Rohloff or not?

[PCeBiker]

After looking at your chart, I would agree with the Al Grounder as about 50% of the time we are on asphalt and I am not crazy about the Johnny Watts.

You can easily get significantly more MPG with a more street oriented tire.
I had a Honda dirtbike with knobbie tires that felt Dangerous on asphalt.
I also had a Honda street bike with street tires and had no problem riding on gravel roads, and even rode on dirt paths on a shortcut to get to school.

I don't enjoy the mud like I used to when I was a teenager, especially with a gutless ebike that can't shoot 40 foot tails.

 

[indianajo]

I ride kenda or giant knobbies at all times on pavement because when the knobs are taller than 3/32", I do not gets flats. I don't use flatout or slime or liners, Slime plugged up the valve where I could no longer add air to the tire. That is required every 3 months however good the tire is. I get about 2000 miles or 2 years on each tire.
About the $50 bill trick. I blew a sidewall a half mile from the grocery with 40 lb load +15 lb tools, spare tubes, water, rain gear. I was passed by about 20 pickup trucks while I was pushing the bike and waving a $50 bill. Rich people, the kind that inhabit safe roads with 25 mph speed limits, view all people on their road, as trespassers. My phone stopped working in those days 1/2 mile from the nearest grocery. I pushed the bike 7 miles in 95 deg heat. My wife nor any of my friends have a vehicle big enough to carry a cargo bike, anyway.
I carry a lyzene pump. They se one now with a push handle and a tiny base which helps a lot. The high pressure one takes about 200 strokes to fill a 26x2.1" tire, which is doable while sitting on the ground. I carry 3 tubes since sometimes the first one blows up. ****ese ****. If I ride 14 miles RT to the bike shop, I can buy ***wanese made tubes. I did not keep a motor vehicle until this year after ablation surgery.
Enjoy your trip. The perils of recharging LiIon battery at motels has kept me within 40 miles of my 2 homes.

 

[PCeBiker]

I carry a lyzene pump. They se one now with a push handle and a tiny base which helps a lot. The high pressure one takes about 200 strokes to fill a 26x2.1" tire, which is doable while sitting on the ground.

I started with a CO2 inflator and cartridges figuring that I could fill my ebike tires and fill my four car tires with what was left over in a cartridge.

I was surprised to find that a single cartridge was Barely Enough to swell my flat Fat Bike tire, and it would have taken probably half a dozen cartridges to fill the tire at three bucks a pop, so I finished pumping up the tire by hand.

The CO2 cartridges take up Tons of space, weigh a Ton, and clank around making noise in my toolbag.

Then I bought a rechargeable inflator with a Huge battery, that worked quite well, but it too weighs a Fricken Ton, and you need to babysit the battery properly or it will be dead, and won't take a charge anymore after the battery croaks.
(It did come in very handy when I got that single flat tire though. I had to pull over and reinflate my tire 4-5 times to get home, and I had Lots of battery left.)

Then I bought a 48 volt compressor and put a connector on it to plug directly into my battery.
I never did use that compressor.


Then I bought a shock pump that Works Great and can fill a tire in minutes with very little effort.
(you only struggle to pump it when you're pushing 200 PSI through it)

The long handle makes it fast and easy to pump without struggling with a 6" mini hand-pump that would take half a day to pump up a tire.

The only problem with it is that it is 13" long and is a little difficult to store on the bike.
(12" is kinda the standard size for storage containers and tool bags)

 

[stompandgo]

You need a mini inflator. 200 pump strokes and both my arm and the pump internals would be on fire.

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. Slime plugged up the valve where I could no longer add air to the tire.

Flat-Out does the same thing, probably even worse??

I was aware of the issue after @PedalUma mentioned it.
He said it not only plugs the valve but also provides a slow leak and air is constantly bubbling out.

I tried to add air once and noticed my compressor straining, so I removed the pump and put a tiny bit of Tech-Lube (spit) on the valve (Schrader valve) and I could see it bubbling.
(Soapy water works too, but spit is always handy and plentiful. )

I simply removed the valve core carefully (with a rag over the valve while I unscrewed it. Those things can take out an eye when they get fired out out the valve stem. )

I rinsed off the valve in the sink, cleaned out the valve stem with a Q-Tip and reinserted the stem with a bit of grease, and it has been fine for over a year now.

When I add air now, I put the valve at the 5 or 7 o'clock position to help drain the valve stem. (the 6 o'clock position puts the valve right above the puddle of goo.)

I rarely need to add air because the Flat-Out Really Helps to seal the tube to prevent leaking, and can be used to seal a tubeless tire.
It could probably even seal a porous tire that is made for tubes to go tubeless with the tire??

I also bought a bunch of metal valve caps with a built-in valve core tool,..
Well worth the five bucks to have a valve core tool that should be easy to find.

 

[PCeBiker]

You need a mini inflator. 200 pump strokes and both my arm and the pump internals would be on fire.

I didn't find it too bad.
Pumping a shock pump up to only ~30 psi is easy pumping.

You need to brace yourself to pump it up to 200 psi though, but there's not much volume in my air forks or air shock.

As a test, I pumped my flat tire (27.5"x2.8") for 5 minutes and got it to just over 10 psi which is enough to get myself home if I had to.

