'nother

With nearly 5000 miles on my odo since January 1, I finally got a flat while out riding (OK, I'm cheating a little 'cause I'm not counting the 2 I discovered in the garage prior to rides). And man, what an mini-epic it turned out to be!

I was out pulling the trailer with my wife and her friend, noticed the flat and pulled off. Figuring it was no biggie, I just sent my wife ahead to grab a snack for the kid, while I worked on the flat. Pulled out the old tube, checked the inside of the tire for suspects, stuffed a new tube in (was surprised how quickly I managed to do it considering how out of practice I am) and promptly broke my trusty pump

Fortunately another roadie came along and offered his pump, which was great, except I'd apparently been a bit too ambitious reinstalling . . . darn thing was not taking any air I didn't want to waste any more of the guy's time so I sent him off and called my wife on the cell phone to have her come back (her friend was carrying a pump).

Meanwhile, I pulled the tire & tube off for a more thorough inspection and found the damage. Decided that the original tube was a better candidate for patching, so I went for that and it was ready to go by the time my wife returned. Pumped 'er up and off we went. Amazingly, the kid (2 yrs old) was rather content through all of this and I'm suspicious she was actually amused with daddy's antics

Anyway, kind of a pointless story I guess, but there you have it. It was nice to have help offered and provided (thanks, Euskaltel guy!). Now that I'm home I'm gonna rip everything out and see what the heck's going on, then go out and put on the 2 measly miles I need to break 5000, and score a new pump

skinnyone

Welcome to the club...
I had my first last week.. an ugly shard of metal which went through the tire ...
I used a cartridge thing though and I am pretty impressed at its usefulness...

BTW how did nyou manage to install it such thaty it couldnt take any air?... Just curious...

rufvelo

Don't let EGreen from the bike mechs forum see this one. The poor guy's flatted about a dozen times since he got his brand new bike a week ago!

'nother

Oh, sorry I guess I didn't finish my thought there . . . must've pinched it while putting the tire back on; when I took it off again there was a little slit on the side. Not having flats regularly has its downsides I guess

I'm a bit irritated that I never discovered the *original* source of the problem, but I will be getting into that tonight . . .

World Tour

My on-board tool kit has 4 tire removal tools, y'know those spoonbill things that pull on the bead and clip to a spoke? Wouldn't ride without a complete tool set and extra new tube.

I wish I could carry two new tubes. One fills my tool pouch.

'nother

Yeah, I never ride without my tool set and extra new tube either. Unfortunately I was not riding with enough patience to slow down and stuff the spare in properly and the tool kit could not fix the broken pump (served me well; it was about 15 years old).

I carry a patch kit rather than 2 extra tubes. Takes a little extra time to use when it's needed, but if you get 2 flats and you don't have that other spare it sure is nice to have . . .