Sunday, 8 January 2012

Retro road cycling: Time Trial - Ole Ritter - 1973 Giro d'Italia

I love this Video! No fancy soundtrack or gimmicks,just good narration and cycling. I like the bit at the beginning when the the cyclists are clearly telling the camera man to get out the way.

Friday, 6 January 2012

Continental Touring plus tyres 700c x 32mm

Now we are fully into winter and roads are getting more hazardous I decided I needed some new tyres on my commuting/touring bike. I replaced the old rear continental touring contact 32mm and front Deli tyre 28mm tyre with a pair of Continental Touring plus 700c x 28mm tyres. They set me back about £25 each. They have reflective side walls which is great. I should be much more visible to cars approaching me at junctions. I went for 32mm widths as I think it is a good balance between keeping the rolling resistance to a minimum, but keeping the ride smooth. 

Continental Touring plus tyres 700c x 32mm with reflective side walls


One of the tyres was a bit tricky to fit. I broke two plastic tyre levers in the process! Luckily the second one was easy. I bought some plastic rim tape from Halfords to replace the old tape, it was probably over 10 years old. It did not really fit the inside of the rims very well, but it does the job. 

Continental Touring plus tyres 700c x 32mm tread


The tread on the tyres looks good and I think the tyres look great on the bike too. I need to ride them in and hopefully I will be puncture free for a long time. I never really get punctures anyway, but these tyres should lower the risk due to a protective layer on the inside. Well so far I'm very pleased with them. Time will tell though as the miles go by.

Continental Touring plus tyres 700c x 32mm on the Peugeot touring bike