Calculate Watts, Cafe Locks & C02 Flats | GCN Tech Clinic

Let's get real nerdy! Drop your bike tech questions in the comments and remember to use #askgcntech 💬

I think the zip tie locks are good because it stops an opportunist thief jumping on your bike and riding off with it whilst you are inside ordering a coffee. If you are in a group fine, no lock needed as someone can stay outside but as a solo cyclist I think a light lock definitely has it's place.

I was washing my bike in the shower, but my partner wasn't a fan of it. So I bought a 2 gallon (7.68l) pesticide bottle that has a pump and hose. Fill it with water, and I take it down to the street and can spray the bike off, soap it up, and then rinse it off at the end

Re. cafés and locks: I leave my bicycle in sight and clip my helmet strap across the wheel spokes -- which would slow down a grab-and-run attempt long enough for me to catch up with it.

I'm not doctor Ollie - but I am a chemical engineer :) . I had the understanding that CO2 permeation on butyl/latex is not a matter of particle size but of chemical solubility - CO2 dissolves better on a carbon polymer than nitrogen/oxygen. Junius David Edwards & S. F. Pickering. "Permeability of Rubber to Gases". Scientific Papers of the Bureau of Standards. 1920 (!) And yeah, CO2 is practical for inflating things because you can get away with a relatively low pressure container that can inflate practical things - it is easy to condense. There are small containers that carry high pressure air (e.g. backup SCUBA tanks) but they are very heavy because they are rated to 3000 PSI which requires a much thicker wall and present much higher risks if breached so are much less attractive for bicycle use.

Speaking of bike-friendly cafes, a few that I have visited have a little bucket of locks that you can borrow.

For the lock question: best thing we can do is to ask for businesses to have a dedicated safe bike park in every chance we have...only when businesses understand that safe bike parking means more clients they'll invest on it. Also, tip for the washing question: If you can't use the shower for whatever reason, you can use a big manual pump spray bottle to wash the bike and a collapsible bucket for the water refil and do it in the parking lot.

Something to add…CO2 can react with some sealants and solidify within the tire if left in there. I’ve always recommended that you vent the CO2 out when you get home and replace with air.

Seeing Ollie take temporary custody of a Canyon Aeroad and a Pinarello in recent weeks has given me an idea for a series of GCN videos. Rather like the “Our Cars” features in motoring magazines, how about featuring each presenter in turn showcasing their bike collections. I’m sure there would be an interesting mixture of old bikes from their racing days, practical ‘beaters’ and the bikes that are loaned by manufacturers?

Washing tip: hand spayer for window sill flowers. You really don't need more than a liter of water for a full cleanup

Hot tip: Buy a Knog Scout as a bike tracker & alarm. Loud enough to deter bike thieves. And double down with an Airtag in your saddle bag or a stealth Airtag holder mount.

I have a lot of peace of mind by always carrying a cable lock wrapped around the seatpost that lives on each bike. I use it whenever I go into a shop whether its for 3 minutes or an hour+. Without locking it up, it only takes a jerk 5 seconds to ruin your life for weeks.

Move to Thailand. I visit cafes during my 90 km/day rides and leave my bike outside with no lock. But then Thailand has a reputation for tough jails, Buddhism (which discourages materialism) and is, by far, the safest country of the 68 to which I've been.

It was so nice to see Jon's cameo on GCN Tech!

For when we plan on going for a walk away from the bike, I'll take along a small cable lock of reasonable strength, and long enough to stretch around 3 of our bikes. When not in use, it coils up, and it fits in a medium-sized saddle bag, or can easily coil around the seat post (at a small aero penalty). No it won't stop someone from spending a while to decode it or a pair of bolt cutters, but it will stop the strongest yank or any smaller cable cutters.

Love the dramatic re-enactment in the b -roll 😂

9:24 Best thing I bought is a low-pressure cleaner like the Kärcher OC3. Runs on rechargeable battery and has a tank for water. Even better, you can fill it up with warm water. No damage to your bearings, but has enough pressure to get off the dirt even without soap. Chain is clean within 1 minute (soaked with biodegradable cleaner). Easiest, quickest bike cleaning ever.

Possible alternative to a lock I’ve tried recently is the Knog Scout Bike Finder & Alarm - super light and thin and slots in between your frame and bottle cage. When you ‘arm’ it from your phone it plays a decent alarm upon any movement, perfect for nipping into a cafe - also can track it from your phone too.

To me, bike theft is a crime of opportunity, just like with my snowboards at the resort,.The idea is to make it unconvenient or bothersome to grab the bike/board and run with it. The locking solutions don't have to be 100% theftproof, as long as they make it unconvienient and make the thief waste the few precious seconds he needs to grab my equipment unnoticed...

#askgcntech I think you will find that many riders, based on personal experience disagree with your assertion that CO2 doesn't bleed faster then air. Here's an opportunity for GCN for have some new content. Do an experiment filling several wheels and tires with CO2, use different types of tubes and tubeless. And then fill matching wheels and tires with air and test the pressure each day for a week to see if the CO2 wheels do in fact bleed faster then air filled wheels. It's great when GCN does these objective experiments to prove or disprove what people believe, just like you did for if shaved legs improve your performance. #gcndoesscience.