If your bike has Presta Valves, a Vibrelli Bicycle Pump might be for you

 I have a bike with Presta valve tubes. This has meant that, in the past, if I wanted to inflate or re-inflate my tires I needed to either visit a place with a Presta equipped pump (havent seen one yet), use my trusty hand-held pump, or... actually that was it. I never had a Presta:Schrader adapter on hand, and this is my first Presta valve floor pump, so my only real option was to use my hand pump for all of my pumping needs.

That isn't necessarily that big of a deal for just topping off a tire once in a while, but unfortunately I was using 700c road tires to go all over the place on cycling trails and old streets, and I've had a LOT of punctures. I can recall 4 real punctures with thorns, glass or metal bits in my tubes, as well as 2 more slow leaks from no particular place on the tube and with no discernible issues from the tires.

I ended up throwing some money ($33 including taxes, a not insignificant sum) at the problem and impulse buying a pump off of Amazon a few weeks ago, and I'm pleasantly surprised with how it has performed for me. I picked out the Vibrelli Bike Floor Pump with Gauge, and as advertised it is actually a floor pump with a gauge. While the gauge goes up to 11 bar or 160 PSI, I've had it pumping my bike tires up to 50 PSI twice now with no issues and found that he gauge is pretty effective for identifying when your tires are full. I haven't calibrated the readings with a digital or a different analog pump, but from my subjective pinch test where I see how many additional fingers I need to use to be able to deform the sidewall of a fully inflated tire when I pinch it with my thumb and forefinger, I am able to consistently inflate to two additional fingers at 50 PSI, which was my target with my hand-held pump.

It's pretty easy to use. The cylinder is approximately 1 inch in diameter and 18-20 inches long, and it only takes me a couple of minutes of pumping to get up to recommended tire pressure on both of my 700c tires starting from new tubes. My pump also came with a needle to inflate sport balls and some kind of yellow plastic frustrum with tapered sides that I'm unsure how to use. It might just be a tool to deflate tires instead of poking a Schrader valve with a pencil and tapping on a presta valve tip.

Since I haven't thrown this thing in the car I can't say how sturdy it is under adverse conditions. I leave it in the corner of my living room next to my gear oil and it seems to be doing OK over there.

It comes with a few bike tube patches, but since I go through tubes like nobody's business, I don't think that I'm ever going to use them. The last time I tried patching a tube, I just ended up wasting my time and not getting to ride my bike for a few days while I was fiddling around with it.

Three years later, still not bike commuting

I'm in an enviable position compared to most cyclists.

I live in an area with minimal rain 8 months out of the year, pleasant temperatures year round, and I'm only 3 miles away from my workplace. I have a 15-30 minute ride to work if I take my bike, and while I don't have a dedicated bike trail there are bike lanes for >50% of the journey.

So, why am I still driving to my job 5 days a week?

It's not because I don't have a bike. I've had a great street bike for the past 3 years, my Fuji Absolute is still in great condition.

It's not because of the cost, since my workplace offers an allowance for employees that use alternative vehicles to compensate them for not taking up parking spots. They offer up to $20 per month that can be used to reimburse an employee for bicycle related costs including the bike, replacement parts, and shop repairs. You can save your receipts and get allowances for prior expenses, so I could have amortized my 300 dollar bike over 15 months and all of my replacement tubes, pumps, etc over the remaining 18 months since I got my bike and had all of my costs paid for.

What is really keeping me from bike commuting is probably a combination of laziness, fear, and inertia. I will expand on these below.

Laziness

In looking at a transition to bike commuting, I can compare my current "out the door" routine with the one that I used when I was bike commuting in the following table.

Commute Breakdown
Time	Cycling	Driving
2 hours before work	Eating breakfast, showering and getting dressed	Watching Cartoons
1 hour before work	Leaving my house	Eating breakfast, showering
45 minutes before work	Riding my bike in the fresh air	Getting dressed
30 minutes before work	Riding my bike in the fresh air	Leaving my house
15 minutes before work	Getting to work, locking up my bike	Just getting to work
10 minutes before work	Walking into work	Finding parking
5 minutes before work	At work	Walking into work
Work	Work all day, relax during lunch	Move my car during my lunch break closer to work
5 minutes after work	Walking to bike	Still working, usually
10 minutes after work	Riding my bike in the fresh air	Walking to car
15 minutes after work	Riding my bike in the fresh air	Driving home
30 minutes after work	Getting home	At home
45 minutes after work	Taking a shower	Watching Cartoons
1 hour after work	Watching Cartoons	Watching Cartoons
2 hours after work	Sleeping	Sleeping

In order to successfully bike commute, I need to actually be disciplined enough to prepare to leave home earlier than I need to for a driving commute. I can't comb my hair, drink coffee, or finish eating breakfast on my bike like I can in my car, and I also cant apply lip balm or keep an extra set of whatever I might happen to need in a frame bag. I also don't have a locker at work to store an extra set of business clothes in case my fresh clothes get messy after a fall, so it really isn't as convenient, despite the fact that it would essentially be free for me to ride my bicycle to work, and that it would save me almost 30 minutes of time every day that I currently spend finding parking, walking to and from various far flung parking lots, and moving my car.

