Stan's No Tubes

I have a love-hate relationship with No-Tubes.

As a shop-rat I would mount No-Tubes conversions using an air compressor. Ninety percent of the time it works. For the other 10 percent, I would remove the valve core and use a schrader air chuck to get the maximum air volume into the tire fast enough to seat the tire without having sealant spew everywhere.

Done, ready to ride. Well kinda.

Tubeless works well, when it works – we're talking about non-UST here. Flat protection and better ride quality are why I do it. The downside is that on the trail you may not be able to re-seat a tire. So you throw a tube in and you're back to square one.

A few days ago I mounted a new pair of Continental Mountain Kings – 29x2.2 – on my Stan's 355 rims. I try to not rely on a compressor; I want all my setups to be "field serviceable" come race day. The Mountain Kings fit loose enough that they wouldn't seal with a floor pump.



Luckily there's a quick and easy fix for many loose fitting tires, just build-up the tape. I use 3M strapping tape, cheap, readily available and strong. A few layers on the rim and everything seated with a confident "snap."

Tubeless Tips: To ensure your tires hold air I've found the following works well.

1. Once inflated, hold the wheel with both hands and tap the tire against the ground while rotating the wheel. This ensures the bead is seated.

2. As soon as you've got the bead seated and the tire appears to be holding air put your wheels back on your bike and take it for a couple of laps around the block. This helps the sealant cover the entire surface of the tire.

3. If using tubeless conversions with non-UST rated tires do not exceed 40 PSI. If you inflate standard tires set up tubeless much higher than this, the force exerted on the tire can exceed the tensile strength of the bead. Boom! the bead fails and you are left covered in goop, with a ruined tire, looking like an idiot – been there.

More tubeless setup info can be found here.

It seems everyone who runs tubeless conversions has their own approach to making it work. One of these days I'll get around to brewing my own sealant.

Weekend on the La Cruz

This showed up at my doorstep last Monday. The Salsa La Cruz, disc brake equipped 'cross bike, to review for CxM. I didn't have time to put any miles on it until the weekend. Even without riding it, I liked what I saw. It has three things I look for in a bike: a ferrous frame, disc brakes and a well-appointed component spec.

I had a choice: spend Sunday logging in gravel miles, or race mountain bikes on what I knew would be a very muddy course. I choose the latter. The Midwest Fat Tire Series promoters decided not to cancel the race. Instead they made an alternate course, which included XC ski trails, gravel roads and some paved sections. It was less a mountain bike race than it was a really long 'cross race. I figured this was the perfect trial-by-fire for the La Cruz.

I pulled the stock Panaracer Crossblasters off and replaced them with a pair of Ritchey Zeds - 700x42. These were my Dirty Kanza tires two years ago. I figured the nature of the race course – relatively flat, smooth, nothing technical – would favor 'cross bikes over mountain bikes.

For the most part I was right. What I didn't count on was the thick mud that made even gentle inclines a slog. The combination of gumbo mud and longstem grass quickly made every rider's drivetrain, seatstays and chainstays a sodden mess. As a result, I quickly found myself over geared – 48/38 in the front combined with a 12-27 cassette in the rear – and spent the modicum of fitness I had in my legs.

My first impressions of the La Cruz are favorable, it's not quick, but predictable. It handled everything I threw at it, and even if it was not the perfect bike for the course, it was good enough for a 4th place expert finish.

...I like to think of it as 'the first place cross bike.'

Larryville

Every now and then something reminds me how glad I am to live in Lawrence, Kan. This morning it was opening the Journal World and reading the two front page stories. One delt with a curbside recycling proposal, the second was about a Northern River Otter spotted in the Baker Wetlands. This is the first time in over a hundred years this critter has been seen in the region. Other cities would have relegated this story to page 10A. Not Lawrence, we're proud of our water weasel.

Lawrence is a little town with something for everyone. Esquire Magazine recently named the Replay as one of the “The Best Bars in America.” It's got friggin' Pabst Blue Ribbon Bowling, how could it not make this list!

