Chicago Bike Blog

Saturday is a sad day

I can't write, and I am grateful that Deb did it for me:

"KC passed on about 5:30am. When I spoke with Gail and Tucker and Sarah last night at midnight, they were soooo heartened by the incredible presence of KC's Chicago family. Thank you everyone for the ways in which you supported KC's family!!!

On top of KC..... Justyna's father suffered a heart attack yesterday and we just heard that they are taking him off life support today.

My heart goes out to KC's friends and family, as well as to Justyna and Chris and their kids and Barbara, Justyna's mom.

Everybody: love and hugs and props for keeping things going here at Rapid Transit.These are such sad times..... but I know KC would be all tough and say that we should keep on keeping on in face of adversity. And Justyna and Chris ...... that we keep things going as best we can is a huge comfort to them!!!!

Thank you Deb, and everyone else. This means a lot. -J.

Dealing with flats

I was going to tell you how to change a flat on a bike.
Nothing could be simpler. It takes,  oh, maybe ten minutes.
And then again, if you've never done it before, it could take over an hour.

This lesson was brought home to us, seasoned flat-repairers, recently as Rapid Transit Cycleshop hosted a flat-fixing workshop for some friends and their kids. We were again reminded that before you can teach someone how to fix a flat, there is a whole bunch of other stuff they should know first.
So instead of one post, we'll do a series.
Click on links below for information on:
The anatomy of a bicycle wheel
What causes flats
Types of valves
Your flat-repair kit
Removing and reinstalling the tire and tube

What causes flats?

Have you ever been plagued by recurring flats? You keep fixing the tube, or taking it back to your bike shop, you ride for awhile, and, boom! It goes flat again.

A pile of tubes looms over a mechanic's bench at Rapid Transit, waiting for be recycled.

Let me just say that yes, there are mystery flats. There probably is a cause for them, but it cannot be reasonably identified by either you or the mechanic(s). However, in most cases, people continue to get recurring flats, because the the thing that caused the original flat has not been correctly identified.
When you pull your punctured tube out of the tire, go ahead and overinflate it using your pump or an air compressor, and find the hole where the air is escaping.

Look closely at that hole. Where on the tube is it located: top, side, bottom or at the valve? Is it a single hole, or a double? Is it a tear?
Let's begin by identifying five major types of flats, and we'll go over them and their probable causes in more detail:

1. Outer surface punctures
2. Sidewall punctures or "snakebites"
3. Inner surface punctures
4. Blow outs
5. Valve problems

Outer surface punctures:
As you look at your overinflated tube, you will see a single hole on the outer surface of the tube (the surface that corresponds to to the part of the tire that rolls along the ground). That indicates that a sharp object penetrated the tire and punctured the tube. The object may have fallen out, but just as likely, it is still embedded in the tire. Before replacing the inner tube, run your fingers very carefully along the inside of the tire, feeling for anything sharp that may be protruding. At the same time, examine the outside of the tire for embedded pieces of glass and other debris, and poke them out as you go along (a paper clip or sharp tweezers work well). If your tire feels thin and flimsy, or has a lot of slits from previous contact with glass, consider replacing it with a puncture-resistant tire.

Sidewall punctures:
All tires have their recommended inflation pressure embossed on the sidewall. That number can seem incredibly high, especially if you are used to filling up car tires. Bicycle tires take much higher pressure than any car tire, and generally, the thinner the tire, the higher the recommended pressure. Many people are reluctant to fill their bike tires to recommended pressure, perhaps because they are afraid of blow-ups. As you increase the amount of air in the tire, it gets harder and harder to pump, which can make you feel like you're overdoing it.  Yet, filling up tires to the correct pressure will protect you against one of the most common types of flats: the snakebite.

The cause of this is most often riding on underinflated tires. When you hit a bump in the road, the lower-than-recommended pressure allows the tire to bottom-out against the sharp edge of the rim, and the inner tube becomes pinched in the process. You will recognize a snakebite if  you examine your overinflated tube, and discover two small holes, about 1/4" apart, usually on the side of the inner tube.