At my last job, we had a locker room where employees could keep clothes and gear, and a break room where employees could keep various food and beverage products, and I used to keep relatively nutritious items there like milk and juice that I could consume after cycling or before going to the gym. My current workplace does not offer these features, and as a result I don't really keep much at work. One of my (shared) workspaces has a microwave for employees to reheat homecooked meals and a mini-refrigerator, so I added an electric kettle and keep some teabags there, but it's not really private or separated from a working area and I don't have enough room to leave food products in that refrigerator.

Looking at the table above, I'm not including gym visits on either schedule. I usually go to the gym after work if I drive to work, and would rarely go to the gym if I rode my bicycle. That being said, I cancelled my gym membership in March 2020, a month before the COVID 19 pandemic got serious, so I haven't been going to the gym at all in the past 6 months.

In addition to all of the above concerns, I am often ridiculously tired after work, to a greater degree than I was after a similar day at my previous job. I have often found it necessary to stop and nap in my car on the way home, and many days I don't actually leave on time.

Fear

I have a variable schedule, so I could be leaving home for work as early as 6:30 AM or as late as 6:30PM if I'm driving. I also have variable shift lengths, ranging from four hours to 12 hours in length. As a result, I could be coming home or leaving home while it is still dark, and unfortunately crossing very high speed and high traffic roads in poor visibility conditions is a real possibility for me.

While incidents of violent crime are not extremely high, there have been multiple historic accounts of pedestrian, cyclist, and vehicle collisions on my residential street and in the surrounding areas. Despite a dedicated bike lane, there is still a serious risk of injury or death when cycling in the immediate vicinity of my home. 

I have also been cautioned many times about going out after dark in the area where I live and work, both for safety reasons and due to the risk of profit-motivated crimes. Unfortunately, I have many houseless neighbors that live on or around the properties adjacent to my home, and many of them would be more than willing to impose themselves on me for profit. To put it bluntly, I am often asked for money and or goods while walking or riding my bicycle, and I'm certain that this would happen more frequently if I increased the number of bike trips I make. When considering that I have little control over the times that I leave my home or workplace and therefore the conditions that I would be cycling through, I have in the past been discouraged from cycling to work.

Inertia

I've been working at my current day job for nearly 4 years now. After that much time, certain habits have become ingrained upon me, and I have settled into something of a routine.

It's hard to make an intentional change to a process that has accumulated over many years and offers several creature comforts.

Since I currently car commute, I've invested time and money in overcoming the challenges presented by driving to work and parking in competitive, overcrowded parking lots and structures, and switching over to bike commuting presents a significant learning curve compared to just keeping on my current, car-driving path.

That being said, if I transition into a fixed schedule position that has only daylight hours, and become more comfortable riding through my residential area, I might transition to cycling to work, but for now I'm a purely recreational cyclist.

Safety tips to help you Cycle Accident Free

I've been cycling for about 17 years now (since I was 9 or 10 recreationally, started commuting occasionally about 4 years ago, first tour 3 years ago.) 

I've never been in a car accident, but I've had a few mishaps due to terrain/bike management that usually amounted to a skinned knee or a jumbled up kit.

Here are a few of the tips that I've gathered to cut the risk of accidents, with cars, other cyclists, or even just myself

1. Try to avoid car-intensive pathways.

As much as possible, I try to cycle either on back roads with fewer motorized vehicles, recreational trails or bike paths with no motorized vehicles, or during off peak times like early in the morning when the numbers of cars is drastically reduced. While this can add an extra hundred yards or two to my trip length, minimizing the number of cars and other shared road users I encounter helps to cut the chances that I will collide with one of them.

2. Research your route

I've gone on short trips and long trips, sometimes lasting several days. Beforehand I make sure to develop a plan for where I'm going to go and the types of terrain I'll encounter, so that I am not surprised when I'm required to go over a train bridge or the road turns to gravel. If I ever have to proceed into "uncharted territory" due to short term construction in an area I haven't been before, I make sure to proceed with caution, and sometimes I've even gone back to avoid the potential hazards.

3. Stay Visible

High visibility clothing is a major factor in keeping yourself safe, and best coupled with a high visibility bike. I like to have lights and reflectors in as many places as I can: Front and back lights, red blinker in the rear, lights on my helmet, reflectors on the seat tube/bag, pedals, for a while I even had a big reflector on my backpack. Every little bit counts when you are riding in the twilight or at night, when drivers and other road users might be battling distractions or exhaustion.

4. Keep your eyes moving

Often times, especially on a long haul ride, you end up picking a spot about 15 yards in front of your bike and start riding into it. The exact length from your bike varies on the person, but this is a terrible trap, because when you stop scanning around for potential hazards and start shutting out the world, you set yourself up for a tumble or worse. Tunnel vision is as dangerous on a bike as it is for a car driver. You need to scan frequently to take in other road users, their speed, and potential hazards on the road itself.

