of the rear, then out to your third front ring, then shift the back all the way out.

This is a simplified explanation. It is intended as a general guideline for shifting safely, smoothly, and prolonging the life span of your drive train.

To see it in action watch this video:

It’s a sad fact: If something is easy to steal, somebody will steal it.

In the world of bicycles, theft is all too common, and the only thing any of us can do is make it more trouble to steal your bike than it’s worth.

There are three basic types of locks when it comes to bike security: Cables, Chains, and U-Locks.

(more…)

test

If you’ve tried to email the shop recently  you may have noticed that the email has not been working.  Sorry about that! We recently changed hosting providers and are still working out some kinks.  It should be fixed soon.

UPDATE

All fixed! Email away!

Fresh white powdercoat on this great frame. It’s set up as a single speed with front and rear brakes. Flip flop rear hub lets you swap to fixie if you want to. Almost everything but the frame and fork is brand new!

Pretty Bridgestone road bike with new tubes, tires, and wheels!

Solid Diamond Back with knobby tires and all tuned up! Good entry level off road bike. Or for about fifty bucks we could swap in some street slicks and make a nice commuter bike!

Small step-through frame. Will fit small to medium riders. New tubes and street tires!

new tubes and tires. fresh overhaul. dark green metallic paint. upright bars not road drops.

Over the busy busy summer the bikes sold so fast they never made it on the website. No longer! Lot’s of bikes are posted from affordable to super custom! Take a look!

late 1970’s lugged steel nishiki frame freshly powdercoated in transparent neon green over sparkle gold metallic. all new components. 44 tooth front chainring. 16 tooth freewheel. weinmann deep-v’s 700c with flip-flop rear hub for fixed gear.

velocity deep-v’s. aluminum 700c fork.  soma threadless headset, bars, cranks, and chainring. fresh powdercoat in green apple metallic. small ding in top tube.

Aluminum frame, carbon fiber fork. Deep profile flip flop wheels. Sweet ride almost all new components!

Old 3 speed internal hubs make great low maintenance medium range bikes! New tubes and tires.

The mixte frame lets a wider range of riders to be comfortable on this bike.New tubes and tires.  Mustache bars and fenders make it extra comfy.

Recently aquired a beautiful 1930’s Philips bicycle. Not a museum quality piece in pristine shape, this bike has been used frequently and hard, but it still rides sooo smooth. It’s from a time and place where people who depended on their bikes to get around demanded them to be simple and tough (and didn’t mind if it was a little heavy!) .

image coming

Eye catching customized Nishiki road bike frame. Fresh green powder coat on the frame and everything else is brand new! Yellow deep profile rims with flip flop rear hub (fixed/free) Currently in single speed mode with front and rear dual pivot brake calipers. A work of art!

Very tall frame! New tubes and tires and tuned up!

Brand new 700c wheels, tubes, and tires. New chain, freewheel, cables, etc. The frame has lots of room for  fenders!