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Pedal...pedal...squish...squish........

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Pedal...pedal...squish...squish........

Old 07-25-06, 08:03 PM
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Pedal...pedal...squish...squish........

Last night I fitted my bike with a new 700 x 32 Michelin tire to replace the one I blew last week because I had the wrong brakes. It has a pressure rating of 59-87 PSI. The only tube I had left is a Specialized one rated for a 700 x 28 tire that I have been running at 110 PSI.

Today I fitted the new Shimano long reach brakes, in what is my biggest wrench job in twenty years, and think I did the job correctly. The brake pads are ridding about 2mm below the tire, and I know this because......it looks like the diagram, or at least the engrish version.

This evening I went for a neighborhood ride to test my work and......

PEDAL...PEDAL...SQUISH...SQUISH..... Actually I was about a half mile from the apartment when I had that sinking feeling.

So my questions are..........

Did I have the flat because I had a high pressure tube in a low pressure tire and it was underinflated?

Are the stock Bontrager rims too small for a 700 x 32 tire?

Am I just having a run of bad luck?

Is there something I am not considering?

Is it time to go to the store and buy a lottery ticket so I might be able to walk into a lbs and say....I'll take that group of pretty bikes over there?

Last edited by LastPlace; 07-25-06 at 08:20 PM.
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Old 07-25-06, 08:20 PM
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As I recall, several people in here suggested that you let the shop who recommended different brakes in the first place to actually do the brake job. Does that make more sense to you now?
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Old 07-25-06, 08:33 PM
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Before anything more drastic, including a promise never to wrench anything again, pull the tire and tube. Inflate the tube enough to find a puncture (the most sensitive part of your body to feel escaping air is your lips-- no need to pucker. And check around the valve stem too. Feel inside the tire for something pointy. Having ruled out an honest puncture or torn stem, you can move on to more exotic reasons. Most common use rims, like come on most common use bikes, should take a 32 no prob. Also, a tube that is marked for a 28 should also fit a 32 tire. When you spun your wheel, did you notice any rub? Can't imagine a minor brake pad rub would flat you in .5 miles.
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Old 07-25-06, 09:00 PM
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Here is a tip for when you replace the tire: Put the tire "label" near the tube's stem. Now when you find the puncture in the tube you can note its position relative to the stem and hence you will know where to check on the tire for some embedded "pointy thing", if it is till there. This has saved me in the past with some embedded glass that wouldn't poke all the way through on an unmounted tire (and hence hard to find by "feel"), but would have poked through when under load.
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Old 07-25-06, 09:16 PM
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Pedal...pedal.........

Big Paulie,

No offense meant, but thirty years ago I worked my way through college as an electricians helper and linemans helper. In my case I did the same work as my peers; I was just a college kid. I fondly remember being on utility poles 50' up hoping my 'hot' gloves didn't have a puncture which would have allowed high voltage to fry my skinny butt. The point is, I can fix a flat and I can install brakes. After all, only two things are rocket science. Building rockets and Formula 1 racing. Installing brakes is not on the list. The pads are not rubbing the tires.....now. I don't mean to be snitty but I won't learn to fix things if I always take the bike to the shop.


Cross Chain,

The hole in the tube is located at the stem, but on the backside, i.e. the side of the tube in contact with the tire, and the tires are not as thick as the Specialized that I took off, but there wasn't anything in the tire. As I said in the paragraph above, there is no rubbing now.


mollusk,

Good idea. The hole was on a seam so it may just be wear and tear, but I'm
probably going on a group ride tomorrow and even a short ride is a long walk home if it is more than just the average flat.


Big Paulie,

As I said I meant no offense.
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Old 07-25-06, 10:11 PM
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Originally Posted by LastPlace
So my questions are..........

Did I have the flat because I had a high pressure tube in a low pressure tire and it was underinflated?

I doubt that was the cause.

Are the stock Bontrager rims too small for a 700 x 32 tire?

They may be. What wheels are they, Select, Race, Race lite? Any of these probably are limited to about 700c X 28. Not sure, but check with your LBS or go to the Bontrager site to confirm.

Am I just having a run of bad luck?

I would think other elements might be involved such as a possible pinch during mounting, etc.

Is there something I am not considering?

Possibly the size of the tire on the rim as noted above. However, the real concern would be damage to the rim if the tire is too big for the rim.

Is it time to go to the store and buy a lottery ticket so I might be able to walk into a lbs and say....I'll take that group of pretty bikes over there?

[B]Not at all. Changing tires and tubes should be something every cyclist masters.[/B
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Old 07-26-06, 03:46 AM
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Sounds as if the tube was bad or ready to go bad. Keep up the wrenching. It's good for the soul. You can trust me on this.

