General Cycling Discussion - Blowout On My New Bike

I'm really torqued off today. I was riding my new MTB for the second time and got a blowout on the rear tire crossing a 2 mile bridge across the local lake. I was able to boot it using a discarded fast food cup and limp home but the tire is ruined.

This bridge was just recently built and has a very nice bike lane which is physically separated from the main road. The only problem is that the drivers seem to think that the bike lane is a glass recycling collection center and toss their empty beer bottles into my lane.

I've been across that bridge about 20 times with no problem on my hybrid. whether it's the Specialized Armadillo tires or just good luck, I've not had a flat before today. This was my first crossing on the MTB.

Already got new tires ordered from Specialized. I just wish these idiots would toss their empties into their own lane!

Im not a mountain bike rider but here in AZ, right by Phoenix the glass is terrible. I went for a good ride today, just under 30 miles and the amount of glass in the bike lanes is sickening. Im so tired of have to swerve all around. Half the time I just have to hope for the best because there is traffic on one side of me and a curb on the other and I cant go anywhere. I wish I could find out who threw it all and then go to their house and break a bunch of glass in their driveway or put some glass under their tires...sure that might not sound legal but it would give me some satisfaction!

I've also noticed that there's something about bridges. They always seem to accumulate more glass. Why is that?

RichC

A few reasons:

- More wind on such an open space.

- They have a closed side. The older design with open railings kept much cleaner than the new design with concrete walls. Worst are bridges with separate bikeways, because it sometimes mean two walls to accumulate dirt, grit and other bad stuff.

- Less maintenance. Streets are cleaned weekly or every second week by city sweepers. Roads don't need a lot of cleaning because cars drive faster and they have open sides. Important bridges are usually of provincial jurisdiction(federal over waterways) and are sweeped yearly.

As for people throwing glass containers, around here I would definitely find that there are more pedestrians and even cyclists at fault, because the worst bridges are those where it would be impossible to throw something from a car. And in places like the South U.S. where fishing from bridges seem a very popular activity, I wonder if there is more glass lying around.

Regards,

Same thing happened to my wife the first time out on her new bike last summer. We only got about 5 miles out and she ran over some glass and killed a tire. Stinks!!!

Did you get a flat with Armadillo's? Or were they on another bike?

If its a MTB I would try Stans No Tubes It works Great no more Flats and It liter than tubes

good thing I live in Toronto, there's no bridge that crosses a river, so nothing to worry about broken glass.,

Originally posted by georgesnatcher
Did you get a flat with Armadillo's? Or were they on another bike?

My flat was on a rear Kenda Koyote that was stock on the bike. By the end of the week, I'll be riding on Armadillo Hemispheres. Until then, I got a POS spare from Wally World. I'll just stay off the bridge with this bike until my new tires arrive.