Commuting - Had my first blowout :(

I've had plenty of flats but never one of these.

So here I was racing to work going up an overpass (that goes over I-85 on the northeast side of Atlanta) and POW !!!

Kinda scary since this was my first time.

Luckily it was the rear tire. It seems I ran over what looked like a roofing nail (tack?). Made a nice hole in the tire too so I had to do a temporary tire repair before replacing the tube.

Now I have no spare for the ride home. :eek:

Guess I'll hit the LBS tonight for a new tube and I think I'll splurge and get two new tires. :beer:

although not many people here at my office commute by bike despite how easy it is here, i share my office with 2 people and BOTH are part-time commuters - which is really nice.

anyway, i was quite surprised today: one of the guys had a flat on the way to work and had to call a coworker to pick him up, and his comment was "that bike's only 2 months old. i just don't see why i got a flat." then he explained that he had had slow-leak flats in years before but this time "the air went out really fast"

anyway, he had no patch kit (and didn't know what one was) and no pump, so i fixed the tube for him. i examined it and there was no sign of an external puncture and on the side of the tube there was a fold-mark with a mid-size horizontal slice in the long direction of the tube - so looks like a snake-bite proabably caused by the combination of too little air pressure and/or hitting a curb or pothole. he had no idea this could cause a flat and was adament that he had had enough air and had not run over anything

anyway, i was glad to help and it's good that he's trying to commute, but it also baffles me that such a smart guy can be so clueless about bicycles

Originally posted by nathank

anyway, i was glad to help and it's good that he's trying to commute, but it also baffles me that such a smart guy can be so clueless about bicycles

Sometimes the "bicycles are toys" mentality extends even to people who use them, I guess.

RichC

Originally posted by nathank
... but it also baffles me that such a smart guy can be so clueless about bicycles

I run acroos these kind of "cyclists" quite often. Some are commuters, some are weekend recreational riders.
They head out with no pump, patch kit, tools, etc. Only a smile and maybe a cell phone.

I too have stopped to help these poor lost souls. While repairing their tube I try to impart a little wisdom about carrying a spare tube, patch kit, pump, etc. Hope they were listening.

And maybe they have the "bicycles are toys" mentality Rich mentioned. :(

I would like to say at this point that I have had just one flat in the last 13,000km (i.e. since October). Is there anyone else who can make that claim?

Originally posted by Chris L
I would like to say at this point that I have had just one flat in the last 13,000km (i.e. since October). Is there anyone else who can make that claim?

I would like to state, for the record, that I have had just one flat in the last 18 hours. Thank you.

Originally posted by Chris L
I would like to say at this point that I have had just one flat in the last 13,000km (i.e. since October). Is there anyone else who can make that claim?

OK Chris, you've tempted the fates now. Your next flat will be coming up very soon. ;)

Ya know, you say your co-worker's only had his bike two months...maybe that's why he doesn't know anythign about bike maintenance.

Sorta amazes me the things non-bikers think....my brother was checking out all the stuff I have in my commuting panniers, and when he saw the spare tube and pump, he went, "Yeah, right, like you're going to fix a flat bike tire at the side of the road!"

Of course the only response was, "Yeah, right, like I'm going to push my bike 10 miles home to fix it in the garage." :D

Chris, I can't believe you would put that kind of hex on yourself. You'll probably have one flat per ride for the next four months and you won't even know why. NEVER, NEVER tempt the gods of infamy; you'll learn to regret it.


;)

My last flat was pathetic.

I pumped my tire too violently and got a leak around the valve stem. But that was not my last flat.

My last flat happened when I bought two new tubes to replace the first flat, then proceeded to flat the new tube around the valve stem.

Good thing I bought two. I was ashamed to go back into the store!

:angel:

Originally posted by ljbike
Chris, I can't believe you would put that kind of hex on yourself. You'll probably have one flat per ride for the next four months and you won't even know why. NEVER, NEVER tempt the gods of infamy; you'll learn to regret it.


They did me over in 2001. I had a shocking run with flats and other breakages for most of the year. However, they failed to stop me, and I think I've demoralised them, so I'm going to gloat about it.

Thanks to this post, I got a flat today.

I read this post earlier in the day and decided I would not respond and say that I hadn't had a flat in over a year.

I'm out for a small ride (1 hour or so) and I'm going through some small bushes and stuff and BAM.

All I did was read the thing. You guys may think it's bad luck to talk about it (like in basketball when someone talks about your freethrows; you always miss). Well apparently I can't even read anything about it.