My wife and daughter were away for 12 days and I tore apart my '66 Collegiate to restore. The only thing that was not dismattled were the spokes from the hub. This baby hadn't been serviced in 20+ years, if at ever. Most of the grease that was left was one step from asphalt. All the chrome was covered in rust. The original French Huret RD still needs an overhaul so I had to figure out how to mount a 26 year old Shimano and make it work with the French shifter. This was my Tour de France project. As Floyd Landis bonked in the Alps, I had rust dust flying in the TV room. (Don't tell Ms. PB!)

Last Place, you are in first place in many our minds for succeeding on your brake project. Look for a vintage bike to fully restore. The only thing you won't learn about are those new fangled brifters and indexed shifting.
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Old 07-26-06, 04:13 AM
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rim tape? just a thought...
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Old 07-26-06, 07:43 AM
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My motto is.....IF YOU KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT WORK ON IT ANYWAY.

Don't get discouraged. Go get the right size tube and just treat it like a flat. Check the tire, location of the existing hole in the tube, check the rim tape for bumps and tears.

Change the tube and fix the flat.

Check the brakes and try again.
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Old 07-26-06, 08:24 AM
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Originally Posted by LastPlace
Last night I fitted my bike with a new 700 x 32 Michelin tire to replace the one I blew last week because I had the wrong brakes. It has a pressure rating of 59-87 PSI. The only tube I had left is a Specialized one rated for a 700 x 28 tire that I have been running at 110 PSI.
You didn't say what pressure you had it at. I would have filled to 80psi, to allow for a tad of heat buildup. If running it above tire rating, you're asking for trouble. If it wasn't pressure, sounds like an old/bad tube. try, try again.
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Old 07-26-06, 04:00 PM
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Might as well throw another opinion in here, since we have a range....
What we're dealing with, I think, is known as a "coincidence.." I have 30 or so flats a year riding 2000-4000 miles (I used to note them in my training log, trying to find the most reliable tire), and most of them are unrelated to anything except luck and the huge thorns that lurk on the shoulders around here.
I apparently missed an earlier post, so I dunno what you mean about "wrong" brakes." Any brake problem that could cause a flat ought to be VERY obvious, though.
I buy two sizes of tubes only: 26x1.50 for mountain bikes and 700x28 for roadies. I use the road tubes in tires from 700x23 to 41 (on my singlespeed), and it's never caused a problem. They're rubber; they stretch. That's a non-factor in your flat, as is the pressure UNLESS it was so low you got a "snakebite" puncture (two holes where the rim pinches the tube).
I can't believe the rim is a factor, either. I weigh 240 and ride an Atlantis, which has room for huge tires. I've run every size tire I can fit on the bike on every rim I own, up to those 41s, and everything works. No problems ever in 8,000 or so miles (virtually all my flats are due to goathead thorns, which are everywhere in late summer and go through a Mr. Tuffy like it wasn't there).
As somebody else suggested, mount the tire with the label at the valve hole in the rim and see if you're getting punctures in the same place over and over. Then you can find the problem and fix it. At bottom, though, flat tires are a part of cycling.
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Old 07-30-06, 09:14 PM
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Pedal...Pedal...Squish...Squish...

I'm back.

Today I started out on a thirty mile ride and three miles out and...

Pedal...Pedal...Squish...Squish.... In almost the same place on the tube and at about the same place in terms of the road.

Since I was near a lbs I stopped in and the owner said there is almost no way that this tire (700 x 32) can be too large for the rim. Good news. The owner said I might have gotten some bad tubes.

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Now....

Pastorbob,

I will keep wrenching and thanks for those measurements of your Schwinn. Those are in part why I bought the Soma frame.

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buelito,

Seems fine but I will change it out tomorrow just for grins.

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HiYoSilver,

I ran the pressure at 80 PSI, just as I did today.

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Velo,

Thanks for the info regarding rims and tires.

The 'wrong brakes' is a reference to the fact that I had the components from a Trek 1200 put on a Soma frame and the lbs owner said that I needed long reach brakes and I tried to get by without buying long reach brakes. I have since installed Shimano long reach brakes which I got from Rivendell, which was $40-$60 less than anywhere else.

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Back to today. I will put in new rim tape in tomorrow and the lbs gave me a Specialized tube...for free...but I may go back to a Specialized 700 x 28 just to get back to something that has worked for 1500 miles.

It is almost two weeks since I have ridden regularly and I just want to get back to riding.

Thanks again for everything.
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