Soma Steel Core Tire levers

LEVERAGE IS EVERYTHING
A good tire lever can make the difference between a good ride and a miserable one.

"That's a bold statement, Matt"; you say? Well, stay with me for a moment here. Ever been stuck on the side of the road or trail with a flat tire that is difficult to remove from the rim or re-install? How about being stuck with a flat tire because you broke your last or only tire lever and now you can't remove the tire at all? In the rain. And cold. Oh yeah, and it's getting dark too.

Yeah, neither have I - but I'm more about prevention than cure anyhow. That said; I've broken my fair share of tire levers and uttered my fair share of foul words and phrases - of which I'm not proud - at those difficult tires. A small price for prevention certainly goes a long way toward a better experience. And, not much can sour a ride faster than a bad experience changing a flat tire, right? See what I did there? :)

Enter the Soma Steelcore Tire Lever. This had solution written all over it when I first saw it - figuratively, of course.

Swiftwick Socks: Tested

SOCKS? REALLY?
I am actually amazed at the amount of gear that I have had for a long time that I have never written about. To say the least - it's been a busy few years and I haven't been writing as much as I would have liked. My Swiftwick socks certainly fall into that category.

My experience with Swiftwick socks goes back quite some time. If I had to guess I would say it was sometime around 2005 or 2006 when one of the owners of the company walked into the bike shop I was running in Brentwood, Tennessee (suburb South of Nashville and Swiftwick's home town). He handed me a sample set  claiming they'd be the best socks I'd ever worn and said he'd check back in a few weeks to see how I like them. Well, long story short ('cause I can be long-winded); I still own the socks, they get regular use, and not only are they still holding up but they are among my favorites. Additionally; I have spent a decent amount of my own  money acquiring more (the photo above is just the pairs that aren't in the laundry at the time...and there are 6-pair pictured.)

THE DETAILS
So what's the deal? What makes these so great? Well, as much as I'd like to start off with materials and technobabble - I think what is at the core of the greatness here is good old fashioned attention to detail.

What Do I Carry on a Ride?

ALWAYS BE PREPARED...
I mentioned in my Pre-Ride Checklist post that one of the more important things I do is to do a quick check of the items I carry in my seat bag or hydration pack to be sure I have everything I need. I was never a Boy Scout, but Murphy's Law would dictate that the one time you forget to do this is when you'll be missing that crucial spare tube, CO2 cartridge, patch kit, or multi-tool - so this step can be considered to be "Murphy Insurance". O.k., that's a little cheesy...but it's true.

I have also advised many customers that it's no excuse to not carry this stuff because you don't know how to use it. Always carry what your bike needs whether you know how to use it or not - because if you have a problem and don't have what you need; it's possible that I might come along - but I may not be able to help if you don't have these items with you.

BEING PICKY
But how do you determine what to take with you anyhow? (And some of you might still be asking a different question: "I'm really supposed to take stuff along with me???")

Cyclocross Tips Series

I get a lot of traffic looking for info on Cyclocross. Fitting, tires, and other set up tips are among just some of the topics that bring people here.

So, with that in mind; I have compiled all of my 'cross posts in one place and will be adding more as time progresses. So - here you go: one stop shopping!

If you have questions or suggestions for a topic; leave it in the comments and I'll address it as best I can. Thanks for your loyal reading!

• How to Fit A Cyclocross Bike - From buying your first 'cross bike to dialing in the position on your current steed; here's a guide to help you along...
  
  
• Setting up Cyclocross Disc Brakes - First run with disc brakes? Underwhelmed by their performance? Start here and see if this helps.
• Tubeless Cyclocross Tire Tips - Going tubeless? Here's a guest post with some great experience and advice.
  
  
• My "Cheap" Single-Speed Cyclocross Bike - WWMB? (What Would Matt Build?) Well, this isn't my ultimate answer - but it's a start with what I could scrape together. It might inspire (or depress...) you. Check it out.
• Swiftwick Merino Socks - O.k., this may be a stretch; but trust me - you probably need these if you don't have them already.
• Bike Mistakes Part 1: Handlebar Position - Part of another series, but included because I see this very often on Cyclocross bikes so it may be something you're experiencing or could benefit from.
• Shimano WH-6700 Tubeless Wheel Review - A popular option for going tubeless for Cyclocross.
• The Truth about Tire Pressure - Originally written for road tires; but the same applies for 'cross.
  Faster tires come from a different end of the pressure spectrum than you might imagine...
• My Trek XO-1 CX Bike - A little closer to the ideal...
• Choosing Clipless Pedals and Shoes - If you haven't gone clipless yet on your 'cross bike or if you're considering a different system you should check this out first. A great general guide for road, 'cross, and MTB. 

Pre-Ride Checklist

Part of my Bike Maintenance Made Easier series...

