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Hello, I am new to the forum. My wife and I have ridden a Burley Tamburello for three years and changing flats was not much of an issue. We recently purchsed a Cannondale Road Tandem with disc brakes and had our first flat on this bike, it was the rear tire during our ride.
It was very difficult to remount the wheel and I was concerned about damaging the disc while the wheel was off of the bike.
I am wondering if an effective strategy in reducing flats would be to change my tubes from presta to schrader valves and fill the tires with Green Slime? How do others with disc brakes handle changing flats during their rides? Is there a trick to carefully laying the bike on its side so that paint and components aren't damaged? I would appreciate recommendations for tires that are flat resistant also.
Thanks for your help.
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What about liners?
I paid $17 per tire on my single bike for slime tubes and liners inside my tires to keep from getting
flats. So far, so good.
I did this after a flat at mile 57 of a 62miler (metric century ride with DH) and had to walk the bike the rest of the way. My pump decided at just that time that it no longer wanted to work!
The disc rotor should slip right back into the caliper so long as you put the chain back on the same rear sprocket it was on when you removed the wheel. If you're off by more than one sprocket the rotor (as well as your rear drop-outs) just don't line up. Rule of thumb is to drop the chain into the smallest rear sprocket whenever you remove your rear wheel as it makes remembering which cog you were in a no-brainer and it also gives you more slack in the chain which also makes rear wheel installation a bit easier. Just remember to have your stoker lift the rear of the tandem so that you can turn the cranks with your left hand while shifting the rear derailleur back into a larger sprocket with your right hand before remounting.
The disc rotors are pretty tough and, to be honest, I don't think I treat my disc equipped wheels any differently than I do my non-disc wheels.
As for preventing flats, make sure you have enough air pressure (there should no more than a slight bulge in the rear tire with both riders on the bike) to prevent pinch flats, which are some of the most common that you'll get on a tandem and with the rear wheel in particular. Otherwise, steer clear of debris and places where debris collects as the greater weight of a loaded tandem will tend to drive junk into the tire more readily than a single bike's tire. If you live in the Southwest and are plagued by thorns, etc... I'll let the "locals" weigh in with recommendations.
As for laying down your tandem, just remember to lay it on the left (non-derailleur) side and it should be fine. When the wheels are on, the bike will usually rest on the handlebars, pedals, and tires (sometimes the skewer) without any frame pieces touching the ground. If you lay it down on the derailleur-side there's a good chance the derailleur will contact the ground which is just bad form and can mis-align your chain on the the cassette, making a mess of your driveline when your stoker backpedals the cranks while getting on the bike.
Even if you have the front or rear wheel off for a flat repair you should be able to carefully lay your tandem (or any bike for that matter) down on it's left side without buggering up the finish so long as you don't lay it down on asphalt, gravel or any other abrasive surface (or where anyone is likely to step on the thing). I probably lay our tandems down at SAG stops as often as I prop them up and they have really nice custom paint jobs. Knock on wood, no marks to speak of from that practice.
Liners can actually cause flats. They cause more friction inside the tire, and can also pinch a tube between them and the tire. Tires with a built in flat protection layer are a much better option. They're usually lighter than a normal tire/liner combo, easier to deal with, and protect the tube better.
Most disc brakes are pretty sturdy and can handle being knocked around a little (key word being "a little"), but you don't want to touch them with your hands. The oils on your skin will hurt the brake's performance. With a little practice removing the wheel gets as easy as it ever has been.
If you lay the bike down carefully it shouldn't be an issue. Most of the time the bars and wheels keep the disc from hitting the ground. You could try laying the bike down with the pedals in the 6 o'clock position so only the pedals and bars touch.
The disc rotors are pretty tough and, to be honest, I don't think I treat my disc equipped wheels any differently than I do my non-disc wheels.
Have to agree with TandemGeek. Those rotors take a lot kicking to damage. Only problem I had was refitting the wheel on the back. Chainstays are a bit tight so I neeeded 3 hands to refit- two to spread the chainstays the 1mm required and another to align the rotor into the caliper, but with plenty of practice can now do it without help. I do not expect punctures but I have a thick plastic spacer that is the thickness of the rotor + a bit and goes between the pads when the wheel is out of the bike. Then if I accidentally apply the brake- the pads do not go in and stay in. In fact I have several as when I transport the Tandem- I have to take the wheels off and I can never find the spacer at the end of the ride.
Actually, a tandem is easier to do than a single bike because you always have an available helper.
I stand the bike upright and have my wife lift the rear of the bike up about 12" so that I can drip the rear wheel out the bottom. Reinstallation is the opposite - align the chain onto the smallest cog and lower the dropouts onto the axle. The brake disc pretty much aligns itself.
Wish I had disc brakes on our tandem; I do have them on my hybrid and have had no more trouble putting wheels on than on bikes with caliper brakes.
Thank you all for your helpful advice. I pump up the tires to 110 psi before every ride, I think we just picked up a thorn. Any thoughts on replacing Prestas valves with Schraders so I can add Slime, or should I just stay the course and accept that we're going to have flats occasionally?
Drilling out the valve hole on the rim isn't hard to do, just use a rat-tail file to smooth out the edges before putting the Schraders valve through the rim.
I used to line the inside of the tire with dollar bills, they are much lighter in weight than tire liner or SLIME but excellent in thorn resistance. On the single bike, I would not get a flat for the life of a tire. I have not gotten a flat on my tandem for 300 or so miles since March.
[QUOTE=cat0020]Drilling out the valve hole on the rim isn't hard to do, just use a rat-tail file to smooth out the edges before putting the Schraders valve through the rim.
QUOTE]
We did the above about 30 years ago on a single bike.... regreted it until we got rid of the wheels.
.... stay the course and accept that we're going to have flats occasionally?
Notwithstanding some unusual road conditions....
We did the above about 30 years ago on a single bike.... regreted it until we got rid of the wheels.
I was talking about expanding the presta valave hole to fit Schraders valve through, not drilling holes between every spoke on the rim. :roflmao:
Have tried tire liners, slime, x-tra thick tubes & even tested solid rubber tires for a company . . .
In our decades of tandeming we just stick to having plain old inner tubes even though we live in desert terrain with lotsa thorns, etc.
We do lay the bike down, der. side up when putting in another tube. Fix the punctured tube when we get home.
Don't get upset when you get a flat . . . just fix it and be on the way . . . TWOgether!
Pedal on!
Rudyand Kay/zonatandem
Thank you all for your helpful advice. I pump up the tires to 110 psi before every ride, I think we just picked up a thorn. Any thoughts on replacing Prestas valves with Schraders so I can add Slime, or should I just stay the course and accept that we're going to have flats occasionally?
There is no advantage to going Schraeder. My only experience with slime was not good and it was not on my bike. One of my friends had it and after a few months he got a puncture. I took the tyre off and all those tiny little holes and leaks he had received had caused the slime to stick the tube to the tyre and it was not possible to fit a tube to repair the puncture. Slime may work- but caused me a major problem and the owner a new tyre. He was riding on a gravel path that was noted for causing punctures from thorns so that was why he got the slime. I advised him to get a tyre with a Kevalr Puncture resistant belt and no more punctures for a year.
Schraeder valves do not hold extreme pressure readily. That is what a presta is for and as it is a road wheel-700C? are schraeders readily available in a quality tube?
Not 700c- as I run 26" wheels on the Tandem- but I got hold of some thick latex tubes. These seem to work very well with the "in and out" thorns as they semi-seal a small hole. The tyre will still go down- but that generaly happens in the Bike shed about 24 hours later.
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