carpediemracing said:Tires - trainers make your tires silvery color but don't really wear them out. it's a great way to use up a nice but cut or otherwise compromised tire. I used the same tires for a very long Summer 2004 - Spring 2005, including the winter on the trainer, about 4 weeks just training in CA and FL, and only took them off during spring 2005 when I double flatted the tires on a training ride (pothole at 45 mph while drafting a truck) which put 1/2" cuts in both of them.
lighter tires typically have:
1. kevlar bead (hoop that holds tire on the rim) versus steel
2. higher thread per inch casing (tpi)
3. thinner sidewalls
4. thinner tread
5. less layers of material under tread
- kevlar beads allow the tire to fold up easily when removed from rim;
- higher tpi means a more supple casing, smoother than lower tpi casings at the same pressure. this means thinner sidewalls - if you have a 37 tpi, that means a one layer casing is 1/37" thick. if you have 128 tpi, the same single layer casing is 1/128" thick. thinner sidewalls increase the chance of a cut/blowout on the side.
- thinner tread - rubber is heavy, less is lighter. but usually the material is removed from the sides more than the "meat" of the tread so the tire won't wear out right away. I seem to cut or otherwise damage tires before I can wear them out, including the lightest Michelins, Specialized, and Vittorias.
- less layers of material - some tires tout their "puncture resistance" and have layers of kevlar or similar material under the tread. this adds weight. also it effectively stiffens the tire so that supple casing might not feel so supple. these tires help if you run over glass or other small/sharp objects. however, they don't help if you have under inflated tires, ride over gravel (sidewall gets cut), or hit a pothole at high speeds or high weight (i.e. you don't bunny hop the hole).re: frame materials - aluminum is pretty easy to gouge. gouges are stress raisers and will initiate a crack. to make aluminum frames 1 kg (2.2 lbs) they've made the tubes super thin. dropping a chain onto the chainstay is a no-no - put protective tape or even metal (like on a carbon frame - Treks had them for a while) to protect it. My first Giant cracked on the chainstay, the second one will crack shortly on the top tube due to my cleat gouging it when I crashed it. I think the first one was simply defective, the second one I beat on much more and it was fine till I crashed it, so I bought another AL frame (still to be built). The carbon is good but i've only had it since March.
when comparing Giants within a family (OCR aluminum, TCR aluminum, etc), the frames are virtually identical. the forks differ a bit at the high end but if you repainted a TCR team, 1, 2, and 3 (are there that many?) I wouldn't be able to tell one from the other. from a performance point of view there is very little difference between similarly sized TCR AL and TCR carbon frames - I'd take one or the other, doesn't matter which. however, I think the carbon is better because I paid more than twice as much for it 🙂 No other good reason.
I haven't met a woman who doesn't like Terry's. Some high level pro women insist on more macho saddles but everyone willing to try one to keep ends up keeping it.
your drivetrain maintenance sounds good. if the chain appears dirty (or the cassette or the chainrings) then you should clean it. Make sure you get the cogs in the rear derailleur - they are soft plastic and hold an incredible amount of dirt, grease, gunk, etc. there was a time where I meticulously cleaned my drivetrain virtually daily (I saw an example set by the pros and tried to follow it). I also retaped my bars every couple weeks and kept getting new bottles. but now I clean my drivetrain once every few weeks (riding indoors most of the time helps avoid grit). I always wash it off after a ride in the rain, usually before I bring the bike in - I get off the bike at the end of the ride, degrease/clean/relube it, then go shower etc. and I retape my bars about once a year lol.
hope this helps
cdr
Thanks! It sounds as if I'm doing everything pretty close to the way it should be done. I'm happy to hear that. I only hosed my bike off once. I heard shortly afterward it wasn't a good thing to do. Something was whining on my bike this morning despite all the lubing I've been doing to it. I have speed play pedals so I unscrewed the outside screw and sprayed some dry lube in the screw hole. It didn't make noise after that.