Tourist in MSN

I think I am the last person on this forum to have a half step plus granny setup on my derailleur touring bikes. And that includes a bike that I built up from the frame only five years ago. I see no reason to change yet.

bark_eater 

It's certainly an option. I think the wheelset I have will take a 10 speed, but might actually be an 11 speed Shimano hub. I haven't found any 8 speed bar end shifters yet, but that's really the last price of that puzzle. I am converting the the Koga Miyata to 8 speeds with Shimano R400 downturn shifters on Retroshift brake levers. They have no friction mode though.

Tourist in MSN

I bought my Shimano eight speed bar end shifters, three pair were new over a decade ago. Later bought a fourth pair as a backup in case I need them later on Ebay.

I know nothing about eleven speed hubs.

Shimano made two different eight speed bar end shifters. One pair were for Dura Ace and the other for everything else. They are not interchangeable. You would want the ones that are model BS64, they usually have a label that says Not compatible with Dura Ace rear derailleur.

djb

My winter bike is 8 speed, and when putting on a new chain a little while back, found that my fav 12-25 sunrace cassette had finally worn out the mid cogs. I should have bought a spare pre covid when they were available and under 20 bucks. Looked around and ended up getting a cheap equivalent by microshift, 11-32 and 20 bucks. As my writer bike, it lives a salty gritty life, so have never wanted to put any nicer more expensive cassettes on this bike.

djb

I never had one, but I remember them. I just had a realization of how these old Bell helmet actually look a lot like the "urban" style or whatever the heck it is, helmets of the last 10 years at least. Hardly any ventilation on either, which I just don't get.

GamblerGORD53

Are they all Pletscher racks?? The back 3 seem to be for sure.

Tourist in MSN

Thanks for posting, I was unaware that Microshift made cassettes, and I use 11/32 eight speed cassettes on a lot of bikes. Nice to know that there is another option out there. And if your $20 was CAD instead of USD, that is even a better bargain
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I always bought Bell helmets for motorcycles in the 70s and 80s, so when Bell made a bicycle helmet, I immediately had trust in the brand.

My Bell had a nice sun visor. I did a google search for it, found this image that I have no clue if this image will disappear soon or not. Mine was this one but in black.



The stripes over the top, I think they were reflective. It had a plastic shell with styrofoam inside it, then the foam rubber inside that. Eventually the foam rubber completely disintegrated. I tried some weather stripping since it was adhesive backed foam, but eventually chucked it.

For sizing, it came with some pieces of adhesive backed foam rubber of varying thicknesses, you picked the thicknesses you wanted for size.

Pratt

One of my two bikes is a 1992 Rock and Road Tour by Bruce Gordon. The panniers are by Bob Beckman, the same and earlier vintage. The panniers are a little heavy, and not waterproof, they have covers, but they mount with a simple, elegant system, and the racks are superb, welded, tubular, chrome moly.

Happy Feet

Fat bikes are fun. I'm still pretty pleased with mine. In retrospect, I think I would prefer the option for narrower tires as most of my riding doesn't take full advantage of the float 4.6 offers. But... still a fun jeep jeep bike
Funny about pressures. I don't have a very specific gauge (just the one o my Park floor pump) and usually run mine quite high. I find I get enough cushion and desire the lower rolling resistance to cover longer distances.

djb

Yes, I remember you saying that about narrower tires etc. A friend has 4.8 tires and it can roll over fresh loose snow and over logs etc much easier, but it does steer like a combine, where 4 inchers have a closer feel to a small tractor (ish of course)
On snow I really found getting lower and lower with pressures to be THE key difference, so bought a 0-15psi gauge and without it I couldn't have guessed what pressures it was when getting stupidly soft and squishy (but again, a huge difference in traction and not digging in in soft stuff, snow )
I've read a lot of how 1 psi really is felt , and creeping downwards in trying different pressures, lately I totally agree.

Tourist in MSN

Some automotive gauges have lower PSI capacity, you can use with a Presta to Shrader adapter if your bike is Presta.

djb

Planet Bike 0-15psi, with brass screw off adapter for both presta and shrader use, figured the 25 bucks was worth it. No batteries but I prefer that. Not as light as a battery one, but there you go.

Tourist in MSN

This is not the one I use on my vehicle, but it is similar and this is what I was getting at when I suggested an automotive one. I am sure it would work with a Presta to Shrader adapter. Tick mark every two PSI. I would expect it would work fine for wide tires.
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...5-8/10084447-P

Some of my Presta to Shrader adapters were too long and I had to file them down to get them the right length to work right with my pump chucks.

djb

you know, I've had this problem in the past with the presta to shrader adapters but never figured out why it didnt work properly. I'll try to remember this the next time I actually mess around with one.
thanks

djb

tourist, seeing your comment again just now made me realize/understand the problem better--the adapter is too tall so when you put the pump on, it can't push the presta valve end bit down enough to be able to open the valve, and allow air in.......so simple

so thanks again.
if I remember and dig out / find the adapter I always used to have on one of my tires, I'll stick it in my vice and file it down with a file.

