Flatballer

On my ride today I rode through a fresh accident scene. I was following some cars through going kind of slow because the cars were still sort of in the way and the cops were directing traffic. As I'm riding I can't really see much ahead because I'm following an SUV. I hear a weird sound and then look down and I'm riding through what I can only describe as a sheet of broken glass. I glance over and one of the cars (a hatchback) is missing the entire rear window.

Nothing I can do now I figured, so I rode through it until I was past the scene and then pulled over. I decided to run my (gloved) hands over the tires to get off any glass that might have been left still. As I was doing it I felt kind of silly. If I was going to get a flat wouldn't I have gotten it already?

So my question is this, is there any benefit to running your hands along your tires after riding through something sketchy that you think could cause a flat? Or would you have already gotten a flat if you were going to get it?

Oh, and I didn't get a flat. The velo gods smiled on me today.

10 Wheels

When I want to get a flat I run over broken beer bottles.

RacerOne

Like you said.. you didn't get a flat so I guess it helped. Did you find any glass stuck in the tires that could have worked its way in?

mattm

no - ever hear of a slow leak?

just wait until tomorrow, the velo gods may have other plans for you!!

Flatballer

Nope. They were clean. And I didn't find any punctures either indicating I had gotten some in that fell out.

RacerOne

Well, then no it doesn't looked like it helped this time. However, I have ran over some sketchy stuff in the past and stopped to pull something wicked out with no flat occuring, so I think its a good practice.

mayukawa

I don't think broken glass from a car will give you a flat-->just as they're designed not to break into sharp shards...broken bottles OTOH will, so those I will take the time to look for some that might be stuck but haven't puncture through (yet).

jccaclimber

Sheldon Brown has a thing about this. His claim is that it does nothing, and his writeup says why.

GP

I picked up a thorn 2 miles from the end of yesterday's ride. I heard it click on the pavement so I reached down and swatted it off. Forgot about it, made it back, loaded my bike up and drove home. When I took the wheel off the rack, it was flat. Clean living pays off.

Anbaric Cog

I've got some friends that have been cycling > 20 years, very serious, double century types and they seem to get less flats and they always spin their tires and check for glass, etc after getting off the pavement for any reason.

I knew a guy who had been told to check the tires WHILE RIDING after going over glass. So as not to lose time on the bike portion of the triathlon. He did it on a training ride and managed to catch his thumb under the brake, flip the bike, break his thumb and really screw up his legs! Ouch. His bike was toasted.

I try and keep my fingers away from spinning wheels!

a.c.

z415

The tempered glass is multiples stronger then regular glass which leads to the lack of sharp shards. Pyrex is a good example... I think. I ride on my commute through accident scenes with glass a lot - college drivers, what do you expect.

If beer bottles were tempered, they might as well be miniature bats in a bar fight.

Creakyknees

I always do the safety brush after riding thru sketchy stuff. I don't keep stats so maybe it's superstition. Makes me feel better.

BTW, yard waste / grass clippings / edgings are bad news too.

roadiejorge 

That's some daft advice, fingers and spinning wheels are not a good idea. I don't race so having to check a tire while it's moving doesn't make sense to me, but if I go over something I feel might have caused a flat I stop and check it out or ride slower to feel the ride of the tire. The last thing you want is to have your tire blow out while on a descent or a sprint.

wfrogge

That guy you know was doing it wrong.....

MrCrassic 

Not necessarily. Sometimes, it can take a few rotations before the glass penetrates far enough into the tire to puncture the tube. In most cases, this does occur, but the hole is small enough to create a slow leak. Even if you run your (thankfully) covered hands through the surface, there might still be "micro-shards" that are recessed inside of the tire or too deep into the outer surface to be felt.

Check the pressure of your tires tomorrow. If they are significantly lower, then you know you have a slow leak. In that case, remove the entire tire and do a full-on inspection of it. You can do this before then as a good check, or just assume nothing has happened until later.

I hope the people involved in the accident made it out alright!

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merlinextraligh

I routinely brush crap off the tires. Comes from years of riding tubulars that were not nearly as flat resistent as today's.

You do need to do it correctly. For the rear wheel, lock your thumb around the seat stay, and above the brake bridge, and clean the tire IN FRONT of the brake and seat stay.

Doing it that way keeps your hand out of the brake, above the spokes, and the thumb wrapped around the seatstay keeps your hand from being pulled forward and jammng between the tire and seat tube.