ok_commuter

Riding home from work yesterday, I passed a hipster walking his SS Bianchi San Jose. (I like that frame and setup, so I had a little extra pity for him and wrongly assumed maybe he knew what he was doing.) He asked me if I had a spare tube, and I've been shuffling things around between bikes lately and couldn't remember, so I pulled over to give him a hand.

I didn't have a tube, so I offered him a patch kit. He gave me that deer in the headlights look and said, "Cool, so... would that fix it, like, NOW?" Oh, umm... I see... you need ME to fix your flat. Umm, OK, sure...

So as I gave him some gentle advice about stuff he should cart around with him, I took his tire off, found the leak in his tube, identified it as a pinch flat (snakebit tube), told him to check his tire pressure and ride wider tires.

Of course I had to put a little air in his tube to figure out where the flat was. That's when I noticed the odd stem type -- looked like a presta, but with no little screw nut thingy to open it. Had a pin inside more like a schraeder. My frame pump set for presta couldn't do anything with it, but my CO2 worked fine.

Once I got his tube patched, I tried to fill it back up with air.

(He was getting really excited that he wouldn't have to walk his bike back to campus again -- apparently again and again and again, b/c he kept whining about his bad luck with bikes (I don't believe in luck, so I wasn't the guy to start that with), how much trouble he has with flats, how he's had SIX flats since he got his bike... I was mellow and tired from riding, so I tried to explain a few things about repeat flats, told him to ride 28s instead of 23s for the nasty potholed pavement around campus, get some tough tires instead of the soft and supple hipster white vittorias he was running, etc.)

Of course, when I pulled the trigger on the CO2 it blew that pin into the tire -- I guess, I never saw the thing again, and the stem was shot. Bummer; I was getting happy about being the good samaritan... He said the tube was NEW and "this keeps happening!"

What kind of tube was that? Did I do something wrong?

I told him

A. Go to the bike shop and ask them to check your bike over to see if there's a good reason you're getting lots of flats. (I freely admit I did not take the time to inspect his rim for snags, etc.)
B. Don't buy those tubes anymore.
C. Be patient -- there's a learning curve to riding every day and the resulting maintenance required.

truman

maybe the little Presta nut broke off?


... Got Nuthin'...

cg1985

This reminds me of how everyone teases me about all the gadgets i have on my bike.

This past weekend we were on a Bike ride with a bunch of friends and community cyclists in the "Taco Tour" a few friends were with me. They spent the pre-ride chatter making fun of my gizmos. I said, hey, It's saved me more than a few times. They just laughed it off and kept teasing. No biggie.

Then they sweet back pedaling (no pun intended) when one of them got a flat a mile into the trip with their no-gadget bike.

I love being right.

JeffS

That'd be my guess.

ok_commuter

Sure didn't look that way, and dude claimed it was "brand new".

And, had the nut broken off, the pin would stick out *above* the remaining stem cylinder. This one was clearly inset, schraeder-style. Wack.

He said he bought the tube at Freeride, which I assume is one of our many LBS here in Austin. May have to drop by there and look around...

pinkrobe

+2. The comment about "looked like a Presta but had a Schraeder thing in the middle" was clue one, having the CO2 blow the pin into the tube was the the second. I've done this before, trying to figure out where the nut has gone. I've snapped off the pin halfway down, at the top, bent it 90 degrees...

Lamplight

Sounds kind of like the nut and tip of the pin broke off somehow. Very strange.

ItsJustMe

I wonder if this guy figured he was supposed to snap off the nut with a pliers, or something, before he used it. I've seen people come up with goofier theories.

genec

Hey get over to Mellow Johnnies on 4th. Very cool shop. I was impressed. I even picked up a Brooks care kit; I haven't seen the likes of that here at any of my local shops.

Regarding valves... Sheldon tells us there are three types... Although I have never seen the third type anywhere.

See this: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_w.html#woods

Cyclist0383

Sounds like it might be a Dunlop AKA Woods. They are quite common on low end European city bikes.

CommuterRun

^^That's my bet. Uncommon over here, they were very common when I was stationed in Japan.

nmanhipot

I was going to vote for a decapitated presta valve also. Where in the world would he find a Dunlop tube around here? I've been riding for 30 years in the states and have never seen one. Cool - you learn something new every day!