Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1782:
As I was riding home from the client's office last night, I hit a rock and had what I call a "no doubter." As soon as my rear wheel hit the rock, the impact and the sound let me know I blew the tire. Sure enough, it went flat in a hurry in about 50 feet. I had just purchased some new tubes and had a box containing one in my backpack. I figured it would be about 10-15 minutes of inconvenience, and then I'd be back on the road riding home.
I pulled the wheel off, removed the old tube, checked the tire for anything still stuck in it, installed the new tube and then put the wheel back on the bike. I got the new tube inflated, and when I went to unscrew the pump it would wiggle like it was free of the valve stem, but no amount of pulling would separate the pump from the stem.
I sat there pondering the situation for a few minutes. With the pump attached to the wheel I couldn't even roll the bike. I didn't feel like carrying the bike almost a mile to the bus station, and by the time I would do so would mean I'd miss the 5:45 bus and the next one wouldn't leave until 6:50. I finally did the "call of shame" to have my son bring the truck to haul me and my bike home. While waiting I messed with the pump some more, but couldn't get it off the wheel. I figured I would have to use a Dremel to separate the two, destroying both $5 tube and a $50 pump. That didn't make me happy.
My son arrived in record time, so I didn't have to stand around too long. Once I had the bike home and on the repair stand and with some decent light, I was finally able to get the pump detached without having to resort to cutting it off. What I discovered was the Presta valve had snapped in two. The broken end was still threaded to the pump, which explains why I couldn't just pull it apart. Crazy. I've never had that happen before.
Being a brand new tube right out of the box, I'm guessing the valve stem had a crack in the metal. When I pumped up the wheel I probably put enough pressure on the stem to snap it in half, and then when I tried to unscrew the pump the broken tip would just spin instead of the threads backing out.
