But Robs last message cheered me up a bit. I didn't get invited anywhere today, as I had hoped. So I cycled to get the bus to Decathlon, in town.
I needed a water proof....drastically, bike locks for my kids, and some new trainers ...before mine walked off on their own. But I don't know about you? But I can never find a pair as good as the last :) So I settled on some very unsatistfactory walking shoes. Hey they were cheap!! even though they were lace up, and they will f* me right off!!
If you saw me you'd possibly laugh at the idea, of me being all fit and ;go for it girl'. But it's strange within a year, I have become all geeky, and could happily spend hours, wandering round the shop. I left disappointed though :( I didnt find any new trainers (spd???) I picked up a tyre for £6 with tread, because I bet it's gonna be muddy in York, at the rally.But durrrrr, I got a 20' and Ziggy is only 18' ooooer!! So if anyone reading this, is going to York, and you just happen to have an 18' tyre with tread :) I'd be ever so grateful, if I could buy one off ya. I know Rob, you're wondering why I didn't ask you? Well I only just thought of it, and Ziggys been taken on Tuesday :(
Also having ne' been to a CTC rally, I thought just maybe it might be a late finish? So I got lights for the kids bikes, and my ex (cough cough) kindly fixed them on his childrens bikes :)
I miss Mr P...
Ziggy has 16in wheels (349mm)... (go on, write it down in a note in your purse, just in case...)
ReplyDeleteI've looked but don't have anything really grippy in 16in - at the racecourse I use the same tyres you've already got. The trick is to use an easier gear than normal and just keep pedalling if the wheel slips - you're on a trike so can't fall off (as long as you don't try BMX stunts!1!).
The sales tent at the Rally can be a good spot to look for some bargain SPD trainers - some years there are bargains, sometimes not so don't be disappinted...
And see you there! If you spot me SHOUT 'cos I'm useless spotting people I know...
Rob
Ah this is a good time to have a little note on the divergence between reality and cycle tyre sizes - and how something that a we in the UK call 20 inches becomes a grossly exaggerated 22.2 inches to an American - and even than the dimensions quoted to measure the things are not anywhere near 20 inches.
ReplyDeleteWe curiously have a regime where the US 'equivalent' versions of these rubber products create an illusion of being bigger in terms of their sizing system than the British ones. If this gets too much for bears of little brain and their friends, start at each end and read towards the middle.
o and look at the sides of your tyres and somewhere you will see some numbers xx-xxx and for the US system this will normally be 37-406 or 32.406 for what they call a 20 inch wheel.
Then look at an old Raleigh 20 - nominally a UK 20 inch wheel and they tyres will be 37-451 (or on very old bikes 37-440)
Those spotty nerds who are good at mathc and metric conversions will now stick up their hands and say "But sir, if 24 inches is 610mm then 20 inches is 508mm - so its not any of those numbers" - and they would be right. The measurement used is the diameter of the wheel rim which the tyre fits on whenit has a diameter, when inflated of 20 inches (and like some other US measurements) these act to modify the impression of scale...
Now you will be right in thinking that if you take the numbers on the side of the tyre then other tyres with the same numbers will fit - 99% of the time. Only when the tyre maker has made tyres with the right numbers on the side but in the wrong actual size is there much swaearing and head scratching, when a tyre made for the USA escapes and gets sold to UK bike shops - I know as it happened to me!
Do go and read the numbers on your tyres
I do have some chunky -406 tyres somewhere hiding in the loft - so I'll go and take a look if they might fit. The big caveat is generally that chunky = slower and more work to pedal.
PS the King Pin Junior and Raleigh 18 kids versions of adult bikes have UK 18 inch tyres - 37-400 in the sizing system, practically identical to what the American system calls 20 inches. Makes you wonder...... What the Brits call 18 inches the Americans claim to be 20.
Aha - Robs Post crashed in at the same time as mine - 349's are actually a very good size to have at present - the same size as Bromptons and original Moultons, and the huge demand for a better and wider range of tyre types from Bromptons means that you have a veritable Aladdins cave of choices with some 'fast ' treads and the old dirt cheap basics like the Raleigh Record.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll have a good Brompton agent in Sheffield and you certainly have good Brompton support in York.
Your current size is 37-349 I think, and Greenspeed promoted a smoother fatter version which is fast but squidgy for a 'comfort' ride.
-349's are the UK 16 inch tyre - not to be confused with -305's also called a 16 inch tyre! Throw in 17 inch and 18 inch sizes (also with multiple options for the wheel diameter) and your dilemma is easily understood.
You have some local Brompton owners who look in from time to time on this blog, so maybe we should start a Club 37-349 for a wider audience (Brompton Greenspeed, Trice, Dahon(some), Mezzo, Moulton (some), Butchered Birdy's, diBlasi and a few others I've probably missed, along with those 'sports prams' and adult scooters)
Rob Thank you, I have infact made a note oh 16' and put it with my phone. Which is seldom far away.
ReplyDeleteDave...???? You lost me.? :)