Forsyth

The Jury’s In: What Bike Mechanics Really Think About Internal Cable Routing Headsets

From BikeRumor.com

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Love them or hate them, internal cable routing headsets are ripping through the bike industry like wild-fire. It is one of a series of steps brands have taken toward full integration. Goals include improved aerodynamics, improved aesthetics and, the holy grail, “clean lines”. For some, however, it is a step too far.

Running cables and brake hoses through the headset does, undoubtedly, tidy things up in the cockpit. However, headset-dependent, it does come with additional time spent in the work stand, and the increased labor costs associated with that. Some riders with deep pockets will, I’m sure, be happy to pay the premium, but others are in for a shock.

For most riders, it’s their bike mechanic that has to deal with the added complexity of internally routed cables. These folks have put up with years of ever-changing “standards” within the bike industry, so how much will this really bother them? We contacted mechanics from Europe and the US to get their viewpoint on internal headset cable routing, and while some of them did reply with a sense of diplomacy, others were rather more firm in their opinion.

We sent them the following:

“It’s you, the mechanic, who has to deal with the advent of internal headset cable routing that is sweeping across the industry. So, what are your thoughts on it? Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? Are you having to charge your customers more for headset bearing replacements, brake bleeds, cable replacements, and so on? Is it really that much more hassle, or is it easy enough once you’ve done one or two? Would you have it on your personal bike if, in some parallel universe, you weren’t responsible for the maintenance of your own bike?”

Photo by Munbaik Cycling Clothing on Unsplash

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Is There A Limit To How Wide Bike Tyres Will Get?!

This week Alex and Ollie talk about how wide they think bike manufacturers will make tyre clearance. Also answered; how do you pack a bike with an integrated headset? Can I reuse my latex innertubes? These questions and more on the GCN Tech Clinic!

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Technical FAQ: Pinch flats, non-tubeless road tires set up tubeless, wires in tires

From Velonews.com

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Pinch flats are ruining my ride aurora. What is causing them? (Besides the pothole I just rode thru.) Seems I’m getting more occurrences since I went to a wider rim (24mm) over the standard 17mm. I would greatly appreciate it if you would weigh in on this “Snake” Bitten ordeal. Could the inner tube fit/size have an effect on the situation? IE: Is a tube sized 17mm-25mm more or less prone to pinching opposed to say a tube sized 23mm-30mm fitted in a 25mm tire?? As it would seem that the smaller size would be more stretched out thus rendering the lining thinner and possibly more prone. Then again, I wonder about the larger size perhaps being more bunched up by not fully forming inside the tire casing rendering it to be more prone to getting that “snake bite”!! Second thought, do pinch flats only/ mostly occur over the spoke hole recess vs the rim bed?? I await your most revered wisdom response on this HORRIBLE ordeal. Thanks, signed waiting for my wife to bring me a 3rd tube…

– Doug

Dear Doug,

First, yes, the wider rim with the same tire will be more prone to pinch flats, because the tire is more flattened out. The top of the tire has less far to go to hit the rim edge on the wider rim than on the narrower rim. Furthermore, the rim wall is sitting under less of the sidewall on the wider rim, so less of the tire and tube comes down to the rim, requiring less force yet to cause the pinch.

Photo by Daniel Llorente on Unsplash

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Italy to host Tour de France bicycle race in June 2024 for the first time

From Business-standard.com

Italy will host the start of the Tour de France for the first time in 2024.

Race organisers confirmed on Wednesday that the “grand dpart” will take place on June 29 from Florence to Rimini to mark 100 years since Ottavio Bottecchia became the first Italian rider to win the Tour.

Italy will host the first three stages of the 2024 race, which will end on July 21 in Nice instead of Paris because of the Olympic Games. It will be the first time since 1905 that the finish is not the French capital.

The start was brought forward by one week, a customary change during an Olympic year.

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Italy In A Day: 270km Coast-To-Coast Epic Ride

From the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west to the Adriatic in the east, Italy is a country full of history, culture and beautiful scenery, and is the perfect setting for an epic bike ride. Ollie and Alan from @gcnitalia took the new Wilier Granturismo SLR on a 270km journey across Tuscany and over the Apennine mountains to Alan’s mama’s house on the Adriatic coast for a traditional Italian dinner!

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Nutrition for long bike rides: what to eat before, during and after to avoid ‘bonking’ and maximise your cycling fitness gains

From CyclingWeekly.com

BY ANDY TURNER

What you eat and drink before, during and after a big ride is the key to success

Nutrition is a difficult thing to get right for shorter rides, let alone the longer outings. The last thing we want to experience is the dreaded ‘bonk’, especially when far away from home, and ideally we want to limit the pain in our legs that we feel the next day. So how do we fuel properly for rides that are longer than 3.5 hours?

