Roadworks and Cycling

I've been getting out and about on my bike over the past few weeks since I got back from university and Grimsby seems to be getting a makeover of its roads. The work is being done at night to not disturb traffic during peak times. The result is a nice new roadway that is free from divets and snow / frost damage.

The work to repair snow damage is greatly overdue in many parts of the country and as a result, a simple drive down the road turns into a slalom event with weaving to avoid road-craters becoming ordinary. This is another example of the continued ignorance of government towards the transport infrastructure of the UK. Roads laid down years ago have seen little to no maintenance. That which is seen is usually just a round of patch-and-mend. This is done by two council workers shovelling tarred grit into the holes, maybe patting it down for good measure, only for it to be excavated by the next lorry that drives over it. This lack of proper care for our roads increases the likelihood of collisions as road users are constantly swerving to avoid potholes. A great example of the inability of council leaders to see the problem is more pronounced in York.

A great, ancient city, York is home to around 150,000 people and has some great historic monuments but its roads are awful. The trend in York is to simply pave over the Victorian road cobbles in the older quarters with a couple of inches of tarmac. This makes the road surface smooth and good to drive / ride on but after not very long, the frost comes and attacks the road. The tarmac degrades and is removed by traffic driving over it, exposing the cobbles below. This makes a dangerous situation for cyclists as there's no safe way to ride into a pothole and in narrow city streets, there's little room to compete with motorists for space.

That said, York is an excellent cycling city and it's drivers have a really good appreciation of cyclists. This cannot be said all over the country and I'm glad that the roadworks are being done in Grimsby as the motorists here have a really selfish attitude and occasionally, no insurance, license or tax disc. This goes to show the regional variation and exemplifies the difference between council approaches to the same problem. I hope that this investment in roads continues and ramps up as it'll cut down journey times, increase traffic flow and give budding cyclists a safe surface to ride on. The last point is especially important as many new cyclists are put off by the sight of bumpy, unsafe roads with cycle lanes that are filled with glass and debris from the road.

Bike Maintenance Basics

So you've got your shiny new bike and you've ridden it all over the place. You've been up and down and round and back home. Your bike has definately had a bit of hammer and will need support in the way of maintenance and regular upkeep to ensure you can go many miles further together.

Chain Reaction
Depending on how long you've ridden your bike for and where you store your bike day-to-day, you can work out how much maintenance you need to give your chain to ensure that your drivetrain will continue to work effectively.
If you ride your bike a lot, over great distances, it will be important to keep your chain well lubricated to keep the wear on the bike components down. There are many different lubes out there for this purpose but there is a runaway favourite of mine which is Finish Line Teflon Lube http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=317 . This lubricant is for use really only in the dry conditions and this may be impractical in old blighty so there's also a wet conditions equivalent: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=1041 and at roughly 3 quid a pop, it's not gonna break the bank.

Working at the.... Bike.... wash (Seamless :D)
As important as it is to keep your chain in good condition, it is also a good idea to keep your bike relatively clean as this will prevent transfer of muck to you from the bike. A good fluid for this is the Muc Off Nano Tech bike cleaner (£5.99) : http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=520 . I really like this product because it's a no gimmicks fluid with a spray bottle container. It's really just a point and shoot system which works great if, like me, you have a busy life and just want to keep your bike in good working order.

Stop!!
On the more mechanical / physical side of bike maintenance, it's important to keep an eye on your tyres and brake pads. I'll deal with brake pads first as they're more likely to go before your tyres do ( again, like so much in this article, it depends on the type and frequency of the riding that you do). Brake pads are the traditional way to stop a bike and there are specific types of brake pads for different bikes. Mountain bikes generally have longer brake pads and road bikes have smaller pads mounted in a side-pull fashion. These can be picked up at Halfords or from Chain Reaction Cycles for little money and especially with CRC, there is a massive selection to choose from.

Tyres, again vary depending on the bike and type of riding you do. If you do a lot of mountain biking then slick tyres are not for you. Likewise, a knobby tyre on a road bike lends the it to more cyclo-cross type riding rather than a fast morning commute into the City. A good thing to watch out for with the commuter tyre is whether it has kevlar in it. Kevlar in this application is the same stuff used in bullet proof vests and will go a long way to help protect you from punctures.

Puncture repair guide (with tips!!)

Hisssssssssssss!! The angry sound of a puncture. Don't let it ruin your ride and don't waste money on a guy from Halfords to change your inner tube either. In this blog article, we'll be looking at puncture repair for bike inner tubes: the motivation, some tips and general installation instruction.

Hiss Bang Groan

Firstly, you need to identify the type of puncture you've got and this will allow you to tailor you approach to the repair of the puncture. A low hissing sound implies a snakebite or pinch puncture. This is a puncture which will slowly bleed out the air from your tyre and will have two small holes in the inneer tube. This is more minor damage and you may even be able to
ride home on such a puncture so you can fix it there more easily. A fast, loud bang is a rupture and is more serious. It implies a blowout of your tyre and may mean that you can't fix the puncture by the roadside.

Getting started

So you've identified your puncture and which wheel of your bike is afflicted. What now? Well,
firstly, you want a set of spoons, also known as tyre levers (not the eating iron variety). These should ideally made of tough plastic and are available from online stores such as Chain Reaction Cycles and Ribble cycles. Chain Reaction has free delivery on all purchases so it's worth giving them a look.

Use the more spoon-like end of the tyre lever to lift the rim of the tyre over the wheel rim. You may want to use 3 tyre levers for this to lift the tyre off the rim all the way round one side of the wheel.

Now pull out the inner tube. It's as the name suggests, a rubber tube, usually black and it sits under the tyre in the wheel rim. If you have a minipump to hand, pump some air into the inner tube and listen all around the tube for a hissing if you cannot already see the puncture. Many pinpoint punctures are very difficult to see so hearing and the feel of the airflow against the finger tips can help you locate the puncture.

After finding the puncture, use a puncture repair kit. My favourite at the moment is the Rema TIP TOP TT04 Sport mini puncture repair kit (~£3.50 Chain Reaction Cycles). It comes with little patches for little punctures and a couple of larger patches to cover more substantial damage. It also comes with some vulcanising solution (rubber glue) and a piece of sandpaper to help adhesion between the patch and the tube.

following the instructions in the package, lightly sand the tube to rough up the surface to help the patch stick. apply a blob of vulcanising solution. Then apply the patch and hold strongly for about 5 minutes while the glue sets.

Now put a little air into the tube to check for additional punctures. If there are none, seat the inner tube back into the tyre, making sure to seat the air inlet pokes through the hole in the rim. Now, using your hands, lift the rim of the tyre back over the rim of the wheel. Don't be tempted to use the tyre levers to lift the tyre back into place as this risks pinching the inner tube and ruining all your hard work as you'll need to repeat the above steps. Don't worry if it takes a while or you think you're doing it wrong. This is the most difficult part of the repair as anyone aside from a repair shop man will probably not have the grip strength needed to do it all in one go. Just take your time and make sure you don't catch the tube between the rim and the tyre as
more damage will ensue.

After all that, good luck. Let me know if there's anything I missed :)