So, we had our first nice weekend day over the past 3 weekends and I was finally going to see how long it would take me to commute to work on my bike... Well, my girl and I made it to my office in 31 minutes... it was 6.8miles i think... pretty good time... especially considering it takes me 25-45 minutes in my car... I'd rather ride my bike... either if it was longer... So, anyways... I was happy, we turn around and head back home... Well, I was cruising down the sidewalk on this bridge over a little water stream and PSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I'm like... Son of a Goat! and I stop immediately and look back at my rear tire which was already flat.... dangit... I looked down at my computer and it had just clicked over 26 miles total on the odometer for my brand spanking new bike... and I got a flat...

It turns out that there was a bunch of glass from beer bottles that these morons must throw out the window to break against the sidewalk... oh yeah, that makes them cool... *sigh*... so, anywho... I start walking home... i get back to the apartment like 25 minutes later and look at my tire... here's what it looks like...






I went to the local bike shop and bought 2 new tubes (cuz i want to have a spare)... the 1 kid said I should buy a new tire as this one was pretty much screwed... the other kid (who i've been dealing with and is really cool) said pretty much the same... so, I asked to see what they had... He had this Specialized something-or-other tire for $15... and they had this Armadillo tire for $30... Neither of them match the current front tire... I guess thats to be expected when you have these fancy tires with a red stripe on em... He said they might be able to order a matching one of the current tires...

So, what do you guys think? is it completely hosed? Sucks that tire is shot after only 26 miles... and it sucks if I put one of those other tires on that it wont match the front... or am i just being a little baby?

What tire(s) should I look at? Can I find them cheaper on the internet? Is there any trick to changing the tube/tire? What kind of mini pump should I buy to mount on the bike so when this happens again i can fix it on the road?

oh... I asked if there was anyway I could just jerry-rig the tire to get a little more life out of it.. and the one kid said he's seen people put duct tape on the inside of the tire over the slash... hehe... any comments?

thanks guys!
-mike

What is so fancy about the red stripe? An Armadillo for 30 bucks is about right. That tire is garbage. Save it for the trainer.

i just thought the red stripe looks nice... it compliments the red stickers...

here's what the bike looked like...



the armadillo had ugly dark red sidewalls on it... and i'm too much of a perfectionist and have to have balance... if I go with the armadillos, i'll probably end up getting 2 of them so the tires match... is that out of line? as much glass as I seen today, I'll probably be replacing my front one soon anyways... might save me a headache on the way to work...

Unfortunately, that tire is shot. You could try putting a boot inside but it's not worth the risk.

Get the Armadillos. If you're going to commute, you want a good flat-resistant tire. I run Armadillos on my bikes and have not had a flat in over 3000 miles, including many, many urban glass infested streets.

My words of wisdom. Go with the Armadillos. ALWAYS have duct tape with you-just wrap some around your seat post or a pencil and stick in the seat pack you're going to buy on your next LBS trip. Never leave home without a tube, tire levers and minipump or (2) CO2 cartridges. Flats happen, and it's much more fun to ride than walk.

Sounds like me. I had a really good riding going yesterday when I ran over some glass and ruined a tire and tube.

The tire is pretty much ruined. You could try getting by with a boot secured by some duct tape, but that is taking a risk and why bother at the price? Sidewall flats pretty much mean replacing the tire.

If the flat was in the area of the tread and just a puncture and not a huge gash, well then you just remove the offending object, repair or replace the tube and you are good to go.

Flats like the one you got are pretty rare unless your commute is a war zone or something. You could well ride for years without having another like it.

Three things:
1. Buy a new tire - that one's toast.

2. Clean the grease off the couch that got there from your chain.

3. For God's sake, shave your legs, man!

lol

1. i picked up 2 700x25 all condition armadillos and put them on

2. its hard to tell in that pic... but, the pedal is actually against the couch and keeping the chain from touching

3. yeah right... i hate shaving... im lucky if i shave my face once a week as it is

#2 was just to keep you from getting in trouble from your SO....

Glad you got new tires. You're safe now.

10 miles in on an overnite ride last summer my son hit a sharp rock on a water x-ing and cut his rear tire from the bead on one side all the way over to the other bead. we took a baseball cap and cut the bill out and trimmed it down to fit in the tire then we layered a couple of layers of the old tube on top of that then put the tire back together with a new tube. we unhooked the rear brake and wrapped the tire with electical tape for a few inches around the cut and he road it another 20 miles to finish the trip