Little Darwin

I didn't know where else to post this, so I thought I would put it here in 50+ where anything goes...

I am sitting here browsing through the forums with the baseball game in the background. All is well in the Little Darwin living room until I suddenly hear a hissing sound. It gets louder for a few seconds and I turn around to look. So does the cat.

My rear tire decided it would go flat. I haven't touched the bike since I brought it into the house Sunday afternoon... over 48 hours ago.

I got up to see what was going on, and I narrow the sound down to the rear tire, and it is blowing out around the stem. I haven't done a post-mortem yet, but I know what I will find.

About 2 years ago the same thing happened to both tires individually, a few weeks apart after I switched to narrower higher pressure tires (26 x 1.5"). I switched to thorn resistant tubes , since I had also had one thorn related flat before the other strange ones... and I notied that the thorn resistant tubes were also thicker on the inside. The leaks on both the front and rear were near the stem, and over a spoke head...

Now I need to look closer for sharp edges, and go with rim tape instead of the rubber strip...

I thought I would take this opportunity to bore you with my evening events.

Digital Gee

You left out one thing. What's the score of the game?

ScrubJ

Flat tire gnomes?

Grampy™

The cat did it.....

scottogo

The score is tired.

Nermal

That "cat" looks like an owl. That, or it's a Scottish Fold.

Wil Davis

…not boring at all! I think what happened was that the tube, on suddenly realising who owns the bike, just up and burst with pride…

- Wil

stapfam

Back to sense. You you changed over to High pressure tubes- presta valve I Presume. The other type of valve is Larger so you have a valve stem in a hole that is too large. No problem at all but You should ensure that the hole in the rim does not have a sharp edge to it. Then of course the rim tape does have an effect on the safety of the tube aswell. Then the important thing- that nut on the valve stem. It must not be very tight. It is just to locate the stem.If you tighten it up, all it does is pull the tube around the stem into the hole wearing a hole in that area.

Louis

Say what you will...that is one guilty looking cat.

bikeman4147

htttp://justbicycles.com is where I got my kids banana seat bicycle (the old crate stingray). We need a new seat for it and the site doesn't carry the accessories. Any suggestions. (It has to be an emerald green).

Little Darwin

Nope, still using Shraeder (sp) valves... in this case high pressure is only 80 PSI. Good ideas though...

The hole isn't directly at the valve if it is as it was before, but it is about 1/2 inch away, and seems alighned with a spoke head.

I have considered relacing the wheels with narrower rims, and if I ever do, I would go with double wall and presta valves... and good rim strips.

Little Darwin

He always looks guilty, but I always thought it was just a look and thought he was innocent... maybe he really is always guilty.

NOS88

Since it's close to Halloween, and given where you live, I suspect it was a ghost from the Molly McGuires.
just coming back to have a bit of fun.

Terrierman

It's a cat isn"t it? It's guilty. If not of what you suspect it of doing, then surely something, probably something worse, like maybe taking a crap in the shoe of someone the cat does not think of warmly. My uncle used to have one that regularly crapped in my mother's shoes, so they DO have the capability....