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Old 03-21-23, 10:17 AM
  #176  
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Originally Posted by rsbob
Is an “internet” a new hidden (inter) bike part that’s made of carbon fiber? Does it require batteries?
It's the evil big brother that over-complicates your biking experience - apparently
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Old 03-21-23, 10:30 AM
  #177  
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Originally Posted by Jeff Neese
...also can't relate when someone talks about the need to top off their tires every ride. (Is that a tubeless thing?)
I have 3 different bikes that I ride regularly, plus my trainer bike. It might be a week between rides on a particular bike. Invariably, the tire pressure has dropped enough to need a top-off, because my preference is for specific tire pressures rather than "close-enough". These 3 bikes are running tubeless tires, but it's not any different than my older bikes that have butyl tubes, including the one mounted on my trainer.
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Old 03-21-23, 10:34 AM
  #178  
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Originally Posted by PeteHski
No contention there. The usual contention to any new tech is "I don't need no stinking new tech and anyone who does is just a slave to the evil bike industry" usually followed by references to their vast wisdom and how they survived before whatever new tech arrived. Then for good measure topped of with a list of reasons why the new tech is obviously inferior to whatever it replaced and pros are only using it because they are paid to do so. etc.
Right, point I was making was that I would present my preference in such a way as to make it clear that I wasn't intending to contend with anyone else's, and then someone would try to argue with my admittedly completely subjective matter of taste.

I think a lot of the contention here is when people see "I like x" or "I don't like x", they automatically hear a declaration of war on their own preferences.

I will say that I see a lot of people referring to what pros do and use in contexts that are completely alien to the way pros ride. When I get 35 years younger and have an entirely different body type, I'll give a rat's butt what they do.
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Old 03-21-23, 10:42 AM
  #179  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions

I think a lot of the contention here is when people see "I like x" or "I don't like x", they automatically hear a declaration of war on their own preferences.
I think that's because there often is on BF. Not always of course and I can spot the difference a mile off.
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Old 03-21-23, 10:42 AM
  #180  
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It's friggin' hilarious that this thread has finally devolved into the most widely recognized pointless bicycling debate--stem cap or no?
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Old 03-21-23, 10:43 AM
  #181  
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Originally Posted by Jeff Neese
Cosmetically, seeing a bike without valve caps is like seeing a car that's missing its hubcaps. Sure, they're not functional, but the car still looks ghetto.
Check out these ghetto bikes... https://www.cyclingnews.com/features...ur-bikes-2023/

It would seem that pro mechanics don't think valve stem caps are very important, either.



I am thoroughly amused that we are debating possibly the most needlessly contentious topic of all time.
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Old 03-21-23, 10:53 AM
  #182  
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Originally Posted by Jeff Neese
I'd expand on that and just say "Newtonian Physics". Hard to believe that could be a contentious issue, but here we are in BF.
The only reason physics is contentious is because of your hilarious attempt at applying it in "that" thread. Then there was a guy last year attempting to educate us on gravity, which was arguably even worse.
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Old 03-21-23, 10:54 AM
  #183  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
I have posted that I have drawn an irrational line that I will not have any part of the drive train electrically powered as it violates my sense of what a human-powered vehicle should be, and that includes me not wanting electronic shifting as I want the actual motion of the derailleurs to be powered by my muscle. I will state that this is a purely esthetic preference choice on my part--the sense that I am powering everything other than the boosts from gravity and wind--and that I am not advocating for that line, just noting that I have it. I use electronic navigation and I use my phone to monitor my speed and record my ride on Komoot.

This invariably gets someone to post a "refutation" that states that that line is "irrational". Yup, that's literally what I said.
To me, your point is completely rational. You have a thoughtful and reasoned rationale behind your position. Irrational would be insisting that everyone else who has a different opinion is wrong.
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Old 03-21-23, 10:56 AM
  #184  
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Originally Posted by Eric F
To me, your point is completely rational. You have a thoughtful and reasoned rationale behind your position. Irrational would be insisting that everyone else who has a different opinion is wrong.
Not just wrong, often stupid, dumb or taken in by the scam.
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Old 03-21-23, 10:56 AM
  #185  
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Originally Posted by PeteHski
I think that's because there often is on BF. Not always of course and I can spot the difference a mile off.

I think a lot of people start fights with supposed peremptory attacks. I know I've posted that I don't use x in a thread where someone actually asked if we find x necessary, only to see the same post straw-manned into some sort of crazy contentious assertion in another thread with something like "no guess who is going to say...". If you make someone feel they have to point out they never actually said the thing you're accusing them of, you're trolling. That's not aimed at you personally. I just got sick of being on the receiving end of that treatment a zillion times, and the excuse was always "well, people post stuff like that all the time so...."
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Old 03-21-23, 11:17 AM
  #186  
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Originally Posted by Eric F
To me, your point is completely rational. You have a thoughtful and reasoned rationale behind your position. Irrational would be insisting that everyone else who has a different opinion is wrong.