To find out, we spoke with Dr Emily Jevons, a Lecturer in Nutrition at the University of Chester and a Physiology and Nutrition Consultant. She is an expert in sports nutrition, eating disorders, and endurance sport.

Although not something we often need to do in advance of Zone 2 paced endurance training rides, if you are sprinkling efforts / intervals into the ride, it is worth considering carb loading before a session.

Photo by David Dvořáček on Unsplash

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Derailleurs Explained: The Bike Gear Shifting Evolution

From GearJunkie.com

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Though plenty of die-hards live on single-speed rigs, for most cyclists, gears are the sweet elixir that makes riding fun.

It’s easy to take for granted the ease with which riders can cycle through gears on bikes these days. Derailleurs are the mechanisms that make changing gears on bikes possible. They move the chain from cog to cog on the rear or between chainrings on the front and manage the required chain slack.

Likewise, it’s easy to overlook or fail to appreciate the wide-ranging gear ratios on modern drivetrains. These make rides that were all but impossible for riders even a couple of decades ago accessible to nearly anyone.

Since the first bicycle, inventors and manufacturers have been slowly modifying and tweaking designs to perfect the derailleur and the larger drivetrains of bikes.

Some would argue that the industry is now near the peak of performance and capability with derailleurs and drivetrains. Others, however, view a brave new world on the horizon.

(photo/Shimano)

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The Most Important Bikes Of 2022! | GCN Tech Show

Every year it feels like hundreds of new bikes are released to the public, and it can be difficult to know which ones to keep an eye on! Alex and Ollie have chosen a few of the bikes they feel are the most important to be made in the last year. This, and all the other usual features in the GCN Tech Show!

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The best stocking stuffers for the electric bike rider (or regular cyclist) in your life

From Elektrek.co

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Sure, we’d all love a new e-bike for Christmas. Or for Hanukkah. Or Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Las Posadas, Boxing Day, or did I miss any other good winter holidays? The point is, an electric bike would be great, but it’s those other small accessories that can really help make the ride even better. So here are some of the smaller but no less important pieces of cycling gear I’ve been testing this year, which just might make a great stocking (or latke) stuffer for the cyclist in your life.

If you’re looking for an actual e-bike to give as a gift, we’ve already got a great roundup over here.

And just a note, this list includes around a 50/50 mix of gear I’ve bought for testing and gear sent to me for free from the companies. If I bought something, I’ll say it. The rest were media samples. We get sent a lot of crap all year. Only the stuff that’s actually good shakes out in the end to land on this list.

So let’s get this party started!

Tools

Topeak Ratchet Stick

The Topeak Ratchet Stick is probably my favorite bike tool of all time.

It doesn’t have every tool in the box, but it has most of the hex driver sizes you’ll need for common tasks (adjusting brakes, saddles, racks, etc.), and then the second plastic holder that snaps onto it carries even more drivers that you probably don’t need as often (mostly the Torx drivers).

 

Image courtesy of Topeak

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California’s Big Bike Year: 2022 in Review

From CalBike.org

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What can we say about 2022? We didn’t get everything we wanted, but thanks to advocacy from CalBike and our supporters and allies, it was a fantastic year for biking and walking in California. Here’s a short stroll down victory lane.

More money for biking and walking

California shows its values where it spends its money. Today, active transportation projects represent just a tiny fraction of the state’s transportation spending, but in 2022, that fraction got a little less tiny.

A diverse constituency advocated for $2 billion for bikes in the budget passed in 2022, and unfortunately, we came up short of that ambitious goal. However, we did secure the most funding ever for active transportation projects: $1.1 billion, a more than fourfold increase from prior years.

As communities across California scramble to fund projects to create Complete Streets and increase safety for people biking and walking, this extra money is crucial. It meant there was $1.6 billion available for the most recent funding round (Cycle 6) of the Active Transportation Program. As Streetsblog reported, this led to many more projects receiving funding and in a few years, we’ll see more protected bikeways and intersections as a result.

Of course, it’s still not enough. Every cycle, the ATP receives more excellent proposals than it can fund and has to turn away a higher number of worthy projects. Cities and towns understand that safe streets for all modes are essential for creating livable, sustainable communities. It’s time for the state to understand that too, and devote more money to bikeways and less to freeways.

 

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