My rear blew out!
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My rear blew out!
Rear tire that is. I was just exiting a turn at the Burnaby Velodrome when FFFSSSSSSTTT! my back tire goes flat. My first instinct was to grab for the brakes. That didn't work for obvious reasons. So I did my best to control the bike but the back wheel just slid out from under me and I went down on my right side then slid down the track head first on my back very ungracefully. I came out unscathed except a small spot of road (track) rash on my knee. The bike needed a new tube of course and handle bar tape.
The cause of the flat is a mystery. It doesn't look like a pinch flat, there were no burs, sharp edges, debris, or anything that might have caused a puncture. Just a big gaping hole in the tube that let all the air out.
Before any one tells me I would go tubeless if there were not so expensive!
The cause of the flat is a mystery. It doesn't look like a pinch flat, there were no burs, sharp edges, debris, or anything that might have caused a puncture. Just a big gaping hole in the tube that let all the air out.
Before any one tells me I would go tubeless if there were not so expensive!
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am presuming that you were riding clinchers rather than tubulars; if there was a big star-shaped type hole in the tube rather than a tiny puncture hole then it was caused by the tyre blowing off the rim and the tube herniating out and popping. Usually caused by trapping the inner tube under part of the tyre bead when first putting the tyre on the rim.
Hope you didn't take anyone else down with you
mickster
Hope you didn't take anyone else down with you
mickster
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Originally Posted by mickster
am presuming that you were riding clinchers rather than tubulars; if there was a big star-shaped type hole in the tube rather than a tiny puncture hole then it was caused by the tyre blowing off the rim and the tube herniating out and popping. Usually caused by trapping the inner tube under part of the tyre bead when first putting the tyre on the rim.
Hope you didn't take anyone else down with you
mickster
Hope you didn't take anyone else down with you
mickster
After the summer is over I plan on doing a lot more track riding so perhaps I will invest on some tubulars.
Last edited by Cycle-clops; 04-27-07 at 12:38 PM.
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Originally Posted by WithNail
how are you going to do more track riding after the summer? Isn't season over at that point?
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Sounds like mickster got it right to me. Tubulars on the track aren't terribly expensive when you consider how long they'll usually last.
I haven't ridden Burnaby in an age. Is it still plywood with that big gap betwen the "apron" and the boards? I'd rather eat worms than ride clinchers on a tight board track...
I haven't ridden Burnaby in an age. Is it still plywood with that big gap betwen the "apron" and the boards? I'd rather eat worms than ride clinchers on a tight board track...
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Originally Posted by Six jours
Sounds like mickster got it right to me. Tubulars on the track aren't terribly expensive when you consider how long they'll usually last.
I haven't ridden Burnaby in an age. Is it still plywood with that big gap betwen the "apron" and the boards? I'd rather eat worms than ride clinchers on a tight board track...
I haven't ridden Burnaby in an age. Is it still plywood with that big gap betwen the "apron" and the boards? I'd rather eat worms than ride clinchers on a tight board track...
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The sideways bunnyhop to get onto the track surface was enough excitement for me! Neat track. Don't think I'd want to ride a madison with a dozen teams on it though...
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Originally Posted by Six jours
I'd rather eat worms than ride clinchers on a tight board track...
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Clinchers do outnumber tubies at FCV but thats because most of the riders there done crack 6th gear or weigh 180+
Burnaby no longer has the huge gap, its a smooth "up" onto the track. Though it still creaks and pops. IT is a really fun track, other than what feels like a mountain bike ride as you wind up at the rail and the occasional loose board.
Burnaby no longer has the huge gap, its a smooth "up" onto the track. Though it still creaks and pops. IT is a really fun track, other than what feels like a mountain bike ride as you wind up at the rail and the occasional loose board.
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Just by personal choice?
What's wrong with clinchers on a board track?
They do just fine on our FCV and it's tighter than Burnaby. I've seen way more flat tubulars than flat clinchers there and clinchers must outnumber tubulars by 10:1.
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Originally Posted by Six jours
They're harder to ride when they're flat. IMO. A flat clincher is markedly less promising.
If the argument is that clinchers are 10 times less likely to puncture than tubulars, though, I ain't buyin'.
If I had $5 for every tub I've seen go flat I could buy me a new tire. If I had $5 for every clincher I've seen go flat I couldn't buy a round o' Tim's and there are far more clinchers than tubulars.
I've lost track of the numbers of riders who say "Uhh I can't ride tonight, one of my tubs is flat" as they prepare to ride (one was just last week). No, not many ever show up with a spare set o' wheels. With a clincher rider we'd jam in a new tube and he'd be riding PDQ.
Yes I'd be the first to agree that the heavier and faster and more accomplished the rider the more sense tubulars make. But most of us (even some of our top riders) don't fit the criteria (or just choose not to) so therefore clinchers are predominant.