Depends on your definition of "rational", I guess. It's a considered opinion rather than just off-the-cuff, but to me it's no more a product of logical propositions than "chocolate is a better flavor than vanilla." I think the problem is people hear the word "irrational" and they think "crazy", and to me, it's just a distinction here that I'm not willing to logically defend. I don't like electric power anywhere in the drive train even though I know there's really no practical difference in terms of whether I'm being assisted in powering the bike.
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Old 03-21-23, 11:21 AM
  #187  
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Originally Posted by PeteHski
The only reason physics is contentious is because of your hilarious attempt at applying it in "that" thread. Then there was a guy last year attempting to educate us on gravity, which was arguably even worse.
Shouldn't his version of "Newtonian Physics" preclude the use of stem caps because the effects of their weight are multiplied so much?

I don't remember the gravity guy. What was that thread about?
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Old 03-21-23, 02:07 PM
  #188  
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Originally Posted by genejockey
Except for the fact that you need to screw it down to keep the small amount of air in the tube to give it shape when you're feeding it into the tire.
The way they did it was to glue the tubular tire on the rim, inflate it fully, and only then snap off the top nut. As long as the pressure was kept above 20 psi or so, they were able to keep riding the tire until it flatted or wore out.

You could do it with a clincher tire and inner tube, of course. But in the 1960s, there were no high-performance clincher tires on the market, so all racers rode tubulars exclusively.
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Old 03-21-23, 02:22 PM
  #189  
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Originally Posted by Trakhak
If you're in the "Presta valve caps and nuts are superfluous" camp, you deserve to know that the knurled nut atop the valve core is superfluous, too, so snip that off!
Originally Posted by Trakhak
The way they did it was to glue the tubular tire on the rim, inflate it fully, and only then snap off the top nut. As long as the pressure was kept above 20 psi or so, they were able to keep riding the tire until it flatted or wore out.

You could do it with a clincher tire and inner tube, of course. But in the 1960s, there were no high-performance clincher tires on the market, so all racers rode tubulars exclusively.
So is your logic that because I don't want to castrate my knurled nut, I need to keep the stem caps? Sorry, but at this point, I have a bit of a morbid fascination with the truly awful analogy.

Also, I get to type knurled nut again. Twice,
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Old 03-21-23, 02:29 PM
  #190  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Also, I get to type knurled nut again. Twice,
I don't have personal experience, but my estimation is that a knurled nut is preferable to a gnarled nut.
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Old 03-21-23, 03:39 PM
  #191  
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
3. It provides protection

Protection from what, sunburn? A Presta valve doesn't need protection, as long as the top nut is secured.
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Old 03-21-23, 03:41 PM
  #192  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
It's friggin' hilarious that this thread has finally devolved into the most widely recognized pointless bicycling debate--stem cap or no?
Then the thread has been successful!
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Old 03-21-23, 04:11 PM
  #193  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
So is your logic that because I don't want to castrate my knurled nut, I need to keep the stem caps? Sorry, but at this point, I have a bit of a morbid fascination with the truly awful analogy.

Also, I get to type knurled nut again. Twice,
As I recall, they always threw out the valve cap immediately for some reason, even before snapping off that which must not be named.

Thinking about it now, my guess is that the nut decapitation was accidental the first time it happened. Since the tubular continued to hold air, the guy figured he might as well break off the one on the other tire too, to protect his Silca pump.

Maybe Presta valve inner cores are made of a better grade of steel now. I haven't seen a bent one in decades. They were very easy to bend accidentally with a pump chuck in the '60s.

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Old 03-21-23, 04:12 PM
  #194  
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Originally Posted by Eric F
I don't have personal experience, but my estimation is that a knurled nut is preferable to a gnarled nut.
Burled nuts are even better.
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Old 03-21-23, 04:54 PM
  #195  
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Talking about valve caps is getting really boring.

Let's talk about brands of tires!
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Old 03-21-23, 05:02 PM
  #196  
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Can anyone find a torque specification for valve caps? I've looked everywhere and can't find it. Is it safe to install them without a torque wrench?
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Old 03-21-23, 05:06 PM
  #197  
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Originally Posted by tomato coupe
Can anyone find a torque specification for valve caps? I've looked everywhere and can't find it. Is it safe to install them without a torque wrench?
I'm looking for an online calculator to answer your question.
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Old 03-21-23, 05:46 PM
  #198  
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Originally Posted by tomato coupe
Can anyone find a torque specification for valve caps? I've looked everywhere and can't find it. Is it safe to install them without a torque wrench?
I have a small torque wrench for this purpose which I keep next to my nut knurler.
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Old 03-21-23, 06:24 PM
  #199  
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I take it I'm the only one who uses the knurled nut to keep the stem from sinking when you attempt to put the pump head on?
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Old 03-21-23, 06:32 PM
  #200  
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Originally Posted by seypat
I take it I'm the only one who uses the knurled nut to keep the stem from sinking when you attempt to put the pump head on?
A finger behind the valve, or alternatively using 60mm valves on every single wheel because I have ONE set that's deep enough to need them.
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