5. Know your limits

The more exhausted you are, the less aware you are. I remember the last time that I met the gravel, I was at the tail end of 120 miles and dog tired, and I just didn't notice the dip in the trail I was riding for the first time. The last time I tasted concrete, I was trying to ride faster than my skills could take me, and I brushed the sidewalk with my front tire, sending me sideways and, had I been in a heavily trafficked area, into the path of a car. Luckily it was around 6AM in the middle of nowhere, so I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and kept riding. It's OK to work yourself at your limit, but not beyond it, or else you aren't being safe.

And of course, wear your helmet in case you end up eating pavement anyway.

Any more tips for avoiding accidents? I'd love to hear them!

Presta Valves: Worth the Trouble?

I'm dealing with the Presta valve issues that many a cyclist has had before, and I am finding that the old solutions are probably still the best ones. My new street bike came complete with presta valves and 700C tires, and I've had very few issues with them prior to last week. I went out on my first 10+ kilometer ride to the gym on the other side of my current town and I developed a slow leak in my front tire.
I had left my pump at home, and had no spare tubes, so I ended up calling a cab, driving to pick up my bike, and instead of spending a sweaty afternoon at the gym, I was wrangling with my local bike shop to get a great deal on some tubes. I ended up going with the Rubbers brand, by the way. Great 700C tubes and dirt cheap, ended up being about 4 dollars a tube.
Then back home to pump up and take test rides until I got to the right inflation pressure for my riding style.

I still had fun, but there was a definite sense of the opportunity cost of having a presta valve. I love my narrow rims and low rolling resistance as much as the next guy, but I really miss the convenience of Schrader valves. They are everywhere, easier to inflate, and much sturdier than Presta valves.

I'm likely to consider a Schrader conversion in the near future, or purchase a pump adapter to keep in my bike kit.

New Town, New Bike, New Bike Lock

I've recently relocated, and I've managed to track down a decent deal on a used bike.

While I've broken my rule of not paying over 200 dollars for a used bicycle, I haven't done too badly. I ended up dropping 300 dollars for a Fuji 2.1 Absolute, a couple of years old. I'm satisfied with the bicycle so far, but it has been so long since I had a bike without shocks that I am still adjusting to the stiffness of the ride.

I also had the opportunity to buy a bike lock for the first time since 2014, and I ended up buying a decent looking braided steel cable with a stacked steel padlock. I'm pretty happy with my purchase so far, and if I end up being satisfied after a month or two I'll post a review.

All in all I'm looking forward to starting to bike commute in the next month or so.

Recovering from Bicycle Theft

I've been dealing with a rather unpleasant experience that far too many cyclists have had to deal with. My bicycle was stolen recently from my parking area, and I am currently stuck driving.
The police department in my local area is overworked and underpaid, and while I was able to make a citizen's statement detailing my bicycle's details and the circumstances of the theft, I am yet to be contacted by a detective or have much to go on to conduct an investigation myself.

I am always of the philosophy to buy the least expensive tool that my ego and abilities will permit me to use, and my bicycle was no exception to this rule. A 10 year old mountainbike, I had been running hybrid tires on it and using it as a commuter.

Even though I paid 160 dollars for the bicycle, I am not particularly sad that it is gone. I would have had to sell it soon regardless, and as winter approaches I had only a few more weeks to ride before the snow descended and I was unable to bike commute.

I think that my greatest regret is that I left my bicycle inside of my car, as opposed to chaining it up outdoors or bringing it into my apartment. My car was broken into and the contents removed, including my bicycle, tools and bookbag.

While I am planning to replace the bookbag, the bicycle will not be replaced until next spring.

I will now focus on researching options for my next bicycle season!

Hitting the Trails this summer? Try cycling to the trail access!

I know that many people who love to ride bicycles also love to drive cars, but have you ever considered how unusual it is to drive somewhere to ride your bike?

I recall telling one of my friends back in college about a great bike ride that I had earlier on that week, several years ago. I described in grandiose terms the trail I rode on, the vegetation that surrounded me for the 15 or so miles of converted railway that I was using, and the people that I had seen, finishing up with a brief mention of the trip back home in my car. My friend, an avid fitness enthusiast, was interested in cycling, and immediately responded with a place that would be really fun to ride, just a long as I was "okay with driving somewhere to ride my bicycle".

At this point, I realized that there was another way, that I could simply ride my bicycle to the bike trail, but I was worried about traffic! I had talked myself out of the possibility of cycling the mile and a half to the closest trail access to my home, reasoning that the traffic was excessive, cars were going too fast to chance it, there were no sidewalks and insufficient curb, and it was all in all a poor choice. I was afraid to ride my bicycle on the open road because I didn't want to be hit by a car, but I was driving a car to ride a bike.

In any case, that got me thinking, and I decided to try cycling to the trail access the next weekend, and it was fine. I was safe, never struck, and I learned that the last mile and a half, after a 30 or 60 mile conditioning day, was a great way to cool down and relax before whatever activities I had planned for the evening. From then on, I try not to drive anywhere within easy riding distance if I'm planning to cycle when I get there, I just bike instead!