Two Wheel Blogs

Sunday I had a long ride that started a little rough but ended well. Today I had another long ride that started great and ended badly.

It has been a good weekend. In spite of the less than spring-like weather we have had, I managed to get some good stuff accomplished.

Saturday morning: Woke up to find silly conditions outside (Pounding rain and temperature only a handful of degrees north of freezing...with snow in the forecast). I guess I am a pud, cuz I am not riding in that!

I was more than willing to put some time in on the rollers considering the alternative. I tuned into some pod-casts (cycling related of course) and put in some tempo on the drums. I finished the last program and checked the timer...just a bit over 2 hours. Not bad considering the time sort of flew by, and it was not even noon yet!

I finally got the tire seated on the Zipp last night. Gentle persuasion (and a really stiff nylon tire lever) helped the last bit of bead jump onto the rim. Now, getting the tire off may be another issue, but for now it's on and looks sharp. By comparison, the Mavic Comete disc back wheel buttoned up with no problems whatsoever.

I think I'll consider swapping out that Velox cloth rim tape the next time I have that wheel opened up. There is definitely a combination of tall rim walls and no low area for the tire bead to move into to aid with seating the tires on the 808's.

Last week, I picked up some Continental 4000 Grand Prix black chili tires for my TT bike. Last night I tossed the Velox rim tape onto the new Zipp 808 front wheel proceeded to attempt to mount the tire. For the life of me, I cannot get the last bit of the Conti to crawl over the rim of the clincher and seat on the wheel. This is by far the hardest tire/wheel/rim combo I've ever dealt with.

I've watched Zipp's video on tire mounting and short of using the tire lever, I've done everything they did. I guess life with the Zipp will be this way due to their taller rim profiles. My challenge tonight is to get this sucker to seat.

Once I've got the tires mounted and the last bit of Nokon cabling done, the bike will be ready for photos which I'll be sure to post up.

Well, it ain't pretty.

I called up my pals at the LBS and asked what they had in durable tires. This is what they served up. They say light, durable, cheap...pick two. These tires hopefully are no exception.

Check that link BTW, Mark and Pam built a new website...looks nice (looks like some of my gear made it to their site this time too...I may never be famous, but my wheels are!).

I could have opted for some less intense tires (color wise), but I am hoping these will serve as bright spots on dreary days of riding in the late winter. I just need to get through a few more weeks of riding on roads scattered with cinders (aka shards of furnace slag that shred racing tires).

This makes two!

Flat tires while riding on rollers, that is. I have been asked by more than one person how in the hell this can happen, and my responses have been to share theories. I say "theories" because that is the best I have to offer.

I have repaired a few tires in my day. Actually, I could justify claims that I know more than the average person when it comes to tires, but this time I am left with only guesses.