I switched to an electric pump for the weight savings 😅 I would carry a pump, 2 2 CO2s and the inflator. I can't remember the exact weight savings. Rereading what I wrote, maybe I shouldn't have carried so much extra stuff!
None😅 The closest I came to trouble was not having a valve extender for my spare tube. I had to stop every 5-10 minutes to reinflate. The pump saved my bacon, but it was ultimately down to poor preparation on my part.
Doh! Did that once myself. I now keep in my pack a basic valve extender with a bit of PTFE tape wrapped around it. I usually prefer the ones where you have to remove the valve core first, but for quick repairs, this is easier.
Catrike is an American bicycle manufacturer producing 3500+ units a year. It is my understanding they will be announcing price increases due to import costs of componentry. Way to go Navarro and Trump. You did it.
I just spoke with someone from a US-based energy bar company that told me they don't actually import anything from outside North America but still have to deal with price hikes on stuff because of this. So ridiculous.
Hey James. Another great post. One question- do you know if the Ventete helmet has been tested at Virginia Tech? Or anywhere? Given the octopus marks, I wonder what your head would look like after a crash?
Well thanks a lot James. Pop tart case?! No wonder Chris hasn’t made the product I suggested a while ago. He’s busy dealing with your confectionary compulsions. (Wink) have a nice weekend James.
To me, the key benefit of an electric pump is that you can fly with it. FAA rules do not allow compressed gas devices onboard airplanes.
That said, I guess enough riders have "grown up" with CO2 that full length frame pumps don't really have a market anymore. I mean, even Silca no longer makes a frame pump that ejects the plunger across the road when it slips out of your sweaty hand.
Haaa! Ejecting your Silca pump handle and shaft is a once in a lifetime lesson. (Whay’s that? You are asking if I learned it firsthand myself, just by trying to top up a tire and not holding the handle to the shaft when putting the head on the valve of a tire with, oh ~100 psi already in it (remember when that counted as low??)?? of course not. I have no experience with that whatsoever. Who, me? No way. Why are you even wondering that!)
Yep, that is most definitely true, and I myself flew with one recently when I went to Sea Otter (for that Ventete helmet). That said, I still prefer mini-pumps at the moment. They're admittedly slower to use, but they also run out of air only when my arm runs out of energy.
That’s my big problem with an electric pump for use in fixing flats- who knows what the battery state will be three years from now when I get my next flat. I’d rather use a mini pump since it requires no maintenance between uses.
RE the Subaru biker airbag (which also protects pedestrians, I suppose, but yours is a bike newsletter...): 100% Yes! to the real issue being the driver&car but imo we should not forget better bike lanes. No, we're not invulnerable when in a bike lane (though many ride as if they are), but the variety of bike lane types and scarcity of them overall is a huge part of the bike/car problem imo.
It would be interesting to know the crash/death rate of cyclists in Western Europe, where helmets generally aren't required (I don't know all the countries' rules) and bike lanes are more prevalent.
And yeah, better driver ed wouldn't be bad, either. Thanks for the newsletter and all this.
And the bike lanes here in Sydney are a joke! What with the vanishing lane, full of all the junk thrown from cars, glass, branches overhanging etc etc the list goes on! And then you get cars parked against the gutter who often throw their doors open without looking for anything else. Such fun!
No question, infrastructure is the best answer to all of this.
However, the culture of rider vs. driver crashes is different, too. If I remember correctly, whereas usually it's the burden of the cyclist to prove the driver is to blame during a crash, in much of western Europe the driver is automatically at fault unless proven otherwise. Make a big difference IMO long-term in terms of attitudes behind the wheel.
I'm not even sure I'd characterize is as "power" so much as responsibility. It's not that drivers there are afraid to hit cyclists; they just understand that they shouldn't. Big difference.
A fair distinction, though tbh I didn't mean "power" in the sense of who's in charge, more like who's more important. In the States too many drivers believe they have a right to be on the road and that cyclists are interlopers. When two parties are equally important it behooves the literally bigger and more powerful party to be wary of hurting others and aware of their responsibility to not cause harm.
I switched to an electric pump for the weight savings 😅 I would carry a pump, 2 2 CO2s and the inflator. I can't remember the exact weight savings. Rereading what I wrote, maybe I shouldn't have carried so much extra stuff!
But how many times were you stranded somewhere before you didn’t have a way to inflate a tire? None, I hope!
None😅 The closest I came to trouble was not having a valve extender for my spare tube. I had to stop every 5-10 minutes to reinflate. The pump saved my bacon, but it was ultimately down to poor preparation on my part.
