Lazyass

I had a slow leak in a tubular a few days ago, but besides that I have not had one single flat in probably 40,000 miles. But I live in a rural area and the roads have little traffic so they're pretty clean.

rumrunn6

@noglider well, he did flag you down

but, that's your personal sense of responsibility popping up. meaning, you probably thought. "hmmm ... now I've committed to this, I'd better do it right & hope it doesn't fail causing him a possible accident". That's the risk anyone takes helping others isn't it? doesn't mean it isn't worth the risk. what's the alternative? waving as you pass, thinking, "glad that's not me"

I once passed a rider down in the road cuz he had been hit by a car. he was surrounded by ppl helping him. & yet on this forum, I was admonished for not stopping myself

rumrunn6

lol, get back on that horse!

rhm

Wow!

jimmuller 

I once had a valve stem blow out while riding uphill on my homeward commute. Even outdoors and behind me it sounded like a rifle shot. Worse yet, I was racing to catch a train, which if I'd missed would have meant a two and half hour wait fr the next train. A local resident mowing his lawn saw what happened and gave me a ride to the station in his pickup truck. The kindness of strangers is always sweet.

squirtdad

Son finally took his bike to college........and first ride popped a tire...... I reminded him the bike has a pump, spare tube, patch kit, levers and a 15mm wrench and that I have shown him how to fix a flat plenty of times......just fix it..... we will see

rumrunn6

awww. I remember showing my son & daughter how to change a spare but first time he tore a tire (close to home) he called me & I ran over to provide a more hands-on experience. stuff like this takes a cpl tries to get proficient at it. hope it didn't ruin his day

Salamandrine 

I discovered a new and novel way to get a flat last weekend.

I had a slow leak in the front. Pulled the tire and noticed that the kapton rim tape (Stans) had begun to bulge excessively into the spoke holes. It wasn't visibly touching any spokes, but under pressure the tube must have pushed itself onto a spoke head or something. The tape on the back wheel was perfectly fine, so i conjecture that the kapton had its elastic limit altered by the heat of braking over time - i.e, it softened up and couldn't stop the tube. I replaced the tape and now it's fine. I had noticed incidentally that the wheel was making a few subtle funny spoke noises, like wheels make when they are reaching the end of their life. Turns out the tape was the problem.

These are Velocity A23 rims. They unfortunately have to use modern rim tape. No room for Velox. This is one issue we didn't have in the old days.

So if any of you out there are using Stans rim tape - check it for bulging. It has a limited lifespan.

While I do live in a hilly area, I never ride the brakes.

noglider 

Both of my kids are fledged now. Every so often, one of them will tell me how they fixed their own bike or someone else's. It makes me proud. I gave them lessons but wasn't sure if it sank in. Now I know it did.

squirtdad

in his words on text "heated, popped a tire, will never ride again" I reminded him that he had full capabilites to fix and got "yeah" we will see, but I hope to hear it got fixed with little hassle.....otherwise it will be an over the phone refresher course

jimmuller 

I rode my Grandis to work today instead of the Peugeot because the Grandis has clincher, er, I mean wired-on tires. I didn't feel like bothering with another flatted sew-up just in case. Sure enough I got a flat on the way home. Just as simple puncture, fixed with a patch.

rumrunn6

hang in there Pops. still waiting for my Son to confirm he set up automatic payments for his federal student loans ...

madpogue 

How to provide the means to change a flat, and make sure it gets used:
Add: spare tube, tire levers, pump, axle nut wrench if applicable
Remove: phone

jimmuller 

I rode my PFN10 with sew-ups to work yesterday, had two flat in the morning. Aargh! Fortunately I carry two spares, and I didn't have another flat on the way home. (I suspect one of those flats was from a leaking tire I'd pulled off on the previous ride.)

I tried putting some Stan's tire seal in each. Bingo presto! Flats fixed! I am amazed!

nlerner

Riding with two friends yesterday, one got a rear tire flat from a piece of wire fairly early into the ride. The other got two flats after hitting a pothole at speed on a descent. I managed to escape flat free, but I think my time will come soon.

noglider 

The law of averages at play?

gearbasher

I'm riding passed road construction (destruction is more like it) and going over loose gravel. Just as I tell myself: "I'm gonna flat out", my rear tire goes flat. There's a park about two tenths of a mile from where this happened. So, I figure I'll hobble on the rim to the park and sit on a bench and repair it "civilized". When I get there it turns out the flat was caused by a hunk of glass the size of a two carat diamond and it's still stuck in the tire. I always check the old tube. If it's patch-able I keep it. Well, since I rode the flat with the glass in there and the tire moved on the rim, the tube had a series of punctures about 1 mm apart for the length of about 2 cm. A first for me. Needless to say, the tube went into the nearest trash can.

madpogue 

^^^^^^ What???!? You threw away a perfectly good DIY pannier mounting strap / impromptu bungee cord / major source of handlebar accessory spacer material (slash what have you)? I never run short of things to do with old "shot" innertubes. Next project -- cut a 1-2" section of the widest tube I can find, right at the valve, and fabricate a lens zoom/focus puller.

Mcs41

noglider 

@MSC41, I think that tire has had it, not because of the puncture but because of the tread wear.

Mcs41

noglider 

Yeah I figured you're taking a frugal approach.

KraneXL

When I had my Trek, I had heavy duty tubes and liners. It was heavy, but it all but eliminated getting flats. Even a screw didn't penetrate. I did however take the short cut through a thicket and paid the price when a dried sandy spur managed to defeat my precautions. After that I either road around or dismounted and carried the bike through. I have the Continental Gaterskin hardshells now.

jimmuller 

On a morning commute last year I picked a screw like that, right through the tread of a Veloflex Master. It didn't lose air and since I was only a few miles from work I decided to continue riding. I made it about halfway, walked the rest of the way rather than bother fixing it on the side of the road. But at least that screw didn't get me a second time.

rhm

Almost forgot to mention this one... got back to my bike locker last week, and found the rear wheel of my bike flat. I replaced the tube, and later determined that there was a puncture right through the tread. Can't remember, now, whether the tire was a cheap Hutchinson clincher or a cheap Michelin clincher. 700 x 28 c.