First Ride Clyde!
 

I just got home this afternoon from the bike shop with my new bike, after 5 years without even sitting on one! I took it right out for my first ride. It was also my first time ever with clipless pedal, but I immediately got the hang of them and felt the benefit.

Unfortunately I got a flat (through the "tuffie" inner tube, no less) just 6 or so miles into the ride, and I had to push it home, but I dont care! It was a blast!

Tomorrow morning I am off to the bike shop to get a new inner tube (and maybe some road tires, i am digging the speed on the road!) and will be testing a route to work from home, to see if the occasional commute to work is feasable/safe (Miami is very unsafe for bikes).

This will help you plan routes. :D http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx

Welcome aboard......it's a great feeling getting out there, isn't it?

Wow - Good for you! I am still in massive fear of the first flat. I have the bike tube repair kit, spare tbe, watched the video, watched someone else fix the flat and still worry what will happen when I get the flat. How did you walk home in your new shoes?

VERY slowly!

I am going to get a little bag to carry a spare as well as some tools so I dont get stranded again.

Do you know where the hole in the flat is? If it's on the inside circumference, could be you need rim strip/tape. If it's the outside, then yeah, a thorn or glass.

Stock tires don't cut it. What kind of bike?

Might also be low air pressure. You probably want to inflate to the max printed on the sidewall of the tire. You should also practice replacing a tube once or twice in the garage before you have to fix it on the side of the road in the rain. :)

It was actually a sheet metal screw that dug straight into the front tire. Plain old bad luck.

Also, it is a Gary Fisher Kaitai.

So should I go ahead and buy better tires while Im at it?

Well, if you were violated by a sheet metal screw, I would at least replace the victim tire. There is probably no real need to replace the other tire until it wears out or is damaged. Get whatever use you can out of it unless you get a good deal on a replacement set. It can at least serve as a spare in waiting.

One nice walk of shame, and the necessity and economics of a seat bag with a couple of tools and patch kit/spare tube becomes rather basic huh? Fear not, it's happend to the best of us from time to time.

yeah. I was kind of proud that I never fell off the bike on account of the clipless pedals, though!

Some hazards can be avoided with better tires some can't. What I suggest you do, is find a construction site where they are wrapping a house, and ask the guy for a couple of scrap pieces of house wrap, it's made from Tyvek - a special plastic, that is water proof but not air proof, thin like paper but you can't tear it. Floppy disc sleeves were often made of it, although CD sleeves are more often paper. Tyvek, is very strong, cut a couple of pieces about 10cm x 5cm (4" x 2") and curl them up, and put them in a Pannier or saddle bag, when you get a larger hole in a tire, where the tube itself would poke through, you put one of these pieces inside the tire, as a boot it works very well. Always keep a spare tube and pump on your bike, I would rather fix a flat, then do a walk of shame......

Ok, so today went far worse.

Went to the bike shop. Bought the tubes along with a few other things. I also decided to get some continental 700x24 road tires. Went home and installed them.

I head out, this time ready with a spare tube, pry tools and a bike mounted pump. Good thing, too, because about 3 miles out I get a flat. "great," I think, and figure to trash my ride plans and ride to the shop for another spare.

I didint make it. About a mile from the shop I blew the rear tire AGAIN. Yet another walk of shame, but this time to the shop. They are in disbelief at my story, and from how the tube blew they suggest that maybe the rim liner was catching it. So they reline it with some better-than-stock stuff, change the tube, and I am off, this time with two spares.

I get a mile out, and it blows again. I walk it back (the blisters on my feet from the clipless shoes will be humming tomorrow!). Now they are really baffles, and think maybe the tubes were a bad batch. So they swap the tube for a different brand, as well as swapping the spares (btw the are being EXTEMELY helpful, and not charging for anything at the point).

I make it about a half mile, and bam. Another flat. In case you lost count, that is now four flats (five for my first two rides on my new bike).

I take it back, and they are really very concerned for me. Now one of the more experienced techs pulls the liner off, and notes that the spoke holes are offset on this rim, so this time he installs the liner offset as well. He installs a new tube, and, even though there is no apparent issue with the tire, installs a new tire (still all at not charge).

I took it for a ride around the block a few times, but did not dare rind it home (about 5-6 miles away) and had already called to be picked up. They suggest I ride around the house tomorrow for a while, before planning any long trips, to see if the problem is solved.

The day SUCKED, but I am happy that I found such a great bike shop. I now know where all of my bike buisness will be going.

For those in Miami that might be interested, it is called the Coral Way Bike Shop. The guys are great!


4 FREAKIN FLATS!!!!! [/vent]

Practice changing both tires and tubes at home.
Much Much easier when you know how.
You can't see the fire ants I am sitting on.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...roppedFlat.jpg

You do have a Great Bike Shop.
I ride with a group. The record Flats for one rider one day is SIX. We carry 3 spare tubes and one spare tire..
Plus patch kits.

OUCH! That's BRUTAL. On a recent ride, one of our ride partners had so many flats that we literally lost count, and ran out of tubes. I think the tube count was four or five, and probably three patch jobs. We're pretty sure he found every goathead on the trail that day - and he was riding MTB tires!

A week later on the same trail and he did fine, it just really depends on the day. Keep with it, that's gotta be frustrating!!

Well, look on the bright side. You have found an LBS to call home.

Hope you guys get it figured out, and try not to get too frustrated with the bike. (He writes as the OP realizes he's pushed his bike further than he's gotten to ride it yet....)

First, welcome to the forum.

I went two years without a flat and then had four in two rides. Go figure.

Be sure to patronize your shop as often as possible. Sounds like you've found one of the really good ones out there and it would be nice to help them keep their doors open.

Ride safe,
Keith

I will, but they dont need my help. The owner was telling me that the shop is the oldest in Miami, having been open since 1942.

hey guys, do you think it is my weight that makes the tires keep blowing? I asked the folks at the bike shop, and they swore up and down that the tires/inner tubes can handle me with no problem, but still I wonder.

I weigh 300#, btw.

I used to keep getting mystery flats, until I switched out the stock Continental Ultrasports for some Gatorskins. I found the Gatorskins a lot easier to mount than the Ultrasports, and I hardly get flats anymore (and the few times I have, it's been obvious what has caused them).

Essentially it's simple math, if the contact patch of a tire is 1 square inch, and the load on it is 200lbs, then it needs 200PSI to maintain that contact patch, otherwise, the tire will flatten out, until it gets to the point where the size of the contact patch is large enough, that the pressure can hold the load. If this requires that the tire flatten out too much, then it can pinch the tube between the tire and rim, resulting in a pinch flat. The solution is either a higher pressure or a tire that is designed for a larger contact patch (a wider tire), but the same pressure. This is why narrower tires tend to have higher pressure ratings. This is also why touring bikes tend to take wide tires, and racing bikes narrow tires. Mountain bike tires are wide, because the lower pressure needed, tends to mean more grip on loose or wet surfaces. In theory this means you can run your front tire at a lower pressure then your rear tire, because the rear tire holds more of the load.

Dang, thats an interesting point.

YAY!!!!!

12 miles with NO FLATS today!!!!!

Apparently what the shop did worked!

Awesome! Congrats on sticking with it and having a positive attitude through all those flats!

Sounds like it's been solved, but no, that shouldn't be the case as long as you're keeping them suitably full of air.

I'm riding on 28mm conti sport contacts at 365 lbs and I've had just one flat caused by a sharp bit of rock in over 250 miles. They're rated up to 105psi, and I tend to keep them topped up to 100psi a couple of times a week.