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I have a Specialized Rockhopper 29er mountain bike. I recommend getting a bike with wider tires regardless of where you ride. In my opinion, the traction is better with less sliding and this is safer. I have a Specialized Crosstrail and the tires are much narrower and I wiped out once on after the front tire lost traction when turning. There was some loose sandy stuff that I did not see.
This is a good point. For folks getting back into cycling after a few decades, like myself, they should note that modern tires are wider, and don't have the rolling resistance that wide tires had years ago. For example, my old bike, a crossover with mtn bike gearing but drop bars, had 700x38 tires, considered wide in their day. No longer.
This is a good point. For folks getting back into cycling after a few decades, like myself, they should note that modern tires are wider, and don't have the rolling resistance that wide tires had years ago. For example, my old bike, a crossover with mtn bike gearing but drop bars, had 700x38 tires, considered wide in their day. No longer.
That's a huge tire. Hell, the rear tires on my Z06 were 345-19's....
Mirrors on the bike DO hold their position. I have had two different handlebar end mirrors and both were just fine.
I don't think it's right to make blanket disparaging comments about a product based on one data point.
Well, from what I've seen they do NOT hold position, and I've tried quite a few. I ride my bike 6 days a week (I'm retired). My shortest days are 22 miles. My longest days are 100 miles round trip. My average day is up to Lake Station, which is a 69 mile round trip. I've never found a bike mounted mirror that can hold up to that. However, my helmet mirror holds solid, and is much safer.
Most of these runs are all on a railtrail, though several miles are through the middle of Clare, Michigan, right on city streets.
That is generally true. I ride an all-road, all-purpose bike (Surly Troll) and it has 559x55 tires (55 mm wide). The tires (Schwalbe Big Ben) are not knobby, but with somewhat deeper tread that give plenty of grip for hard pack dirt / gravel but roll smooth and fairly quiet on pavement. I use about 32 psi in the front, 36 psi in the rear. They even ride OK on cobblestones, which are found in lots of towns in Germany where I am currently living.
Skinny, light, high pressure tires are for racing type bikes on nice smooth roads but they don't do so well once you leave that smooth pavement. On most of my rides, I pedal across almost every type of paved or unpaved road or path that you can imagine aside from hard-core mountain bike trails.
I have used a Take-a-look brand rear view helmet / glasses / visor mirror for the past decade or more. It is excellent and is one of my most important safety accessories. It's funny, that here in Germany, very few cyclists use rear view mirrors mounted on glasses, helmet or visor - they are simply not sold in many cycling stores, and there are tons of big bike shops here. I get asked about this rear view mirror more than anything else by other cyclists here - it instantly gets attention!
Last edited by recycled; 05-18-2021 at 02:01 AM..
Reason: additional note
Well, from what I've seen they do NOT hold position, and I've tried quite a few. I ride my bike 6 days a week (I'm retired). My shortest days are 22 miles. My longest days are 100 miles round trip. My average day is up to Lake Station, which is a 69 mile round trip. I've never found a bike mounted mirror that can hold up to that. However, my helmet mirror holds solid, and is much safer.
Most of these runs are all on a railtrail, though several miles are through the middle of Clare, Michigan, right on city streets.
You might want to check that you have the mirrors installed properly. For instance, we have two Mirrycle Mountain Bike Mirrors. When they're properly tightened, they don't move at all, as long as we don't bang them into anything. Our rides are much rougher than yours too, since we live on a dirt road that's rippled and potholed. Of course, we slow down for the rough patches.
You might want to check that you have the mirrors installed properly. For instance, we have two Mirrycle Mountain Bike Mirrors. When they're properly tightened, they don't move at all, as long as we don't bang them into anything. Our rides are much rougher than yours too, since we live on a dirt road that's rippled and potholed. Of course, we slow down for the rough patches.
You betcha. On an ebike forum, I regularly read about folks that want more speed. We want less! I don't want to make the headlines of the local paper because I ended up in the back of a truck where I couldn't stop in time because the truck pulled out of a drive just around a curve, just to use one example.
Of course, right now, riding is just a dream, since we're still having single digit temperatures. At least the lows are no longer below zero.
I have a Specialized Rockhopper 29er mountain bike. I recommend getting a bike with wider tires regardless of where you ride. In my opinion, the traction is better with less sliding and this is safer.
I bought the same bike about 6/7 years ago. I actually got hybrid tires because I ride on pavement a lot. I mostly rode on the multi-use paths to avoid cars, but since Covid hit, I started to ride more in industrial parts of town after work or on weekends to avoid people.
The good singletrack is an hour away from me, so I don't ride that much anymore.
My everyday rider is an older Electra Townie 21 speed. I really like the "forward crank" frame design and it's forgiveness of my stiff knee.
I ride urban settings frequently, so I've started using thorn-resistant innertubes with Specialized Hemisphere "Flak Jacket" armored tires to cut down on punctures. They're a little heavier than standard tubes and tires, but It's the only way I'll ride.
Here is my current project, expect it to make trips to the grocery a little more productive,
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