Inner surface punctures:
If your overinflated inner tube is losing air from its inner surface (the surface that would have been facing the rim), you will need to examine the inside of the rim, and the tire beads. Typical causes of this type of puncture include: a faulty rim strip, resulting in exposed spoke nipples or sharp rim surfaces, a burr on the inner seam of the rim, or a broken tire bead, with exposed wires digging into the tube.

Blow outs:
Sudden blow outs happen when the tube, instead of being safely encased inside the tire, becomes exposed to the outside world. This can happen if, when changing a flat, or filling the tire, a piece of tube inadvertently gets pinched between the rim and the tire. Sometimes it blows right away, but not always. Similarly, you can get a blow-out is the tire bead isn't correctly seated inside the rim, and the inner tube begins to protrude out. Generally, you will feel thumping for the short distance you may be able to ride.

Blow-outs can also occur when the integrity of the tire becomes compromised, and the tube starts to protrude. This can happen as a result of dry rot, a brake pad, fender or other mis-adjusted part rubbing over the tire, or the bead separating from the tire. Inspect your tires periodically to make sure they are in good condition.

Valve problems:
Occasionally, small amounts of debris get jammed inside the valve, causing it to be stuck in open position and leak air. If used improperly, certain flat-prevention products can have the same effect.

Another type of valve failure can occur when you ride on underinflated tires. Every time you brake, the tube and tire continue to move just a little bit even as your wheel stops. This causes the valve to come through the rim hole at an angle. If this goes on long enough, the valve an separate from the body of the tube at the base.

The anatomy of a bicycle wheel

The majority of bicycle wheels you are likely to encounter are comprised of four parts:

1. The tire.
2. The inner tube.
3. The wheel itself, which includes the hub, spokes and rim. For the purposes of flat repair, we will be talking primarily about the rim.
4. The rim strip.

Let's look at each in more detail:

Tire:
The tire is the firm rubber casing mounted on the rim of the bike. By itself, the tire is incapable of holding air. It is open in the center, and has two rigid and fairly sharp edges that allow it to be mounted onto the rim.

These edges are called "beads". On the majority of wheels, the beads are made of coils of wire encased in protective rubber.
As you ride, the tire rolls over road debris, and may pick up pieces of glass, nails and other sharp objects. Some of these items will penetrate the wall of the tire. Most of these punctures are tiny, and do little or no damage to the tire. The tire does need to be replaced if it develops a gash or tear, has dry rot or cracks along the side, or if there is evidence that the bead is separating from the main body of the tire, or protruding from the rubber casing.
The reason small tire punctures become problematic, is that most often they penetrate through to the inner tube, and cause it to lose air.

Inner tube:
The inner tube is a soft, pliable rubber donut with an air valve on its underbelly that allows air in and out.

Note that a filled inner tube can appear larger than the tire. This is perfectly normal. When encased inside the tire, the tube will not exceed the tire's dimensions. When the tube develops a hole for any reason, it will lose air, and need to be patched or replaced.

Rim:
There are many different types of bicycle rims. In addition to the important function of holding the tire onto the wheel, the rim also serves as the anchor for spoke heads, or nipples. On some rims, spoke nipples rest directly on the inner surface of the rim that comes in contact with the inner tube.

On other types of rims, an extra metal layer separates the spoke nipples from the inner-tube. This metal layer has holes drilled in it for access to the spoke nipples. In either case, the protruding spoke heads, or the edges of the holes drilled in the rim are sharp, and can cause damage to the inner-tube.

Rim strip
To prevent this from happening, the inside of the rim is lined with a rim strip. This can be a snug-fitting rubber strip, or pre-gummed cotton tape that is applied to the rim surface. To do its job, the rim strip has to go all the way around the rim , and cover all the spoke heads or holes (except the valve hole).

If it becomes, torn, worn, or folded over, it is no longer doing the job of protecting you from flats.
Please note that on many brand new bikes, cheap plastic rim strips are often used, which can themselves cause punctures and flats (click here for more).