Other accolades the city has recieved include being one of the best cities to retire in and best cities to educate your children in. Forbes.com lists Lawrence, Kan. as one of the "Top 10 Smartest Cities In America." Other Midwestern cities that made the list are Madison Wis. and Columbia, Mo. Number one on the Forbes.com list is the People's Republic of Boulder. Which, having lived there, would make the list for the top 10 flakiest cities in America. ...no offense.

Saturday gravel century

The crew at Heartland Sports Productions canceled the first race of the season. Good call.
After a winter like this the trails will take a while to drain. Saturday's forecast called for sunny skies, warm temps and high winds. The trails may be too soggy but it was a great day to ride gravel.

When the wind is out of the south, prevailing wisdom says one should head south into the wind, and then enjoy the tailwind on the ride home. I said screw-it. The roads I wanted to explore were to the North. My only goal was to get myself lost. I rolled out of Lawrence, across the river bottom and into the hills. The mosquito drone of Michelin Muds on hardpacked country roads was a welcome sound; it's been at least a month since I've done anything more than commute.

I knew I'd have a hard ride back when I checked my GPS as I rode up the first big climb: 21.8mph, uphill on gravel—feels great now, will hurt later. The local mutt population was in full force today and gave chase every chance they had.

For the most part, the roads were in premium condition. Only in the lowlands had fresh gravel had been laid. The ride back was as expected, half the speed of the ride out—fighting to stay upright and maintain momentum.

What a great first day of March. I got some base miles in and managed get a farmers tan too.

Pre-season shit-talking

March 2nd ushers in the first race of the season. With two weeks to go I invited my friends over to use my shop for pre-season tune-ups. There’s something about combining men, tools and Pabst that inevitably leads to shit-talking.

The dialogue begins with questions attempting to size one another up, “So, you been ridin’ much this winter?” Followed by the persistent reply, aimed to protect your lack of fitness, or—if you have been covertly getting in base miles—hide your advantage, “Nah, not really, I’ve been sitting on my ass, I’m so out of shape.”

After a few more PBR-fueled posturings, the conversation shifts to riders outside the present company. We trade assessments and queries of other racers: who has put on weight, who switched teams, who’s riding what bike, who's sandbagging and who’s overrated?

Then we guestimate the wildcards, those racers that—like a Mongol hoard—sweep down upon our fair state to invade our local races from the foreign lands of Nebraska and Iowa. “I read on his blog that he had a kid. I don’t think he’s been able to do much riding.” Or the always-false assumption, “Those guys don’t ride through the winter like we do.”

Each year it’s the same: the same questions, the same replies. It’s an important ritual that fosters a sense of camaraderie and serves to motivate riders who’ve spent the winter doing more drinking than pedaling that it’s time to get back in the saddle.

Endless Winter

For the past two months I've been testing winter shoes from Lake, Northwave and Specialized for Cyclocross Magazine.

They have all, to varying degrees, kept the elements at bay and made riding through a Midwestern winter more bearable.

Look for a full review in our fall '08 issue.

Personally, I hate winter. I've seen enough snow this year to last me a lifetime. I hate riding in freezing temperatures, but it beats sitting on my ass. I definitely have not done as much training as I would have liked—I have no illusions of grandeur, of decimating the field, I'll be content to hold my own until Kansas thaws.

This will be an interesting race season for me; many changes have been made. All of them for the better. Stay tuned for more details.

Cyclocross Nationals

This was my first time at 'cross nationals. No racing for me this year, though by the end of Sunday I felt like I had gotten a pretty good workout -- I was busy running around snapping pictures and conducting interviews for Cyclocross Magazine.

Unfortunately, I was only able to cover Sunday's events. Last weekend's snow storm left me stranded in a national guard armory Russell, Kan. on my way back from a week of snowboarding Park City Utah. It's a rough life I lead.

From all accounts, Sunday's conditions were better than they had been the day before, though the warm afternoon weather made the elite men's race a mudder.

There are plenty of well-written race recaps out there so I'll skip the play-by-play and go straight to the highlight of the day for me -- the collegiate men's pile-up. There's something about combining 170 athletes of varying ability levels, from elites to beginners, into one field that makes for an exciting first lap...

Ryan Trebon's crash only took out him and another unfortunate rider. Here's a video I shot of the first turn into the mud, see if you can count how many guys go down here: