Ask Dr. Wally
Dear Dr. Wally
My auto mechanic filled my tires with 100% nitrogen, claiming that the tires lose pressure more slowly and that gives better mileage. Should I do the same with my bicycle tires?
Curious in Coweta
Dear Curious
Do not fill your tires with nitrogen! Straight, 100% nitrogen is a poison! Instead, go to your local bike shop and ask for imported air. The hipsters are using Fiji air, but that's merely a fad. Better products are available from France and Italy, where fresh air is collected from some of the famous mountain stages in the Tour de France and the Giro. This makes your bike more than 10% faster, so bike shops employees often want to keep it for their own use. Go to your local shop and insist on imported air.
Don't let them bait-and-switch you into accepting any of those cheap CO2 cartridges, either. They're full of stale CO2 from New Jersey and they often infect your tires with Vittoria beetles.
Dr. Wally
My auto mechanic filled my tires with 100% nitrogen, claiming that the tires lose pressure more slowly and that gives better mileage. Should I do the same with my bicycle tires?
Curious in Coweta
Dear Curious
Do not fill your tires with nitrogen! Straight, 100% nitrogen is a poison! Instead, go to your local bike shop and ask for imported air. The hipsters are using Fiji air, but that's merely a fad. Better products are available from France and Italy, where fresh air is collected from some of the famous mountain stages in the Tour de France and the Giro. This makes your bike more than 10% faster, so bike shops employees often want to keep it for their own use. Go to your local shop and insist on imported air.
Don't let them bait-and-switch you into accepting any of those cheap CO2 cartridges, either. They're full of stale CO2 from New Jersey and they often infect your tires with Vittoria beetles.
Dr. Wally
Labels: bicycling humor, Wally Crankset
posted by Ed W at 9:00 AM
4 Comments:
The mountain air is key. Air is significantly less dense at altitude, so you can save as much as 30 or 40 grams per tire.
I wish I'd thought of that!
LOL! And the cat post was good, too. (Stumbled on your blog via "next blog").
When I first moved to Minnesota 4 yrs ago, I totally believed them when they said I had to go get winter air in my tires. Fortunately, I asked a person with no sense of humor before I made it to the tire shop to ask for my "winter air".
Lynne, I had my daughter going on the subject of blinker fluid and dry water (used in windshield washers). She is somewhat skeptical of anything I tell her. Imagine that.
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