Against the tyranny of tubes, Stan’s and Big Oil!

my day had actually nothing whatsoever to do against Big Oil, other than I am still feel flush from buying my rack. And the righteous anger sounds good. And I would revolt against Big Oil if it were possible, and fully expect a drunken diatribe against Big Oil before the day is done! Here goes…be back in a sec…

much better now.

i have finally purchased myself an air compressor. along with cheap mold builder to make sealant, cheap strapping tape and pipe tape to make rim strips, and old valve stems to make ghetto tubeless valves, I have cheaply taken back my tires! Hard to believe that Stan’s charges $60 for their kit for 2 tires, when for $17 of mold builder and tape and old tubes you can do 25 tires. Some presta tubes now have their own removable valve cores too. The compressor brings it all together, and makes it simply a task in the ManCave and not a giant risky sweaty proposition that could leave me exhausted and my tires flat and my garage floor looking like the set from a porn movie.

Stan’s, basically, is a scam. That’s not quite fair to say, as they do offer a turnkey convenient solution. But they do not match it in value. Maybe it was ok when they were the first on the market, but now that so many other people are offering rim strips and ghetto knowledge – the Power has returned to the Streets mothafugga!!! i’m particularly pissed at Stan’s now after they charged me $12 to ship a 4oz package. Here’s how that played out: my rimstrips both tore at the valve core through normal wear, i called Stan’s and politely asked if that was normal, they offered me 2 new ones at half price $11 each. That is not a bad deal for pre-made strips, so i said hey thanks, feeling much better about them. Then they charged me $12 to ship UPS ground, which is the same time as the $5 for USPS Priority Mail – its not that the money is that big a deal, its that they were ebaying me after trying to retain me as a customer, cuz i ship UPS too and it aint $12 with a corporate discount!!!

Many people talk about less rolling resistance and more touch on the trails due to tubeless tires, but its been really hard for me to put a finger on that. But on my ride Thursday, i had tubes in both tires for the first time in a long time, and i felt the absence of those benefits very acutely. The Heckler simply felt sluggish and less nimble, and a few times i was coming closer to washing out than i’m used to. I spilled on National near Telegraph Pass on what should have been relatively straightfoward riding, fortunately with no ill-effects other than a heightened sense of what i was missing.

My ride had a lot more shit going on than the tires. My chain exploded 5 yards into the climb up 24th St., and the only mechanic to blame was myself. I spent the next 20 minutes fixing it on a bench in the parking lot, and got to listen to a family across the street with a child maybe a bit younger than G playing in the pool. They were singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and all the other goofy shit and sayings, and i wanted to put the chain tool through my skull like the stungun in No Country for Old Men. Whew! It was rewarding to know that i do still hate children, other than my own. My brakes were fugged up too, and apparently need to be bled, but i still managed to climb 24th and out to Telegraph and a few trials i am new too and progressing upon.

Viva La Revolucion!