Smoothing out the rough stuff

When I bought my fixie wheel set, they came with a cheapo set of 23s. After skidding and skidding and skidding (especially riding in Fresno with no brakes) the rear became very flat. Not flat like no air, but flat like not round. I figured I was getting close to the end of their use, and after 2 years of faithful, puncture free service, they were ready to re-tire. (oh, bad joke)

I figured since the roads were so nasty in Fresno, I'd try some 28s instead of the 23s. Why did I not do that sooner? Just some cheap Continental Ultra Sports, but man do they ever make a difference on bad urban roads. On all roads for that matter.

I've know this in theory, but this is the first bike I've ever actually change the tire width significantly on. I can't say I noticed any difference in my speed, but the road buzz, and harshness of cracks was definitely reduced. They still skid well too.

Fixie Update

A few new things for the fixie (not that I've had a chance to ride it for the past 3 weeks).

First, a Surly Chain Tensioner. This bike is a conversion (meaning it didn't have fork ends for the rear wheel, just horizontal drop-outs) and the first time I asked a bike mechanic about using one of these Surly's, he said that it wouldn't work on horizontal drop outs, they had to be used on rear fork ends. Well, I went and bought one anyway and what do you know, it worked (so far). I guess the real test will be when I actually take the bike out for a spin with this on it. The reason that I wanted one, is because I don't have brakes on this bike and rely heavily on skidding to stop. Skidding by the way is by far the funnest way to slow down a bike!! The problem is that after a hard day of riding (and skidding) the rear wheel has moved forward and my chain tension is saggy. Gross. This should help that out so I can skid happy and skid often.

Second, is an aggressive rear wheel. I actually bought this rear wheel in conjunction with a Schwable snow stud front, but ended up returning the front for a 26" Schwable tire and bought another one for my commuter bike. I decided against using the fixie for commuting in the snow, as it's still too new (to me) for mucking up. I've ridden to work a few times with the fat rear tire and haven't found it too bad. It was also only $6, so I can skid this to the threads and not feel bad. Man is skidding ever fun!!