Not-so-minimalist

As someone who has never gone on a self-supported bike tour, I harbor perhaps a somewhat distorted image of such an endeavor. I imagine a lone figure against the dusky horizon, with panniers holding only the barest of necessities: tent, sleeping bag, change of clothes, some cooking utensils. Spare, self-sufficient, autonomous, economical.
Add a spouse and two school-age kids, and the picture changes radically.

Two, count'em, two BikeFriday Family Tandems being readied in our garage.

I have done car camping with my family. We have all the stuff. Regardless of the duration of the particular camping trip, you just throw all the stuff into the car, and go. It doesn't matter that we're only going for two nights. The car always looks like we're going on a cross-country road trip. But we don't care, because the car doesn't care.
We have read about and admired families that travel together by bike. Ironically, even though (or is it because?) we own a bike shop, we have never tried this ourselves.
So now that our youngest child is seven, we had this idea that we would go on a camping vacation by bike. A short little trip, just to get our feet wet: bike the I&M Canal to Starved Rock, camp a couple of nights and come back. You wouldn't think we need much for a trip like this; just the essentials.
Unfortunately, most of our car-camping equipment is unsuitable for towing in a bike trailer, and our planned 4-day trip has resulted in a mountain of equipment that had to be bought, begged, found and borrowed.
I have a feeling that with all the stuff we need, our bike tours will be no different that our trips by car: even if we're only going overnight, we'll look like we're ready to go around the world.
Maybe one day, we will.

Sauganash Trail may be going somewhere after all...

Remember the road to nowhere ? Well, it was officially inaugurated earlier this morning, and it seems that it may end up going somewhere in the future.

Ald. Laurino speaks to neighbors and cyclists gathered at the inauguration of the Sauganash Bike Trail.

39th ward alderman Margaret Laurino spoke at the inaugurtion ceremony, along with state representative John d'Amico Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Thomas Byrne. Interestingly, both Laurino and Byrne had considerable difficulty pronouncing the word "bicyclist", and in the effort, Commissioner Byrne coined the term "bikalist", which I don't think is too bad. Rep. D'Amico confessed that he used the new trail for running rather than cycling, and even when prodded a little bit, would not commit to cycling in the future.

All three were put to shame by the Mayor of the neighboring village of Lincolnwood, Gerald Turry, who arrived on a road bike in full cycling gear, and professed his readiness to extend the bike path through his town along the old rail line.

The proposed extension of the trail through the northern suburbs would eventually link this area to a network of bike trails.

Here are some other snapshots for the opening of the Sauganash Trail:

The requisite plaque.

What are we waiting for? let's ride!

There were quite a few bike police officers.

Of course, we rode our stretch-limo.

Many people brought rain gear.

Some cuter than others.

Rob Sadowsky of CBF wore a very cool rain poncho.

And rode a very handsome bike.

I don't know if the CBF were officially thanked. But I'm sure they deserve it.

Trendspotting at the mall

Giant suburban malls are not usually places where I look for examples of bike culture.

Car culture at the parking lot of Old Orchard shopping mall in Skokie.

However, as I was passing one yesterday, a duo of teenage girls riding an old-fashioned tandem caught my eye. I didn't want to freak them out by taking their picture, so I waited until they locked up.

Still not as many bikes as cars...

While checking out the tandem, I noticed that the very small bike rack at this very large mall, was full. I don't think I've every seen more that a couple bikes locked there in the past.

Cool old Schwinn tandem ridden by two teens to the mall.

Curiously, over the last few days, I've been seeing quite a few people on old tandems here and there: a couple on the bike route that runs in front of my house, the two girls at Old Orchard, a few more on a suburban path, and a guy riding one solo down Western Ave. Is it a revival? Is this just another example of people dusting off whatever old bike they have in their garage, and using it instead of a car? Has anyone else been spotting more tandems on the street?

KC: update

KC, a member of our staff, was very seriously injured in a  non-bike related accident last Sunday.  He is being treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and although still unconscious, he is responding to lights and sounds of familiar voices. His mother and stepfather are here from Kansas, and they and his girlfriend are by his side.

KC is a valued member of our staff. He is skilled, determined, forthright and opinionated. He fits right in. We miss him terribly, and hope and pray for his complete recovery.

