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Cycle Seattle

Monthly Archives: October 2014

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Pronto

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

Tags

bike commute, bike share, commute, Pronto, Pronto bike share, Seattle bike share


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I tried out our new bike share service in Seattle.  It’s called Pronto, and has dropped a fair amount of bikes – 500 at 50 stations throughout the downtown, Capitol Hill, and U-District areas.  I noticed a station that’s about 2 miles from my home on my commute home last night, so after getting a ride in this morning, I opted to try Pronto for the commute home.  My expectations were that it would be a better substitute for a crowded bus ride home.

I purchased a 24-hr pass with a key for ten-bucks at the kiosk a couple blocks from my office.  I didn’t need to “rent” a helmet as I brought mine with.  After inserting the key in a station and waiting for something to happen, I thought my key was broken.  I tried another bike, and it unlocked right away.  I forgot my foolproof way to raise the seat to the proper height (seat in armpit raised until outstretched middle finger is at center of crank), so I ended up raising it a few times in the first few minutes.

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Starting up the new 2nd Ave bike lane, I weaved my way through the city taking the “flat” way home via south Lake Union, riding through the parking lots along the lakefront.  After crossing the Fremont bridge, I continued on the Burke Gilman trail along the north lakefront, and rode through the UW campus before dropping the bike off at the UD-01 station at Blakely and 24th.  Ironically, the first station I tried to lock my bike back into didn’t work, so I docked it in another one which accepted it immediately.  Some gremlins to work out?

My initial observations:

  1. The bike is small, so it would work really well for someone in the lower 5′ range.  I had to boost up my seat quite a bit to avoid the bent-knees, low power pedal stroke.  The bars felt really close, so I felt like I was riding a kid’s bike compared to what I’m used to.  That said, I generally ride a big bike in a fairly stretched out position, so most folks would feel that it is sized just fine.
  2. The bike is solid and sturdy, but not too heavy.
  3. It has a 7 speed range, and shifts are fast and solid.  Shifting to a lower gear is sudden, and I popped my foot off the pedal several times getting used to the shifting.  In the highest gear, I was traveling about 15-17mph on flats with normal cadence.  Not a speedster, but not bad.  I never used the lowest gears.
  4. It is really stiff, and the tires are of the sturdy type – great for folks up to 300lbs, at least.
  5. Fenders work – could use a flap, but adequate and appreciated for the few puddles I went through.
  6. Lights!  Didn’t really need to use them, but great that they are there.
  7. It has a skirt/kilt guard for the ladies and Scots!
  8. There is a small bungie and rack for a small bag or case.  I just carried my musette.  No problems if you have a bit of luggage.
  9. The seat was not great for someone of my size – too squishy, smallish, and angled for folks that are smaller.
  10. The cost structure is not yet ideal for someone who needs the bike for more than ½ hour.  Buying the day pass gave me unlimited rides up to 30-minutes, but anything over 30 minutes adds charges.  My 45 minute ride cost me an additional 2 bucks.

All gripes aside – these bikes are great for the casual tourist, or someone who wants to take the long way home like me on occasion.  I would also use this to get to a lunch spot that may be a bit too far for a walk.  Pretty nice to have an easy option to “rent a bike” and there are stations all over the place.  I could also see someone stuck on foot choosing this as a faster option.  It took me from downtown to the UW in about 45 minutes.

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It’s nice to have options when I don’t have my bike handy.  I will likely resort to this in the future.

Posted by Stonehog | Filed under Cycling

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Tubeless Road Experience

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

Tags

Hetre, Pacenti, PL23, Stan's, Toussaint, tubeless, tubeless road bike


I’ve been riding a tubeless conversion on my main road/rando bike for most of the summer season.  At this point, I can comment on a few aspects that I really like about this setup.  BH-6.jpg

First, let’s talk about the wheel build.  I have Pacenti PL23 rims with Stan’s tape (wrapped double) and used a Stan’s conversion kit to get a valve stem and goo.  The tires are Gran Bois Hetre Extra Leger.  The PL23s are not normally a tubeless rim, but they are compatible without much work.  The big thing is to have a sealing valve stem (don’t need the conversion kit, just get some replacement tubeless stems) and make sure the spoke holes are taped tight.  You may also need to put an extra layer of tape if your tire fit is too loose.

I used the Stan’s general instructions to set these up, but found that my floor pump wouldn’t push enough air to get the tires to seat/seal, so I set up my compressor with a presta valve so I could pop these guys on.  I’ve heard that some are able to do this with a floor pump, but not I.

Once I got the feel for what needed to happen, I put a scoop of the goop in the tire while it was partly off the wheel – just dumped it in the side, and then carefully pushed the wheel onto the rim.  At this point, you just do a quick inflate, and spin/bounce the wheel a couple times to get the sealant dispersed around the wheel, and leave it.  I was able to ride these immediately.

A myth that I found to be untrue was that the Hetre ELs needed to be run at higher pressures than normal.  Not so.  I actually run them at 25 front and 35 rear which is about 5 psi lower than normal.  Anything more and they don’t feel quite as compliant, but at this pressure, they feel just right.

Now on to the good stuff.  I don’t worry about flats much anymore.  Lower pressure, fat tire, and sealant take care of that worry.  I still try not to willfully ride over glass, but I’ve had zero issues/flats since this conversion, and these tires are thin and super compliant.  I also love the lower pressures – wow are these tires comfortable!

There are a few minor downsides.  I have to add air about once a week now, whereas before it was every other week or so.  I also still carry a spare tube, in case of a bad flat requiring a boot.  The requirement to have a compressor to initially seat the tires is the last bother.  Pretty small potatoes, however.

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I plan to do more road tubeless builds going forward.  I’d love to have all the bikes tubeless, and just need to gradually replace my rims with tubeless friendly guys.

Posted by Stonehog | Filed under Cycling

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