Intro from a new Clydesdale



Johnny Ruckus

New Member
Nov 28, 2011
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What's good everyone? I'm Johnny, I'm weighing in at about 245lbs. I'm 27, and am really wanting to take serious go at my cycling. I bought a brand new Avenue C road bike 5 months back, I had flat pedals on it, and was all over the place with my riding schedule.

I got off the bike due to my recent wedding, and no motivation due to a few back to back flats a few months back.

I gained all the weight I lost, and it's been a real downer. After kicking the flu last week, something switched on inside me. I've invested into a clipless pedal system and have a tracking/GPS App for my phone. I also got myself heavy duty tubes, liners and a CO2 pump. I'm ready to go hard on these roads again.

I live in the cycling mecca of the "Foothill Corridor" (Pasadena/Monrovia/Arcadia) area of SoCal, so if anybody is down for a ride, hit me up! I'd love to meet some other Clydesdales, as you know riding solo gets a little boring :D

Happy Riding!!

-Johnny
 
Welcome to the forums, be sure to keep on the bike - we need more folks for the community challenge next year.

Don't let flats get you down, it is a semiregular occurrence. Experienced roadies can change a tube in a couple of minutes. Durable tires will cut down on the flats. Also going up a size or two in the rear tire. I went from 23c to 25c and even 28c in the rear. It does not really affect the speed at which you can ride and makes things more comfortable.

Perhaps Gravity is an unfortunate brand name for clydesdale's bike, jokes aside How do you like it? Does the microshift kit work well?
 
Thanks for the welcome Maydog! Tire size is 25c, maybe I'll step it up to the 28c in the rear. I read on another thread that even stepping up the PSI can help. I've been on the posted 90PSI (according to tire) and have been getting snakebite flats back to back, do you think upping to 100PSI will be cool with thicker tubes and liners too?

On another note, the microshift kit works great, it's very responsive, quick and smooth. When is the next community challenge? I'd love to throw down some miles on it.

Ride on,

-Johnny
 
Welcome, not sure where the term Clydesdale came from, other then a large strong horse; but I was pondering this saying one day and came up with a new term, something like Gravitationally Enhanced. I 'm sure someone else could be more creative then I at this.

At your weight I would put the tires at the max rated PSI on the sidewall and see what happens. If you continue to get snake bite flats you can safely to up to 10psi above the max rated PSI. They actually test the tires to 50% above the max rating, that's how they come up with the max psi rating for a particular tire, so going 10 PSI more won't get near the test limits. I'll give you website with a PSI calculator that is always right to within 5psi; only use the second calculator, not the first or the last one. Simply weigh yourself clothed as if going for a ride, then weigh your bike with all accessories attached including full water bottles; add the two weights and enter that in the first box. The second box you leave at 40%/60% unless you're going to go touring then change it to the next setting. The third box enter your front tire mm cross section. Then the 5th box that has the mm next to it is for the rear tire mm. This calculator will tell you if you need to go up to a larger tire.

http://www.dorkypantsr.us/bike-tire-pressure-calculator.html
 
Carry your scale out to your garage or wherever you start out your ride. Pick your fully loaded bike up and step on the scale. This will give you your riding weight. This is the easiet method of weighing your bike unless you have a scale that you can hang your bike on.

The calculator that Froze has posted works well. I add an extra 5 PSI to the recommended pressures given because I like my tires a little on the hard side.

As far as the liners go IMO they are good for mountain biking and not much help on the roads. Liners will not help with the pinching flats finding the right PSI will do the trick.

Welcome aboard Johnny looking forward to you causing a Ruckus around here.
 
I should have explained a bit better about the PSI calculator telling you if you need to go up a size or two in tire size. If you're using 23 mm tires and the weight entered says you need 1650psi in the rear but your tires are rated at 115psi max, that means you need to go up one size. So then change the tire size to the next size and see what the figures show. I bet the ideal tire size for you is going 700c x 28.