Worst tube change ever!
03-18-08 | 11:13 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
Worst tube change ever!
I had one of the worst tube changes ever today:
I was riding up a steep and very long hill. Ran over a screw. Lost air. Walked to a safe place and changed my tube. What a pain! After making the change, I pumped up the tube only to find that the valve is bad! What a waste of time.
I have changed lots of tubes, but this one was a real surprise. So much for the platinum series Bell tubes. I am thinking of going airless since the bike is now sitting in my garage after the long walk home.
Any advice on the airless types?
LPS
I was riding up a steep and very long hill. Ran over a screw. Lost air. Walked to a safe place and changed my tube. What a pain! After making the change, I pumped up the tube only to find that the valve is bad! What a waste of time.
I have changed lots of tubes, but this one was a real surprise. So much for the platinum series Bell tubes. I am thinking of going airless since the bike is now sitting in my garage after the long walk home.
Any advice on the airless types?
LPS
03-18-08 | 11:28 PM
#3
Real Human Being
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 936
Likes: 3
From: Ottery St. Catchpole
Bikes: Sleeping Beauty: 2008 Jamis Aurora
i don't know how far they've come, but my raleigh sprite came from the thrift store with airless tubes on it, and i thought that was brilliant! until i rode off of a curb and gave myself whiplash. i had a headache for the whole rest of the ride. sucked. whatever is on the raleigh doesn't offer a lot of shock protection.
03-19-08 | 04:53 AM
#5
The Legitimiser
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 4,849
Likes: 6
From: Southampton, UK
Bikes: Gazelle Trim Trophy, EG Bates Track Bike, HR Bates Cantiflex bike, Nigel Dean fixed gear conversion, Raleigh Royal, Falcon Westminster.
I had airless a few years ago. Sucked. Bounced around everywhere on fast descents, made 110 psi road tyres seem cushy, and eventually damaged my rear wheel. Cannot tell you enough how bad they are.
03-19-08 | 06:34 AM
#6
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,654
Likes: 0
From: Parker, CO
Bikes: SS Surly Crosscheck; '91 Cannondale 3.0
I recommend getting good tires and tire liners. I don't know how big the screw was, but could it have been patched? I carry Forte tubes from Performance...cheap and never had one bad out of the box yet (knocking on wood really hard).
03-19-08 | 08:33 AM
#7
Mad bike riding scientist
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 29,155
Likes: 6,211
From: Denver, CO
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
I had one of the worst tube changes ever today:
I was riding up a steep and very long hill. Ran over a screw. Lost air. Walked to a safe place and changed my tube. What a pain! After making the change, I pumped up the tube only to find that the valve is bad! What a waste of time.
I have changed lots of tubes, but this one was a real surprise. So much for the platinum series Bell tubes. I am thinking of going airless since the bike is now sitting in my garage after the long walk home.
Any advice on the airless types?
LPS
I was riding up a steep and very long hill. Ran over a screw. Lost air. Walked to a safe place and changed my tube. What a pain! After making the change, I pumped up the tube only to find that the valve is bad! What a waste of time.
I have changed lots of tubes, but this one was a real surprise. So much for the platinum series Bell tubes. I am thinking of going airless since the bike is now sitting in my garage after the long walk home.
Any advice on the airless types?
LPS
If you use schrader valves, carry a valve core remover with you. You can tighten down the valve core easily.
Worst tube change ever? Hardly. Try bombing down a forest road at 35+mph on a mountain bike when a 16 penny nail goes in one side of your tire and out the other just at the bottom of the hill before a steep climb. All momentum stopped, you have to change the tube, boot the tire, and then try to ride up that big hill you were gaining all that momentum for
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Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
03-19-08 | 10:10 AM
#8
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,654
Likes: 0
From: Parker, CO
Bikes: SS Surly Crosscheck; '91 Cannondale 3.0
HellMart tubes? What do you expect from slave labor...quality!?
If you use schrader valves, carry a valve core remover with you. You can tighten down the valve core easily.
Worst tube change ever? Hardly. Try bombing down a forest road at 35+mph on a mountain bike when a 16 penny nail goes in one side of your tire and out the other just at the bottom of the hill before a steep climb. All momentum stopped, you have to change the tube, boot the tire, and then try to ride up that big hill you were gaining all that momentum for
If you use schrader valves, carry a valve core remover with you. You can tighten down the valve core easily.
Worst tube change ever? Hardly. Try bombing down a forest road at 35+mph on a mountain bike when a 16 penny nail goes in one side of your tire and out the other just at the bottom of the hill before a steep climb. All momentum stopped, you have to change the tube, boot the tire, and then try to ride up that big hill you were gaining all that momentum for
03-19-08 | 12:26 PM
#9
Mad bike riding scientist
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 29,155
Likes: 6,211
From: Denver, CO
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
__________________
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
