Leah, Thanks for starting this thread and the many others you have begun. They are one of the reasons I visit this site daily.
The one thing I should have known but did not -- and it's really an entire category -- is that I really shouldn't work on my own bike. While I think am mechanically inclined, I've never trained as a bike mechanic -- professional or amateur. The number of times I have started to "fix" something on one of my bikes is too many to count. All too often, after realizing I have not fully succeeded and my bike is not rideable, I haul it to my LBS where, in addition to addressing the original problem, they also need to undo my bad work and make what I've done wrong right. Steve Cole Arlington, VA On Monday, May 4, 2020 at 9:41:14 PM UTC-4, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > > I nearly talked myself out of this thread because I’m about to make myself > look really stupid, but it was so funny that I’m doing it anyway. > > I’ve been somewhat of a mess my whole Biking Life. I adored bikes, always, > but I never had a proper bike education or a nice bike until 2012. I was > born to the least mechanically-inclined parents on earth, and my mom was > more proficient than my dad. I grew up riding the worst bike you can > imagine, always with nearly-flat tires. Maybe once a year, usually in > spring, Dad would haul my bike to the gas station and fill the tires with > air. It was like riding on clouds. But eventually, my tires would lose air > again and I’d have to wait until next year. Not that I’d notice anything > was amiss - I was too busy riding barefoot all over small town North > Dakota, falling out of trees, eating penny candy from the bowling alley and > building forts. Tires, what tires. > > I grew up, went to college, met and married my husband, who grew up on a > farm. We moved across the country with almost nothing and started our life > and careers. My farmer father-in-law came to visit and outfitted our garage > with tools he thought mandatory, including an air compressor. I think it > was my 27th birthday that my husband told me he wanted to get me a bike. I > knew just the one, it was *really* expensive at $125, but it was my > birthday and I would get the best: A blue Schwinn Sidewinder from the local > Walmart. > > While he was visiting, my FIL (again, a farmer and not a bike rider) > noticed my bike tires were pathetically low. Of course I hadn’t noticed; > flat tires were de rigueur for me! He filled them with the air compressor, > pushed on the tire and declared it good. And from then on, that was how I > did it. > > I’ve heard you all talk about your supple tires and not wanting them rock > hard, and I knew *I* had supple tires because when I squeezed them, there > was a tiny but perceptible give to the rubber. I mean, that’s what you all > meant, right? So I made sure I never filled my tires very fully because > supple tires were the ticket. > > I ended up with a floor pump last year. It has a gauge that tells you “how > much pressure you runnin’”. I have started using it lately and began to pay > attention to what my tire pressure was. 20-25. Huh. I remember folks > discussing tire pressure and I didn’t recall theirs being so low. So, I > asked Joe, who seems to answer most of the questions on the List and > doesn’t seem to resent it. He (through fits of laughter at his keyboard, > I’m sure) said that yes, I actually should be pumping up my tires to a > certain number and that yes, they would feel rock hard, and no, squeezing > them is not a good test, and indeed I would not explode my Big Bens (with > max psi of 70) if I filled them to 55 psi. > > I was today years old when I learned that your tires are *supposed* to > feel rock hard and be filled to an actual number. I was today years old > when I learned that my “supple tires” were just tires that were low on air. > > Who else has managed to miss the obvious when it comes to bike stuff? > > Leah, who would like you to know she is smart at other things. Just not > bike things. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3806a502-9a57-4e5d-890f-8e349606d07d%40googlegroups.com.