I've put on ~12,000 km on my two ebikes, and only need a pump once.

If anybody does get a rechargeable compressor, (even a really good one) make sure to check and charge your battery regularly, or it will be dead when you REALLY Need it.

If it's too far gone, it won't even take a charge and the pump is garbage.
(Just like the batteries on our e-bikes)


I have used my Shock Pump dozens of times, and I haven't replaced the batteries yet.

It really works Slick, and it's a pleasure to use.

 

[PCeBiker]

You need a mini inflator. 200 pump strokes and both my arm and the pump internals would be on fire.

Speaking of that,..

When I use my rechargeable compressor, (I use it all the time, but keep it at home now) I run the compressor for a minute or so after pumping up the tire.

That blows cool air through the internals to cool them off before I shut the compressor off.
(The air cools the internals if it's not being compressed)

I blow the "hot air" on my face and wait for it to feel cool.

 

[Cybersnow]

I have a rechargeable compressor that I use on the bikes in my workshop, but it is pretty big, However it will also fill the tires on my car…I would need something very portable.

 

[PCeBiker]

I have a rechargeable compressor that I use on the bikes in my workshop, but it is pretty big, However it will also fill the tires on my car…I would need something very portable.

This is a link to a compressor thread where there's lots of compressor choices listed.

I guess you get what you pay for, and the better pumps come with better batteries that might last longer ?
(Just like our ebike batteries.)

Electric Air Pumps 2024

,.. My advice is DO NOT DO IT. And they will never run out of gas. Those ebike-battery-powered pumps run $25 to $30. And since 2020 I've never had one fail. So... live and learn I guess :) . I decided to buy one,.. I've got this one too, but it's fricken huge and weighs a ton...

forums.electricbikereview.com

 

[RunForTheHills]

I have a rechargeable compressor that I use on the bikes in my workshop, but it is pretty big, However it will also fill the tires on my car…I would need something very portable.

I recently bought a Fanttik X10 Tiny pump. It's smaller than a couple of CO2 cartridges and nozzle. It is only good for a couple or three tires before you have to recharge it though. The hose acts as a schrader adapter. It can go right on a presta valve without the hose.

 

[Gionnirocket]

This is what I ended up with. .

It's a little big @ 7 inches and weighs a little less than a pound but I just don't trust the micro ones to be able to fill my larger tires. I remember Matt Robertson saying one time he had to fill his tire a few times before enough Flat-Out sealed the puncture. Plus I like that it has a light and is a power bank and can charge your phone or other accessories.
Also I wanted one of the larger ones as these things use Lithium batteries and keeping them at full charge the lifespan of the battery won't be very long... So I keep it at 80%. At that level, 4 bars it easily filled my bike tires and can fill a car tire as well. I've used it a handful of times to top off the car tires and ran it for about 6 minutes and it still had 2 bars 40% left.
I'm not having any valve issues with Flat Out. I alway put a blast of air in before letting any out or checking pressure.

 

[PCeBiker]

This is what I ended up with. .

I remember it was you that mentioned opening it up to replace the cells if it ever crapped out, but mine (and probably all of them?) don't have any screws, and have a "heat welded" plastic body, so the thing would have to be broken open to get inside.

I'm kinda looking forward to breaking mine apart.
I wanna know what makes it tick, and the 3 little lithium bombs inside make the dissection procedure that much more exciting.

I'm thinkin a Big F-in hammer, or just Crack it open in my bench vice?

 

[PCeBiker]

For anyone reading this who has a rechargeable compressor, don't just charge it up, put it in with your tools, and save it for a rainy day.

That's what Matt Robertson did with his and it sat for 8 months.
It was dead when he finally needed it, wouldn't take a charge, and it was garbage.

Use it, or loose it, or babysit it properly.

 

[indianajo]

200 pump strokes and both my arm and the pump internals would be on fire.

I am a man. Have to keep up the work for your muscles, else you feel old. I shoveled snow 21 days this winter, at 3 properties, about 3 hours a day. >12" of snow, twice. Had to clear the path to the propane tank twice for the truck that never came over a 5 day window. 2 lean women stopped and tried to take the shovel, unless I give myself a heart attack. Must be the grey hair. Ha! I am age 75, and had zero heart arteries blocked during dye test last April. Ride your bike unpowered as much as you can stand. Electrical problems with a heart are not prevented by exercise.
It rains here. I ride anyway. No car til 6/2025, remember? The lyzene pump has been underwater in the pannier. Drain hole poked in bottom of bag did not work. When I used the lyzene full of water, I just pumped out the water, then screwed it on the schrader valve and started inflating. Your electric pump do that? Lyzene pump still works a coupla years later. My nite-rider rechargeable lights did not survive riding on the bar, or in the bag either. Switch corroded.

 

[stompandgo]

I am a man.

Glad to hear it.

 

[Gionnirocket]

For anyone reading this who has a rechargeable compressor, don't just charge it up, put it in with your tools, and save it for a rainy day.

That's what Matt Robertson did with his and it sat for 8 months.
It was dead when he finally needed it, wouldn't take a charge, and it was garbage.

... and that's why I don't think keeping it fully charged is a good idea

Use it, or loose it, or babysit it properly.

Beginning of each month I use mine to top off my tires. Ohh $hit... it's April 1st!!!