Saturday, March 1, 2014

The non-fixed flat, part two.

Today was a day before another Snowmageddon. I wanted to get out and about before it got ugly. I set out to meet Hubby at his favorite restaurant in Oakland. I took the route through the Strip and up Gold way again. That hill is quite a workout... I hope I'll be able to do it when it gets warmer.

On Morewood, I turned onto Centre and felt the thud. Thankfully, I was close to the restaurant, I was early and the restaurant's lot had room for me to work on the flat.



Pump= broken. When Hubby arrived, I decided to just stow the bike in the car and take it back to base after lunch where my floor pump was.

Hubby dropped me off and I set about getting a new tube in.



Wrong size again. This time it was too big.

Not only is your humble blogger stymied and perplexed by tire sizes, but so is the shop that has sold me incorrect tubes: twice.

Oddly, the hole in the tube wasn't on the ground-side, but up the walls, almost near the spokes. I inspected the tire many times over, trying to figure out what had cause the puncture, I didn't feel anything in there.

So, I tried to patch it. It stayed inflated until I got the wheel back on and then it just went soft again.

It was still early, so I called Thick to see if they could fit me in.

Getting back on the road!

Adam kindly obliged... they fixed my flat quickly, sold me some tubes and a new pump. Note: Thick Bikes was NOT the shop that sold me the wrong tubes.


Hopefully, my third flat will be the charm... the one that I can fix quickly and on my own! If that day's in the distant future, that will be fine.

Today= 6 miles, a huge hill and much learned.

4 comments:

  1. I was at Thick today too! they do rock!
    Congrats on more learning!

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    1. Yes, Thick is now my LBS of choice. They also support my employer in a huge way, so: I HEART THICK BIKES!

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  2. Odds are not too bad that your punctures on the side wall are "snakebite" - caused by inflation of tires being unable to hold the tube off the edge of a pothole or pebble when you impact it. To prevent: check tire pressures at least manually every time you ride, and filler up regularly. Even with new tubes I need more air every two or three weeks. It sneaks up on you. Sorry if you already knew this.

    PS - Snakebites usually come in pairs (one on each rim side); sometimes the second one is tiny, hence unnoticed until you ride a ways and your patch seems to be no good, and you say something in great exasperation.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Dave! Thanks, I've never heard of a snakebite. I'm usually pretty good at checking pressure, but I might have been lax recently. Thanks for the advice! :D

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