KC's co-workers from Rapid Transit have been to visit, and offer support to him and his loved ones. Rapid Transit will help his family pay for their hotel stay here so they can be as close as possible to the hospital. Although KC is covered by our group insurance, the costs associated with his treatment continue to rise, and it will be along time before he is able to return to work. His friends have created a benefit fund to offset some of the financial hardships his family will face. If you would like to contribute, please go to kchaywood.com. For more information, photos and updates, please click here.

Peace.

What is entry-level?

This from InterbikeTimes.com, the official blog of the Interbike Bicycle Expo:

Many bike shops have been profiting from $8,000 custom road bike sales over the last 10 years or so and can’t serve the needs of the neo-biker. I can remember my dad balking at paying the $800 for a mountain bike that the shop salesperson proposed years ago when I convinced him to try cycling. He told me that $300 was about what he wanted to pay for a bike to ride around town. We enthusiasts and industry members would consider $800 about right for an entry-level bike.

Wait! My head is still spinning from all the zeros.

Seven Cycles, seven thousand.

I am unfamiliar with any shops here in Chicago, who regularly profit from $8,000 single sales. We at Rapid Transit have had to wait about 14 years before we scored a single sale of that magnitude. However, one such sale is equal to one Saturday's worth of entry-level bikes. And, by the way, I do not consider $800 to be entry-level.

Electra Townie, about one-tenth of the above.

So what is entry-level?

It depends on who you ask. There are those  to whom even the $300 benchmark set by the writer's dad is high. Are those folks forever doomed from commuting by bike? It seems somewhat pointless to focus on terms like "entry-level" or "high-end" because those qualities lie in the eye of the beholder. So, instead, let's look what, at a minimum, must a bike have to be commute-worthy:

• Tires that hold air
• Brakes capable of stopping the bike
• Rolling in a straight line
• All parts securely attached
• A flexible, well-oiled chain
• Bearings that turn freely (in the hubs, the crank and the handlebars)
• Pedals that provide solid footing
• Front and rear reflectors (required in Chicago)
• A saddle that can be adjusted to the rider's height

Everything else is icing.

Any cruiser can do this.

How do you get the dang wheel out?!

This is the front brake setup on a typical hybrid:

To get the front wheel out, you will first have to release this brake. The brake cable is housed in a metal casing called the "noodle", with a cable stop, which falls into a slot on a little swing arm attached to the main brake arm:

To release the brakes, you will need to squeeze the brake arms together, and lift up on the noodle to remove the cable stop from the slot. I find it easiest to push the brakes together with the heels of my hands while I manipulate the cable with my fingers. If you have larger hands, you may be able to squeeze the brakes together with one hand, and pull the cable with the other.

Voila! Now the brake arms can swing open:

Next, move down to the wheel hub to open the quick release lever which retains your front wheel:

Grasp the underside of the quick release lever, and open it by swinging it out:

On the opposite side of the hub, turn the nut a few turns to get it past the "lawyer knobs" designed to give your front wheel a little extra security:

You can now pull the wheel out, and lay your bike down, or rest it on the fork.

A few things to remember when you are reinstalling the front wheel:

1. Do not overtighten the nut on the front hub. It should be just tight enough to allow you to close the quick release lever applying a reasonable amount of firm pressure with the palm of your hand, as shown. (click here for details.) The lever should leave an imprint on the palm of your hand.

2. Reattach the brakes by reversing the steps above. As a final step, lift up on the handlebars and spin the front wheel to see if it is spinning freely. If not, don't panic! Without unhooking the brakes, flip open the quick release lever. This will allow you enough wiggle room to center the rim between the brake pads.

Now, close the quick release, and test the wheel again. Don't get frustrated. It may take a couple of tries if you've never done this before.

(The same guidelines apply to removing the rear wheel, however the procedure is somewhat more complicated by the presence of the chain. We find it easiest to start by shifting the rear (right) shift lever until the chain drops to the smallest cog. Then, pretty much follow the above procedure. I will do a post with complete guidelines in the near future.)