Also, at the FCV about 85% of the riders are Recreational riders (they don't race; they just ride and/or train) and for them (IMO) tubulars make much less sense.
Last edited by Mike T.; 04-28-07 at 10:38 AM.
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All I can say is that either Canadians have REALLY bad tubulars or REALLY good clinchers! In fifteen years of racing tracks all over the world, I think I've had two flats -- and I've never ridden clinchers. And the tires I've used have ranged from $10 road training pieces of **** to $250 Conti Olympics. (I think one flat was a wide cotton Wolber that blew because I'd been riding it on cords, and the other was a silk Clement that blew out a sidewall around the valve. One of the loudest sounds I've heard in my life!)
OTOH, I don't think I've ever seen a clincher go flat on the track, although I come from a time when hardly anybody rode clinchers on the track.
Now that I think about it, I've probably seen a dozen flat tires resulting from riding on the track in my whole life. There just shouldn't be any reason to puncture on the track. Do they have brooms in Canada?
OTOH, I don't think I've ever seen a clincher go flat on the track, although I come from a time when hardly anybody rode clinchers on the track.
Now that I think about it, I've probably seen a dozen flat tires resulting from riding on the track in my whole life. There just shouldn't be any reason to puncture on the track. Do they have brooms in Canada?
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Originally Posted by Six jours
Do they have brooms in Canada?
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Mike - Although there may be a 'minor chance of a clincher blowout' on the track that's exactly what the OP was describing having happened to him, so six jours' comments re tubs being easier to handle in the event of a blowout are actually relevent here.
As to the wider tubs / clinchers debate, much like the lockring / no lockring, tub tape / glue etc debates that permeate track forums and infields everywhere the arguments for and against have been aired ad nauseam; am I the only one who finds it really strange that people get so passionate in their opinions about these things
What I wanna know is how Cycle-clops got a big blow out in his inner tube without the tube herniating out from the tyre - has to surely be either a large tear in the tyre or else the tube coming out from under the tyre bead? Can't see how else this could have happened.
mickster
As to the wider tubs / clinchers debate, much like the lockring / no lockring, tub tape / glue etc debates that permeate track forums and infields everywhere the arguments for and against have been aired ad nauseam; am I the only one who finds it really strange that people get so passionate in their opinions about these things
What I wanna know is how Cycle-clops got a big blow out in his inner tube without the tube herniating out from the tyre - has to surely be either a large tear in the tyre or else the tube coming out from under the tyre bead? Can't see how else this could have happened.
mickster
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Originally Posted by mickster
Mike - Although there may be a 'minor chance of a clincher blowout' on the track that's exactly what the OP was describing having happened to him, so six jours' comments re tubs being easier to handle in the event of a blowout are actually relevent here.
am I the only one who finds it really strange that people get so passionate in their opinions about these things
What I wanna know is how Cycle-clops got a big blow out in his inner tube without the tube herniating out from the tyre - has to surely be either a large tear in the tyre or else the tube coming out from under the tyre bead? Can't see how else this could have happened.
I'll still stand by my original findings - hundreds of thousands of laps must have been ridden on clincher bikes in the past two years of operation. The rare flats that I witness are caused mostly by faulty rim tapes (which our rentals were plagued with at the start) and valve stems leaking at the entrance to the tube. These didn't cause riding blowouts but mostly idle time deflations or deflations when pumping. I've yet to witness a catastrophic blowout on the banking. That's not to say that none have happened.
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Originally Posted by CafeRacer
Clinchers do outnumber tubies at FCV but thats because most of the riders there done crack 6th gear or weigh 180+
I hope you're ok and getting up & around.
Last edited by Mike T.; 04-29-07 at 07:13 AM.
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I wont ever race on clinchers. Ill train on them for the simple reason that if I flat I just change the tube. I prefer the feel of a tubular. Espessialy at FCV. What happend on Saturday was freak non the less. No rider at FCV on clincher or tubular should have to fear or worry about that happening.
Were still up in the air a little but 2 of us at work and a sales rep studied the crash, whats left of the tubie and the wheel aswell as the front witch is still glued on tight. It looks more and more like the tubie flatted and then peeled off under the upward force. Thus directing my pelvis into the middle of turn 2 at full speed. Shame cause that was a nice tubular too. It cost me a &#^@ing paycheck for those! Just a part of racing I guess
But thanks Mike! I spent all night in emerg getting X-Rays head to toe as they treated it like a motorcycle crash. Sunday hurt alot, I tried to ride around my block to keep my hip moving but every bump sent pain thru my pelvis and both colarbones (witch Ill be damed that I didnt break). By Tuesday I was back on a bike spinning around and walking without a limp. Burnaby will be interesting.
