Whiplash and The Tank

Whiplash?

After reaching 29,000 miles on The Tank, my Surly CrossCheck, the other day, I switched to riding Little Nellie, my Bike Friday New World Tourist. As expected the switch from a drop handlebar bike to a more upright riding position made my neck feel better.

It’s been a puzzle as to why my neck has been so sore recently. It occurred to me that maybe I have whiplash. Back in late October I was stopped at a traffic light aboard Big Nellie, my Easy Racers Tour Easy recumbent. The driver of an SUV rear-ended me. He didn’t hit me hard but I didn’t see the impact coming so I wasn’t braced for it. My recumbent does not have a head rest. I am wondering if my neck snapped backward.

A couple of days later I switched to riding The Tank and now I wonder if the impact and the switch to drop bars gave me whiplash. In any case, my neck soreness is slowly going away. I am hoping that in a couple of weeks it’ll be a thing of the past.

Should I Modify The Tank?

The neck thing reminds me that I haven’t been super happy with The Tank recently so maybe it is time for some tweaking. My first thought is to put it on a diet. The bike was sold with cheap, lightweight Kenda tires. I loved the way the bike felt when I test rode it but when one of the tires failed in the first year I decided to put some heavier, more durable Schwalbe tires on the bike. The bike has a compact double drivetrain. The combination of the higher gearing on the drivetrain and the heavy tires may be what is souring me on the ride quality of the bike.

As a first step to remedy this issue, I ordered a couple of Panaracer tires, the kind that I used on Big Nellie for many years. They weigh about half as much as the Schwalbes. Of course, the weight savings comes at a price. The sidewalls are not as stout which sometimes results in blowouts as the rubber ages. I’ll have to keep an eye out for small gaps in the sidewalls as they age. Also, Panaracer tires don’t have a thick rubber tread so I can expect them to last less than half as long as Schwalbes.

After 29,000 miles, I expect The Tank’s rims to meet their maker soon. I could replace the stock Mavic rims with stronger, lighter weight Velocity Dyad rims. The Dyads work really well on both Big Nellie and The Mule.

If the tires and rims help, I will consider swapping The Tank’s drop bars for flat bars, as I did with Little Nellie. My guess is that this will cost $200 or so.