Tyres and Phone mount/heaphones

[VEA]

Morning all,

Not really related issues but the only issues that I had after getting off my bike yesterday.

Tyres:

I am still using the stock tyres that came on the bike (Specialised Rock Hopper Expert). I know. They are rubbish and I have had more punctures than I care to think about, so now is the time to replace them. However I am so out of touch that I don't know what to replace them with. 26" mixed usage, nothing too knobbly as I do ride it on the road quite a bit. I guess general trail use.


Phone mount/headphones:

HTC One X. Using it for Strava and music whilst on my cycles, currently I am using an arm band but it's not really easy to use when out if I want to check the time or change track. So do people use handlebar mounts? If you do, what do you do about headphones? I can't imagine I would be happy with them flapping around in front of me. Do you use bluetoothy ones?

Cheers!
VEA

[anonymous-user]

Maxxis Larsen TTs are great tyres in almost all conditions bar mud and gloop and are what I would go for, the High Roller is a bit more off road orientated comapred to the TTs but are worth a look and wont be too slow on road. The Panaracer Fire XC pro are very popular for lots of different terrain but do tend to wash out if you're cornering quickly on loose surface, the Kenda small blcok eight are probably the most road-friendly you can find that still offer some real off road grip. There are loads of tyre threads on singletrackworld which are worth a look.

[Gizmoish]

Tyres: pick some with a continous surface down the middle and they'll be fine on-road.

Headphones: no.

[tigger1]

Lose the headphones. Simples.

[VEA]

Is listening to music in one ear a faux pas?

Any recommendations on handlebar mount for the phone? Don't really want to splash out on a Garmin just yet...

[944fan]

Its not so much a faux pas as just being a bit dangerous. Even with one ear it is hard to hear cars coming, other bikes, sirens, people shouting at you because you don't pay road tax!! You need to keep your wits about you when riding and having music on will distract you.

Its up to you at the end of the day of course, but I wouldn't do it.

[WinstonWolf]

944fan said:

Its not so much a faux pas as just being a bit dangerous. Even with one ear it is hard to hear cars coming, other bikes, sirens, people shouting at you because you don't pay road tax!! You need to keep your wits about you when riding and having music on will distract you.

Its up to you at the end of the day of course, but I wouldn't do it.

I use budfits, they hold the earphones far enough out to let you hear background noise but you can still hear music the same as when you're driving

[VEA]

WinstonWolf said:

I use budfits, they hold the earphones far enough out to let you hear background noise but you can still hear music the same as when you're driving

Interesting, I'd not heard/seen these before. As a current owner do they fit buds other than Ipod ones? It says on the site that they are specifically for Ipod/phone ones...

[WinstonWolf]

VEA said:

WinstonWolf said:

I use budfits, they hold the earphones far enough out to let you hear background noise but you can still hear music the same as when you're driving

Interesting, I'd not heard/seen these before. As a current owner do they fit buds other than Ipod ones? It says on the site that they are specifically for Ipod/phone ones...

Probably just iDevices but the concept works There might be a similar thing for your phone...

[VEA]

WinstonWolf said:

Probably just iDevices but the concept works There might be a similar thing for your phone...

bd iDevices hogging all the good ideas. They won't fit the ones I have at the moment as they are proper plug into your ear type things. But would consider getting some crappy in ear ones to use.

Saying that, just found these which are pretty much the same thing.

http://goo.gl/AynJa
or
http://goo.gl/dgNwh9

As far as tyres go, I like the look of http://goo.gl/88WTeG, they seem to get good reviews and look to be a bit more durable than the ones I have on currently, I don't really need anything too road orientated as more time is definitely spent off road, and it does get very muddy around here so want something that is capable.

Question to the MTBers, Do you have 2 wheel set ups?

[bugeyewrx]

I've got one of these link phone holders. Seems pretty secure. The only time it's come adrift was when I knocked it off from below with my knee while coming off myself. Mine's for a Galaxy but they probably do ones for various phones.

Looks a bit rubbish clamped to the handle bars but does the job and definitely easier than fishing it out of the bag. Probably safer for the phone too... the only time I put my phone in my back pack recently I landed up on my back in a bush wondering if my phone was still ok

[anonymous-user]

VEA said:

Question to the MTBers, Do you have 2 wheel set ups?

yes, in fact i have a few set-ups that work for different conditions and surfaces but these are all off road set ups with very little road use intended. Stock item is a Maxxis Ignitor eXCeption series 62a compound up front because its just awesome and rear is a Maxxis Larsen TT, a Maxxis Ardent or a Racing Ralph.

To be fair though, they are all about £25-30 each so just try a few and see what best suits, there are always tyres for sale on singletrackworld where people have tried something and not liked it, often with loads of grip left and as they mostly cheap northerners they wont throw it in the garage and forget about it!!

[donfisher]

VEA said:

Any recommendations on handlebar mount for the phone? Don't really want to splash out on a Garmin just yet...

From experience you are just spending money bying stuff that you will no longer need when you do the inevitable and buy the Garmin (other GPS units are available). Especially if you're using Strava and the like.

[VEA]

donfisher said:

From experience you are just spending money buying stuff that you will no longer need when you do the inevitable and buy the Garmin (other GPS units are available). Especially if you're using Strava and the like.

This may well be the case, but I just can't justify the expense at the moment, house move, new car, all in the last 4 months. So it has to be the cheap solution if only for the moment.