Front wheel flats
 

(This is my second try posting this thread. My wireless internet reception has really been bad this weekend, I think it might have got cut off as I was sending my original post out, since it comes in and out. Please let's not get off topic.)

I was riding up a hill with my friend to his apartment, and I got a flat after hitting the 500th pothole this month. Actually, the tube just leaked for a couple seconds, and then the sealant inside took over. Lower tire pressure, but good to go right? So I take off back down the hill going about 25 and I'm braking the whole time. When I get to the bend at the bottom of the hill, my front tire completely deflates and I'm skidding everywhere like on ice. I throw my foot down and I stop about 50-75 feet later. It was scary as hell!

So, I've learned that a front flat is as serious as Sheldon Brown says it is, to run a back brake unless you're running fixed gear, and that your sole brakes really do suck in an emergency. If I had my track wheels already I think I could have done a quick hockey stop, even without pressure in the front tire. Am I just imagining this? Anyone experienced a front flat on a fixie?

I just slowed down with no problem.

I've been lucky with front flats. I picked up one going down a moderately sloped hill and I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't taken off speed quickly with back pressure I've have picked up a nice faceful of pavement.

On thin rims with narrow tires a front flat can be bad news. This can be made worse if you are at high speed, heading down hill, on dirt or sand, drunk, et al. The tubes are so small that you go from happy as to riding on the rim in a pretty small window.

By the way...Contestants: how many times did the Batmobile pick up a flat?

the only front flat i think i've had was going around a corner pretty fast and i don't know how i didn't eat ****. i eventually found a little piece of glass in my tire, but it was an instant deflate.

It supposedly had "run-flat" tires. But it also had an emergency tire inflator and a "tire repair device" button!

could be crap stuck in your tire bad rim tape could just be a crappy tire too

How many feathers are there on a Purdue chicken?

I've experienced probably as many front flats as rear flats on my fix. I'm an equal-opportunity flatter. Luckily, I've never had it happen while cornering or going down a hill. It always sucks, and is never fun.

Carry spares, a pump, and a lever if you need it. And don't forget your 15mm wrench!

I had a front blow out this weekend, got the bike stopped quickly by throwing my body between it and the street.

I never had one in a tight corner either but have had a few on fast descents. When going straight it's really no problem and I imagine judicious use of a front brake would still work.

I have only had front flats riding MTB so far. Knowing my luck, I probably just set myself up for getting one on the road.

Good work. :( Hope your ok...hey you could have been racing in Milano San Remo and hit a light poll :eek:

You alright? :eek:

i definitely have more front flats than rear flats. i've also had more of a problem with front spokes than rear spokes.

I liked this thread better the first tim

Yes a rear brake on a fixed gear will be safer for this very reason. Especially if one uses higher gearing and tends to travel fast downhills
I may add one for this very reasons (I use 85g")

I've also never had a front flat in 18k miles.

Al

how are y'all getting all these blowouts? This past month has been the March of the flats for me, 4 flats in 2 weeks. All of them were glass punctures. The slowest one lasted halfway down a bridge, the fastest one gave me a good 10-20 seconds of hissing before I was on top of the rim.
I only "blowout" MTB tubes, if I'm riding them.

I just got one yesterday as my bike sat on a sidewalk. And it was pumped up 30 minutes before.

I hate that : /.

Girl meets boy on Thursday night
Boy was high, girl fly like kite
They hold hands until next day
Boy then lets go, hit his way
Boy rules butt, brags to his boys
Erection brings bad boy joys
Boy thinks of that big fat back
Big black fat love, big black fat
Girl calls boy to stand him up on Saturday
Saturday

QP & M-a-M...do you start singin' the Put it on Vibrate part from "Kicked Out The House" whenever you are out in public or at a movie or class when someone reminds everyone to put their cell phone on vibrate? I do it every time I hear it, can't stop myself, but I have yet to run across many people who know what the hell I'm singing about. Such a great group and yet seemingly overlooked by most folks.

Anyway...5 days you work, one whole day to play...

"Boy rules butt"...what a great line!

so good... i could listen to that **** everyday...

I've gotten easily 30 times as many rear flats as front flats. When I flat up front, it's usually pretty spectacular circumstances, too. I had a really nice Tufo tubular clincher up front for a while until a drainage grate that came out of the darkness tried to kill me. I managed to stay on the bike while my front wheel went into and came out of a long opening about the same width as my rim. Shredded the sidewall for 18" on both sides. The other times I've flatted up front have all either come from the front edges of really nasty potholes or from pinching the tube one way or another while mounting *****-ass 19mm tires that I have to run up front to clear my fork crown.

Yeah, it turned out that there was a hole in the tube!



Joking aside, I've had a handfull of flats, both front and back, never really a problem for me, just carefully slowed down (not worried about my rims, they came from the dump) and patched/replaced the tube.

Oh I'm fine and dandy, one of those "OK, yer about to wreck, hold on to the bars and go with it" moments. Milan San Remo was just epic. Total crazy **** right there.