Doh! Did that once myself. I now keep in my pack a basic valve extender with a bit of PTFE tape wrapped around it. I usually prefer the ones where you have to remove the valve core first, but for quick repairs, this is easier.
Catrike is an American bicycle manufacturer producing 3500+ units a year. It is my understanding they will be announcing price increases due to import costs of componentry. Way to go Navarro and Trump. You did it.
I just spoke with someone from a US-based energy bar company that told me they don't actually import anything from outside North America but still have to deal with price hikes on stuff because of this. So ridiculous.
I hope there is something else “revolutionary” about the SILCA pump because 4 db reduction in noise is a pretty meaningless amount…
Except that decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale. If true, a 4 dB claimed reduction would be pretty substantial, no?
I don’t really think so… I have hearing loss and wear hearing aids and keep track of loud environments… Less than a 10 db change isn’t much at all.
I shave the remainder of my hair because I need to, I just discovered some people choose to shave, this is incredible
Haven't paid for a haircut since 1997!
Hey James. Another great post. One question- do you know if the Ventete helmet has been tested at Virginia Tech? Or anywhere? Given the octopus marks, I wonder what your head would look like after a crash?
It's only been CE-approved as far as I can tell. Definitely nothing from Virginia Tech.
Well thanks a lot James. Pop tart case?! No wonder Chris hasn’t made the product I suggested a while ago. He’s busy dealing with your confectionary compulsions. (Wink) have a nice weekend James.
Are you suggesting there's something more important than Pop-Tarts????
Pop Tarts are indeed important. Therefore you want your holder made out of Ti- stronger than thin plastic.
Upon reflection - pop tarts do have some serious qualities. They can’t land in the dirt filling side down!
To me, the key benefit of an electric pump is that you can fly with it. FAA rules do not allow compressed gas devices onboard airplanes.
That said, I guess enough riders have "grown up" with CO2 that full length frame pumps don't really have a market anymore. I mean, even Silca no longer makes a frame pump that ejects the plunger across the road when it slips out of your sweaty hand.
Haaa! Ejecting your Silca pump handle and shaft is a once in a lifetime lesson. (Whay’s that? You are asking if I learned it firsthand myself, just by trying to top up a tire and not holding the handle to the shaft when putting the head on the valve of a tire with, oh ~100 psi already in it (remember when that counted as low??)?? of course not. I have no experience with that whatsoever. Who, me? No way. Why are you even wondering that!)
Yep, that is most definitely true, and I myself flew with one recently when I went to Sea Otter (for that Ventete helmet). That said, I still prefer mini-pumps at the moment. They're admittedly slower to use, but they also run out of air only when my arm runs out of energy.
That’s my big problem with an electric pump for use in fixing flats- who knows what the battery state will be three years from now when I get my next flat. I’d rather use a mini pump since it requires no maintenance between uses.
RE the Subaru biker airbag (which also protects pedestrians, I suppose, but yours is a bike newsletter...): 100% Yes! to the real issue being the driver&car but imo we should not forget better bike lanes. No, we're not invulnerable when in a bike lane (though many ride as if they are), but the variety of bike lane types and scarcity of them overall is a huge part of the bike/car problem imo.
It would be interesting to know the crash/death rate of cyclists in Western Europe, where helmets generally aren't required (I don't know all the countries' rules) and bike lanes are more prevalent.
And yeah, better driver ed wouldn't be bad, either. Thanks for the newsletter and all this.
And the bike lanes here in Sydney are a joke! What with the vanishing lane, full of all the junk thrown from cars, glass, branches overhanging etc etc the list goes on! And then you get cars parked against the gutter who often throw their doors open without looking for anything else. Such fun!
No question, infrastructure is the best answer to all of this.
However, the culture of rider vs. driver crashes is different, too. If I remember correctly, whereas usually it's the burden of the cyclist to prove the driver is to blame during a crash, in much of western Europe the driver is automatically at fault unless proven otherwise. Make a big difference IMO long-term in terms of attitudes behind the wheel.
100%. Not to be too philosophical about it, but they do have a completely different view of the power hierarchy. thanks
I'm not even sure I'd characterize is as "power" so much as responsibility. It's not that drivers there are afraid to hit cyclists; they just understand that they shouldn't. Big difference.
A fair distinction, though tbh I didn't mean "power" in the sense of who's in charge, more like who's more important. In the States too many drivers believe they have a right to be on the road and that cyclists are interlopers. When two parties are equally important it behooves the literally bigger and more powerful party to be wary of hurting others and aware of their responsibility to not cause harm.
Those circular marks reminds me of The Matrix or some sort of alien abduction story.