Tourist in MSN

The adapters being brass or aluminum file down fast, so check often so you do not file too much. Or carefully measure at the start.

And of course, if you have removable presta cores, they can get stuck in the adapter and come out of the valve stem..

djb

thanks for heads up on taking too much off.
I honestly have no idea if any of my tubes have removable presta cores, but ya, I can see how taking the adapter off could bring a removable core with it (never had that happen in all the years having an adapter on one wheel, and taking it off to use a regular presta pump)

Tourist in MSN

I learned about removable Presta cores on a tour, I added some air with my Lezyne pump that has a chuck that threads on. The core stayed in the chuck when I moved the pump.

There are two flats on the removable cores so you can use a pliers or adjustable wrench to make them fit tighter. No flats means they are not removable. The flats are on the threaded part that your adapter would thread on to.

I know a guy that said he uses thread locker on his. Sounded like a good idea, so I now do that too but I was extremely careful to make sure that the thread locker only went on the threads, if you got any on the valve seat, that might cause a slow leak if the valve does not seat right.

djb

Thanks again,
Dumb question, but what's the purpose of removable cores anyway?

robow

I would be very careful to ensure that the liquid doesn't get down into the valve itself. I like to use teflon plumbers tape, a couple small wraps around those threads and then really tighten them down and the valve core remains well seated.

Tourist in MSN

I do not know why they originally were removable on some tubes years ago. But more recently if you want to put sealant in a tube, that is one way to do it. On a mountain biking trip in an area with lots of thorns I bought some Slime sealant, added that through the valve, cleaned out the sealant from the valve stem (Slime is aqueous, can be cleaned with water) and replaced the valve core.

The other option was to slit the tube, insert the sealant and then patch the slit. I chose the valve option instead of the patch.

Perhaps they were removable because there was no anticipated disadvantage to it at that time? If you never thread on an adapter or a pump chuck or add sealant, you would have no reason to care if they are removable. And years ago when things were designed to be disassembled for repair instead of glued or riveted for product lifespan, I can see how removable was the right way to make them decades ago. Just like Shrader valve cores can be removed with the right tool. When I worked at a bike shop, occasionally we had to replace a valve core to fix a slow leak.

A guy I know bought a trike a couple years ago, he is in his 80s and his balance is not so good anymore so he quit riding two wheels. His bikes always used Shrader, his trike is his first experience with Presta. Last summer he added some air and apparently his valve core was not threaded in well, the air pressure in the tube launched his valve core quite a distance. After hearing that, I decided that perhaps I should add a valve core to my list of spares to carry on a tour. When I discard old tubes, it never occurred to me to keep any valve cores that were removable.

I think half my tubes are Schwalbe, they have removable cores.

staehpj1

I have read a few folks comment that they have broken off the stems on presta valves. Some apparently do it somewhat regularly. Without a removable stem the tube is shot after the stem breaks off and the valve core falls inside the tube. Also the valves do rarely go bad and being able to replace them avoids changing the tube. I have done that, but only very rarely.

I figure the main advantages are adding sealant and being able to more easily seat a tubless tire with fast burst of air, but those certainly weren't the originar reasons.

andrewclaus

Mechanical damage has been mentioned, probably the main reason to replace. And once in a great while a core will develop an air leak from a failed seal, and replacing it will salvage a tube. Or it will get clogged with Slime. We keep a small handful of them at the non-profit shop.

djb

Thanks all of you. I'll try to remember to look at some tubes I have to see, and even look at some old tubes I keep for cutting bits of rubber shims from, in case I can salvage a valve core or two and stick them in a pill bottle to keep track of.

Trakhak

Removable valve cores were introduced for use in tubular tires, which become expensive throwaway items if a nonremovable valve fails in an otherwise good tire. Manufacturers of clincher tire tubes then began using them too.

By the way, if a long Schraeder-to-Presta adapter doesn't work right for you, the problem isn't the length of the adapter; it's more likely that the cause is the chuck being applied to the valve at an angle.

Presta valves are designed to open from air pressure, not from contact with a Schraeder chuck. In fact, the longer adapters sometimes work better, with compressor hoses in particular, since they ensure that the Schraeder chuck won't interfere with the free movement of the Presta core. The proof is that you can snap off the top of the valve core and the Presta valve will still work perfectly well to inflate the tire. Just be sure never to let the pressure in the tube get low enough to allow the core to fall into the tube.

Of course, when you're out on the road and have to use a Presta hand pump to inflate a tire, you have to be careful to hold the pump at a right angle to the valve stem. Plenty of us who have used a Silca hand pump have had the interesting experience of canting the pump just a bit too far from the correct angle and bumping the valve's inner core, resulting in the pump handle suddenly being launched across the street.

Edit: yes, the exception where long valve adapters might not work properly is in using them with Schrader pressure gauges.