KD5NRH

Not exactly what you'd expect, though. Spotted this last night because my helmet light picked up the sidewall stripe and highlighted the wobble in it for me:



Since the local WalMart doesn't have any 700C tires in stock anymore, and the closest well stocked bike shop is 35 miles away, I'm stuck with potentially a week of waiting, but better to order them this morning than to find out when the tire fails and then have to order and wait from that point.

For the CST haters, these Corporals have been on the bike since 2011. Unfortunately, couldn't find any 28s in stock, so I'm going with Panaracer Urban Tour. Should be interesting to see how they compare. Guess I should grab a couple spares, though the front CST is still good for a few hundred miles as a spare.

And yes, for the nitpickers, new brake pads should be in today or tomorrow, so I'll even up that wear on the brake tracks.

BobbyG

Yikes! Fortunate catch! (Hey, wait...you just posted a photo of your bulge.)

DiabloScott

This is why I have a spare set of wheels with tires mounted on them. Broken spoke, shredded tire, cracked rim... none will make me miss a commute.

KD5NRH

In the plans. Just need to find my notes on what spoke sizes the wheels that were bent when I got hit take, then rebuild them. Even though I went from a 13-28t freewheel to a freehub with 11-28t cassette, it only took about a half turn on the adjuster and a couple tweaks on the limit stops to get it shifting just right, so going back shouldn't even take as long as patching a flat.

Guess I could even get fancy and buy a new hub for the rear to rebuild it with another of the same cassette, but I suspect just the variation in normal consumer grade parts is nearly as much as what I already have.

a1penguin

I don't have spare wheels, but spare tires and tubes are good to have if you don't live somewhere close to a bike shop. And you can buy on sale and save some $. If you don't live close to a bike shop, spare wheels would be a good thing to have.

TaintedRide

That's a really good idea on the spare wheels, never would have thought of that. I commute over 200 miles a week a broken wheel would really mess things up.

KD5NRH

The original plan was to watch for a cheap wheelset matching the current ones on eBay, until I stripped down one of the old bent Bontragers, and realized the rim doesn't look any worse than several I've built up before, and they all trued right up. Thus, I suspect it was mainly spoke damage that made it impossible to get them fully true after the wreck, and I doubt I'll find a wheelset cheaper than a couple packs of Wheelsmith spokes and a new box of nipples.

Plus, I should be able to swap wheels (assuming a flat discovered before the commute starts in the morning, which I'd guess is about 75% of my flats) faster than removing a wheel, patching or replacing its tube and putting it back on, which means less rushing to try to get back on schedule in the morning, and a leisurely patch job when I get home.

DiabloScott

I also have other bikes I could ride in a pinch, but not with a rack, lights, and fenders.

When I broke a spoke on the way IN to work one day, and rode it home with the brakes open, I made my plan. Bike shops are closed when I'm off work so I drove in the next day and went to the LBS at lunch, bought a pre-built pair and some spokes, and rode to work the next day. Rebuilt my wheel with the broken spoke the next weekend - no rush.

New wheels are a little thinner, work better with fast tires; old wheels work better with my 37mm winter tires, so I plan to rotate them seasonally as well.

BobbyG

Those are the fenders of an all-weather commuter!

KD5NRH

I have the same ones, but haven't gotten around to mud flaps yet. On the list, though. I do have red reflective tape on the bottom 4-6" of the back one and yellow on the front, though.

BobbyG

My two rear fenders: