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No 33, April 2004 |
The Unbearable Lightness pf Being
As a group, cyclists seem to have an obsession with weight – the weight of their bikes that is. The bike industry understands this and feeds off it. Every year, bike companies and component manufacturers bring out a smorgasboard of new offerings that are just a slight improvement over the year before. Invariably, these new things make the old things, well, old and out-of-date.
The good part is that state-of-the-art technology makes cycling trendy and cool. It brings more people to cycling and gets more bums on saddles. But the bad part is that the obsession with new, fashionable things doesn't actually serve the long term interests of cyclists.
For the record, let it be said that there's nothing inherently wrong with light bikes.We all like them. Light bikes are fast and fun to ride. However, an obsession with lightness is a dangerous thing because, beyond a certain point, bikes can't be both light and strong. Most of us know at least one cyclist with a heavy bike that they've been riding for years. For example, Bike North stalwart Doug Stewart rides a 1974 Speedwell that weighs at least 17 kg. He rides it almost every weekday to and from work.
If Doug gets a bike that weighs 10 kg and he rides that new bike all the time, then pretty soon the new bike will not feel new or light anymore. Further, if Doug can do "Pie in the Sky" in two hours on his Speedwell but can do the same ride in 15 minutes less on the new bike, is he really a better rider or did he just buy 15 minutes?
If you race and want every advantage you can get, then that's fine - go for it. Just keep in mind, though, that professional bike racers get their bikes for free, the bikes are kept for one season only and they have professional mechanics to maintain them. Beyond a certain point, and without the invention of new space-age materials, how can we keep reducing the weight of existing materials and components without risking the integrity of the parts? As bike guru Grant Petersen says:"a good bike weighs what it ought to weigh. Get a bike that feels good, get it set up properly, and make sure you aren't lugging around any cheap heavy parts." Let me give you an example of how little we've progressed. Consider that the legendary Reynolds 531 steel tubing, which is still used on a small number of bikes, was invented in the 1930ās. Bike North member Rolf Lunsmann has an old Malvern Star Five Star bicycle made of Reynolds-like tubing and the frame weighs a light, sub-1.8 kg or 4 lbs.Thatās comparable to some of the best frames made today.
Further, some will remember the famous bike movie, Breaking Away (1979). In that movie, the young hero rode a Masi Gran Criterium. On the 20th anniversary of that movie, a US bike magazine ran a comparison between the 1979 bike and its 1999 equivalent. Interestingly, the bikes had different handling characteristics – the 1979 bike rode like a Cadillac whereas the 1999 bike rode like a Honda Legend.
The surprise, however, was that both Masi Gran Criteriums weighed the same – 10 kg. The weight reductions made as a result of the marginal technological advances over the 20 years had been offset by the additional weight of STI/Ergo levers and deep dish rims.
The moral of the story? If you own a perfectly good bike and are happy riding it, keep riding it. If you have an old bike and it's making cycling unenjoyable, buy a new bike and enjoy it. But, donāt be sucked in by the never-ending search for the newest, shiniest, lightest bike or part. Itās not the road to cycling happiness.
Lighter-Than-Air Bikes
If things keep going the way they have been, bicycles will be light enough to float in air in twenty years time! The progress in materials like carbon „bre and titanium over recent years has seen a dramatic reduction in the weight of the bicycle.The strength of these materials is equal or better than steel framed bikes, although there are some durability questions.
Scientists are continually discovering new materials and alloys; it is not so crazy to wonder if the bike of the future will end up being lighter than air. In„ating tyres and frames with helium could add further assistance. Hydrogen has been discussed but smoking cyclists may find they sit on a rocket!
The lighter-than-air bicycle could pose a danger to aircraft, with feral bikes jamming the flight paths. Parking your trusted bike will become a serious business.There would be a need for a new accessory line, the tether.
The cyclist will need to wear a strap, similar to the surfboard rider, in case of a spill. Imagine the distress of falling from your trusted steed and the darn thing just „oating away.The parliament will have to pass a law to handicap "lighter than air" bikes with extra weights as in horse racing.A whole new branch of public service will be established as feral bike catchers.
Of course, reduction of the bike's weight will come at a cost of many hundreds of dollars to the consumer. While the technically inclined of us may drool over the specifications of the lighter-than-air bike, a healthy diet and weight loss will do more for you and is cheaper.
Got something to say about cycling? Send a letter or article (500 words or less) to chainmail@bikenorth.org.au.Thanks to Tony Mcclelland for inspiring the name of this column.
Pump-it-up
Feeling pumped up for a ride? Well, nothing is more deflating than a flat tyre. Repairing the tyre is one thing, pumping it up again is another.With some pumps it feels like it takes as much energy to inflate the tyre to the right pressure as it does to do the ride. There are many variations of pumps just as there are many different bikes on a typical Bike North ride. Leaving aside the big floor pump you may have at home, bike pumps have a combination of one or more of these features:
- Single or double acting
- With or without a gauge
- Higher volume, lower pressure or lower volume, higher pressure
- Direct valve attachment or mini floor pump with high pressure tube.
You will find the prices vary from $15 to over $60. The first step when choosing a pump is to ensure it has an adaptor for the type of valve on your bike, Schrader (like on the car tyre) or Presta (a skinny brass thingy). Next, you need to decide if you need a gauge showing the tyre pressure.A pump with gauge will generally be $10 more expensive than one without. Much of the rest is related to the ease of pumping. This is not trivial if you want to raise your tyre pressure above 60 psi. In this respect, a single acting pump may be easier but slower.With a double acting pump, much of the strain relates to having to pump and restrain the pump at the same time.
With the big floor pump at home, you use your weight to push against the „oor the pump is resting on. This means the restraining forces are the same as the pumping effort. If you can pump against a solid surface, you save a lot of energy. With a single acting pump, you may be able rest the end of the pump, near the valve, against a stone or a rock.A mini floor pump with a high-pressure tube to the valve will be the easiest to use and is usually the most expensive. Try your own pump to determine the amount of effort required to get your desired tyre pressure and if you are buying a new one, then test it out before spending money.
For more on pumps visit: http://www.blackburndesign.com/ 2004/product_04.htm http://www.zefal.com/AAA/page.php?nom=produits&sousFami lle=miniPompes&langue=an http://www.trekbikes.com/accessories_int/cat browse.jsp?category_id=279 http://www.topeak.com/global/ http://ravx.com/bicycling-accessories-home.htm http://www.sigmasport.com/indexeos.html
Don't leave home without one or you may be faced with a long walk. Oh, and do not use the free air at a service station, you are likely to over inflate the tyre, or worse still, literally blow-up the tyre. Don't want to pump? You can get a compressed air cartridge that will fill your tyre at the press of a button, take some spare cartridges just in case. Given the variety available, there must be lot of money in pumps. For more on tyre pressure see: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ tyres.htm#pressure or a less serious look at: http:// www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/humor/air.htm
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