Were still up in the air a little but 2 of us at work and a sales rep studied the crash, whats left of the tubie and the wheel aswell as the front witch is still glued on tight. It looks more and more like the tubie flatted and then peeled off under the upward force. Thus directing my pelvis into the middle of turn 2 at full speed. Shame cause that was a nice tubular too. It cost me a &#^@ing paycheck for those! Just a part of racing I guess
But thanks Mike! I spent all night in emerg getting X-Rays head to toe as they treated it like a motorcycle crash. Sunday hurt alot, I tried to ride around my block to keep my hip moving but every bump sent pain thru my pelvis and both colarbones (witch Ill be damed that I didnt break). By Tuesday I was back on a bike spinning around and walking without a limp. Burnaby will be interesting.
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Originally Posted by CafeRacer
It looks more and more like the tubie flatted and then peeled off under the upward force. It cost me a &#^@ing paycheck for those!
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Originally Posted by Six jours
Yeah, tubulars are only safer than clinchers if they're stuck on tight. I still prefer shellac for riding the boards.
I'm happy that tubulars are one less thing I have to worry about.
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Shellac -- along with a whole bunch of other useful stuff (bike handling skills, intelligent decision making, etc.) -- was forgotten in the Lance-inspired bike boom of the late 90s, IMO. Too many newbies for the "old guard" to educate, is my take. (grump, grump.)
And, truthfully, Vittoria Mastik 1 works very, very well. Not quite as strong as shellac, I don't think -- and creates a slower rolling tire, if you believe the testing -- but I've had to use a screwdriver to break the bond with a properly done Vittoria job.
The base tape troubles, IMO, are/were caused almost entirely by FasTack. I remember Conti Sprinters, in particular, could be made into time bombs by the judicious application of 3M products...
< edit > Hey, as long as we're attacking each other's position with incredibly unlikely failures ( ) have you ever seen the side of a clincher rim blow out? Nasty crash, that one...
And, truthfully, Vittoria Mastik 1 works very, very well. Not quite as strong as shellac, I don't think -- and creates a slower rolling tire, if you believe the testing -- but I've had to use a screwdriver to break the bond with a properly done Vittoria job.
The base tape troubles, IMO, are/were caused almost entirely by FasTack. I remember Conti Sprinters, in particular, could be made into time bombs by the judicious application of 3M products...
< edit > Hey, as long as we're attacking each other's position with incredibly unlikely failures ( ) have you ever seen the side of a clincher rim blow out? Nasty crash, that one...
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With you pretty much all the way on this, 6J. Vittoria Mastik is as close to ambrosia as we can get in this shellac-depleted modern era. It's good stuff. And also with you re the implied Conti base tape / Fastak issues. I've always had good feelings towards Vittorias over most Contis in any case... But I can't approve of the continued baiting of Mike T - he's an affable retro-grouch in reverse. Rather than hankering after the old ways he gets his jollies from debunking the old and championing the new - 3/32", clinchers and cheap fujis. I bet he doesn't even use a lockring, the bounder Come to think of it, he's almost a roadie ! Come on Mike, embrace your heritage. Glue one up for ol' times sake
mickster
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Actually, I'm riding clinchers on the road these days. (Don't tell anyone.) I tried a few different clinchers, didn't like any of them, and was about to go to the 27mm Dugasts -- I'm pretty much a tourist these days -- and was talked into trying a big fat clincher that turned out to be wonderful, almost matching the old Clement Del Mundos.
Thing is, the only thing that really keeps me from using expensive tubulars on the road is the cost and hassle of punctures. I dunno what the heck Mike's mates are doing to get so many flats on the track, but the velodrome is the one place where punctures are essentially a non-issue for me. In a "flat free environment" I use the best handmade tubulars money can buy, for the ride if nothing else.
Each to his own, as they say, but I'd still rather eat worms...
Thing is, the only thing that really keeps me from using expensive tubulars on the road is the cost and hassle of punctures. I dunno what the heck Mike's mates are doing to get so many flats on the track, but the velodrome is the one place where punctures are essentially a non-issue for me. In a "flat free environment" I use the best handmade tubulars money can buy, for the ride if nothing else.
Each to his own, as they say, but I'd still rather eat worms...
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Originally Posted by mickster
But I can't approve of the continued baiting of Mike T
he's an affable retro-grouch in reverse. Rather than hankering after the old ways he gets his jollies from debunking the old and championing the new - 3/32", clinchers and cheap fujis. I bet he doesn't even use a lockring, the bounder Come to think of it, he's almost a roadie ! Come on Mike, embrace your heritage. Glue one up for ol' times sake
Edit - the wool shorts went years ago. I have two brakes on my road fixie.
Last edited by Mike T.; 05-05-07 at 09:37 PM.