rck

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned in a thread that a lot of people around me had been getting flats. Saturday Skipper, who should know better at this point, gave me a call and suggested a ride. Being retired and the week-end I readily agreed. It only took a few minutes to change, air up and ride around the corner to Skipper's house. There I found him standing there looking at his road bike which had a flat. (Ominous music) from "Jaws".

Not a problem as we riding the trail in any event. Heading north we hit the 8+mile mark and Skipper made a comment about risking a flat by riding closer to where he got his last 2 and we decided to turn around and head back south. We made it a couple of miles before I heard a bad word and stopped to check and of course he had a flat! Not a problem as he had a spare, however, we both closely checked the tire and rim before putting on his spare tube. This time we only made it a few hundred yards before I heard a loud pop, hiss, and /!#**. Oops. Well being the ex-boy scout that I am, I also had a spare tube. I pulled it out and handed it to Skipper without saying much of anything. After again checking everything carefully, he put it on and off we went. Of course, we didn't make it very far. As luck would have it, we were close to a crossroad so he called his wife who came out to get him as I stood around whistling and pretending that I wasn't there. I road on back home and stopped to check and Skipper had just finished re-mounting his wheel.

Later that evening I went over to sit on his deck and watch the TDF with him at which time he noted that he had just checked on that tire which had gone , you guessed it, flat. On the trail bike he found a pinhole on the 1st tube, a big split near the stem on the 2nd, a big split opposite the stem on the 3rd and a leaky patch from a previous repair on his last effort. He also didn't offer me any pie.!

David Bierbaum

I think it is the rest of us who are struck by paranoia. Of you!

overthehillmedi

Start packing two spare tubes plus patches and stay away from me!

Bikey Mikey

Please stay in your own state and don't come anywhere near my location.

Lord Chaos

Ah, no worries. Now that you have all those flats out of your system, you won't get another for about 13.672 years. I did extensive statistical quantification analysis on this event. Guaranteed.

stapfam

Skipper must be taking it personally if no Pie was offered.

The Pinarello -when I got it- had tyres I did not like. They just felt different. In a way it was a blessing when I had two flats in 200 yards---front and rear- as I now had a genuine reason to fit new tyres and tubes. Perhaps it is about time Skipper spent some money and if not on a Colnago or pinnie--then at least on a couple of new tyres and a bumper pack of new tubes.

Dudelsack 

You're not paranoid if they really are out to get you.

leob1

No pie? Now we know why he gets all the flats. The flat gods haven't bee appeased with a pie offering.

NOS88

I know I would.

Lightingguy

Like looking in a (helmet) mirror and seeing a poh-lees car

zonatandem

Don't let paranoia/fear rule your life.
What if . . . .?
Hell, I'm 80 years old . . .
Have covered over 300,000 miles on bicycles.
If/when I get a flat I fix it.

rck

Skipper will be investing in a new front tire for sure. We were speculating that the two flats on the trail might have something to do with using co2 although I've not seen it as a problem before.

Lord Chaos

CO2 per se won't cause a problem. If the inflator gadget gets the pressure too high, that would be a problem.

Failure analysis is important in preventing repeat flats. Always look at the hole in the tube. Is it a small cut? Just a puncture, as with a thorn? Abrasion? Seam split? A break in the rubber at the base of the valve? Then take a look at the tire. Is it rough on the inside? Trapped gravel or sand? Glass flakes poking through? Remnant thorns?

And then there's mounting. New tires especially can be stiff, and it's really easy to get the tube caught between the tire and the rim as you push the last area of the tire over the edge. I usually put a little air into the tube to help keep it out of that space. Be careful with tire tools, as they can also pinch the tire.

How do I know? I've made every mistake listed above.

fietsbob

Capitalism, the system, has pharmaceuticals to sell you, to mask that ..

skilsaw

Skipper should sell his bike and buy a big screen TV for watching the TDF.

OldsCOOL

Best thing we can do is learn to change flats quickly and effectively. Forget the avoidance thing, it's just a matter of "when".

Phil85207

I think I would be looking at a different brand of tubes too.

Wogster

One thing to remember, those $25 tubes that look translucent, that thin material will puncture a lot easier then the heavy stuff that a black $2.50 tube is made of. Not only that, the heavy $2.50 tube, can often be repaired with a 10 for a dollar patch kit