Originally Posted by Andy_K

I have teenage daughters and last night one of them had some friends over. One of the boys showed up pushing a bike and asked me if he could leave it in the yard. I invited him to put it in the garage instead. While they were hanging out in the basement, I was doing something in the garage and took a peek at the bike. The rear tire was flat, the front brake was disconnected, the spoke protector had broken loose and was free to flop around behind the freewheel and the derailleur hanger was bent about 30 degrees.

Normally I'm the kind of person who minds his own business, but this was too much for me. Instinctually, I turned the wheel to see if the cause of the flat was something obvious. It was.





How do you even keep enough air in the tire to make a hole that big? My best guess is that it was worn down to the threads and the tube blew out and tore the hole.

I had a couple of old Specialized Ground Control tires in the garage so I grabbed one of those and replaced the tire. While the bike was on the stand I fixed the front brake (cable was attached incorrectly at the lever, preventing it from releasing properly), oiled the chain and did what I could with the shifting. I thought about trying to straighten the derailleur hanger, but it seemed pretty likely to break in the process and I didn't have the correct spare.

Now you might be thinking that I'm a Good Samaritan or something. The truth is I really wasn't motivated by the desire to perform a kind act. I honestly just couldn't stand to have a bike in that condition in my garage. There may be something wrong with me.

Does anyone else have this problem?