Guest

Ok, it all started last Saturday- I was out doing a long ride, and in the process, I ran over some sharp objects. I stopped right away and checked my rear tire. Stupidly, I figured I got a lucky break, because the tire did not go flat.

Sunday morning, I got outside for my morning ride, and the tire was flat. I changed the tube and inserted a brand new inner tube- checked the tire after reinflating, and saw no problems. I went off and did a 55 mile ride that day.

Monday I was off riding, but Tuesday, I wanted to do the same 55 mile ride, so I started riding my early morning ride. I got through the first 35 miles fine, but somewhere in about the 36th mile, I got another flat in my rear tire. I quickly changed the tire, checked to make sure the tire wasn't going flat, then jumped back on and continued with my ride.

I'd barely gotten more than 3 miles, when I hit another flat. Doh! I figured this time what was happening was that there must have been a sharp object dislodged in my tire, and I hadn't been cleaning the tire to make sure the object was dislodged. I spent a couple of minutes with a washcloth wiping the inside of my tire, then checked the inside and saw nothing embedded. I had an old repaired inner tube, so rather than fix the other inner tube, I used the old repaired inner tube. I wrestled the tire back onto the rims, then as I was pumping, the valve broke on the inner tube! So I stripped the tire back off the rim, pulled out the inner tube that had the hole, found the new puncture and repaired it. Then I blew up the inner tube and made sure there were no more holes, then put the inner tube back in the tire, and got that tire back on the rim. I checked to make sure I wouldn't get a pinched tire, then reinflated the tire.

As it turns out, the beat wasn't seated correctly on the tire, so I limped home, feeling very irritated at that point. I took the tire off the bike when I got home, uninflated it, kneaded the tire all the way around to make sure it was set right, then reinflated the tire- I did this about 2 times before the bike felt like it was riding without that annoying wobble on my back wheel.

Today, I got to my bike, and before I could even get on, I checked the wheels as I always do, and the rear tire was flat as a pancake, AGAIN! With only 13 minutes to go before I needed to be at my club teaching my indoor cycling class, I decided to fix the flat when I got back from class, and I jumped a cab instead. When I got back, I take the tire off the rim again, and this time, I've got a hissing noise right by the valve! So I decided to just change the stupid inner tube, figuring it must be a cheapie inner tube. I changed the tube and got the tire back on the bike in a little less than 10 minutes, which is a record for me, but now, I can tell the bead still is not set on the rim correctly. I deflated, then re-inflated the tire over and over again, and after I'd reinflate, I'd take it for a quick ride around the block, and I'm still getting the wobble. I check the wheel, and it's got bumps, so I know the bead is not set somewhere, but every time I found the source of where the bead was offset and fixed it, it seemed like there was another part of the tire offset someplace else!

Anyway, long story, but now I'm at my other job, and I had to leave my bike downstairs, but I have the rear tire up here with me at my desk. My question is 1) How can you tell when you put the tire back on if you've set the beads correctly on the tire and 2) if the tire is not seated correctly on the rim, how do you correct the problem?

I hate riding with this problem- I'd rather skip my rides altogether until I can fix it rather than wobble my way through some really awesome rides- I can't even go fast!

Thanks,

Koffee