"PREPPING" AIN'T JUST FOR ZOMBIE ATTACKS...
I was preparing for a ride the other day when it occurred to me: there's a lot of things that I just "do" before a ride without thinking about - however they can be rather crucial to the success and enjoyment of the endeavor. A lot of this ritual are things picked up along my journey as a cyclist from others and some of it is because of experiences I have had and developed a way to prevent disaster on subsequent rides. There's nothing magical about it; but it is actually a little bit of a ritual. That's good though as it keeps me from missing a step or forgetting to do something before I head out the door.

All told; while it might seem like a lot of steps - it really only takes probably 10 minutes total ( not sure really - I'm not analytic enough to time myself...). The trick to this or any checklist you might develop for yourself is to make it a routine and you'll soon find yourself accomplishing everything rather quickly and smoothly. So; here's the details with some description following so you know why I might do what I do - or when I do it.

You might also note that I allude to some post-ride rituals too...I'll post some on that that soon; but it's just as important and can be very quick and easy.

PLAN MY ROUTE: I do this for safety's sake: so I can tell my wife where I'm going since I ride by myself most of the time.

Get Road Rage Cycling on your Mobile Device

I just got around to putting the Android operating system on my HP Touchpad tablet (which is a different blog post for a different blog; but anyway); and while downloading new apps I stumbled upon Google Currents; a service that offers free subscriptions to many top publications in one place so you can easily get the news and content that is important to you. With less than 24 hours to play with the app; I have subscribed to way more content than I can ever hope to read!

But it also got me thinking: I wonder how I can use this to make Road Rage Cycling more accessible?
Turns out it is very simple and so I'm happy to introduce: Road Rage Cycling on Google Currents! Now you'll have access to the blog in a quick to access, mobile-specific format.

Road Bike Disc Brake Troubleshooting

Slow down, turbo...
As disc brakes become more common on road bikes (this current model year saw many models finally hitting bike shop inventories) there is myriad new issues for us to address. Some of them have been dealt with in the mountain bike world for years while others are new and unique.

Lennard Zinn; a tech writer for VeloNews and the author of many authoritative bicycle maintenance books (not to mention a framebuilder - where does he find the time?), wrote an excellent piece in answer to a reader's question and it appeared at velonews.com this morning.

Here's the exchange which I thought was too good not to share:

Dear Lennard,
Do you have tips for setting up disc brakes on road bikes? I’m using Avid BB-7 road calipers with XX 160F, 140R rotors with stock pads and standard cables/housing with Ultegra Di2 brake levers. They seem to be short on stopping power; the MTB versions I’ve tried have been much stronger.

Do I need a torque wrench?

Getting torqued off?
That sound...if you've heard it before; you already know what I'm talking about. The subtle crackle of a carbon handlebar or seatpost bowing to the pressure of an over-torqued bolt. Or perhaps you heard the sharp snap of an aluminum stem clamp or steel seat clamp bolt - either way they're all unpleasant but preventable.

One could argue that the Torque Wrench has become the most valuable tool in a bike mechanic’s toolbox.  Can you assemble or fix a bike without one?  Absolutely.  But, what other tool helps you complete that work with the confidence that you’ve got every bolt tightened to manufacturer’s specification, without being so tight you’re damaging the parts?  That’s where the value lies: A torque wrench is cheaper than replacing a $200 seat post or $350 carbon handlebar!

You see, today’s ever-lighter aluminum and carbon components are still strong, but less tolerant to improperly applied torque. Historically, our frames and parts were so strong that the bolt was the weak part.  More seasoned riders will remember having to regularly replace seat binder bolts (and I even carried a spare in my seat bag on my first road bike).

Tubeless Cyclocross Tire Tips

Part of a series I'm calling Tires 101 with lots of great info to consider when looking for new tires.

GOT LESS (TUBES)?
There have been lots of comments back and forth between my readers about switching to tubeless for road and cyclocross. This is a guest post of sorts - an acquaintance was nice enough to write his thoughts down and share his info with us.

With cyclocross season right around the corner you might find this info helpful. There are tons of different combos of rims, tires, and tubeless products. We hope his insight into what worked for him last season for him will help with a few questions you may have. Here's what he had to say:

This year I have been racing cyclocross on road tubeless Shimano Dura Ace 7850sl wheels.  Just a quick search on Google will show that while Shimano is silent on using their road tubeless system wheels for cyclocross, there are plenty of others either talking it up, or talking it down.  What I will try to do here is describe the problem, tell you what has worked for me, and perhaps more importantly, tell you what hasn’t worked — and the lessons I learned from the experiments.

Dura Ace PD-7900 Pedals - First Impressions

Less weight, same great pedal A quick update before the weekend. Shimano’s latest pedal offering arrived last season – the new Dura Ace PD-7900 in carbon composite.  Now that we've had our hands on them and they've seen some miles; here's our thoughts. Published weight is 248 grams per pair (124 g. each) which officially enters Shimano into the light-weight pedal game.