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Too many flats... here's one solution.



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 12th 09, 03:54 AM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
jtrops
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


I have been having an inordinate number of flats from thorns and glass
on my 29'er. As I was fixing one today I remembered a little gizmo that
I used to have on my road bike. The thing was called a tire saver, and
it was basically a wire that rubbed gently on the tire. It would knock
the stuff out of the tire before it had a chance to do any harm. I made
one for my 29'er, and I'm sure it will save me from patching so many
flats in the future. Unfortunately it won't work on anything knobby,
just smoothish road tires.

I used a wire coat hanger, and made a yoke that attaches with my brake
bolt. Two small pieces of plastic tubing connect the yoke to the wire
that rubs the tire (another piece of coat hanger). I bent the wire on
the tire to the profile of my tire, and the light pressure from the
plastic tubing is all that holds it against the tire.

I may make it a little narrower so that it can go under the fork crown
and be tucked out of the way, but for now it should work nicely.

[image:
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery2/m...1085970d90d48]


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  #2  
Old January 12th 09, 04:22 AM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
Goats_On_Unicycles
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


Cool. I take my old tubes, cut them down the middle and put one or two
around my current tube.
I NEVER get flats.


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  #3  
Old January 12th 09, 04:39 AM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
saskatchewanian
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


Ever thought of going tubeless?


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  #4  
Old January 12th 09, 03:25 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
jtrops
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


Tubeless would be interesting. I have thought about it, but I have to
find out more about it. From what I understand it is heavier than a
tube in most cases, but offers a liveliness like a sew-up. If I could
get that road feel it would certainly be worth any moderate weight gain.


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  #5  
Old January 12th 09, 03:32 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
Smilymarco
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


Looks like youre running the Schwalbe Marathon tire.
Next time you change it, get the Schwalbe Marathon Plus. It got a gel
compund inside that protects the tube from sharp edges and stuff.


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  #6  
Old January 12th 09, 03:39 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
Eddbmxdude
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


Have a read of 'this' (http://www.gsportbmx.com/tech/punctures.php). Not
sure how much would translate from bmx but must be worth a go.

Edd


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  #7  
Old January 12th 09, 04:09 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
jtrops
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


the tire is a big apple 29x2.35. After working in a bike shop for 9
years I have seen many different kinds of flats, and these ones are
plain old stuff getting through the tread. The bulk of my flats are
goat heads.

The Big Apple is supposed to have a kevlar belt in it to prevent flats.
My thought is that if it is working at all I must be riding on the worst
section of road ever.

Thanks for all of the advice about flats. I will look into going
tubeless. I was posting this idea for the benefit of anyone else with a
road uni, and puncture problems. It's simple, cheap, fast, light, and
it works well at what it does.


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  #8  
Old January 12th 09, 08:25 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
Danny Colyer
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


jtrops;1169131 wrote:
I used a wire coat hanger, and made a yoke that attaches with my brake
bolt. Two small pieces of plastic tubing connect the yoke to the wire
that rubs the tire (another piece of coat hanger). I bent the wire on
the tire to the profile of my tire, and the light pressure from the
plastic tubing is all that holds it against the tire.


Nice. Looks a lot more useful than the ones that I made for my bike a
couple of years ago. I hope it works for you - mine were hopeless.

I tried to buy a pair, but no-one seems to sell them these days. From
most of what I've read, that seems to be largely because they're not
particularly effective.


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  #9  
Old January 12th 09, 08:31 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
Danny Colyer
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


Smilymarco;1169298 wrote:
Looks like youre running the Schwalbe Marathon tire.
Next time you change it, get the Schwalbe Marathon Plus. It got a gel
compund inside that protects the tube from sharp edges and stuff.


The OP mentioned that he didn't want a heavy tyre.

I'm running Marathon Pluses on my bike. The 20" on the front has been
on for 18 months without a puncture, and I really don't notice the extra
weight and rolling resistance over a standard Marathon or the Marathon
Slick that I was using before. I'm very, very pleased with it.

The 26" on the back is a different matter, though - with the bigger
wheel I notice the increased rotating weight. I'll replace the 20" M+
with the same, but I'll probably try the Marathon Supreme for my next
26" tyre.

With a 29" tyre, I'd expect the weight of the M+ to be *really*
noticeable.


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  #10  
Old January 12th 09, 08:35 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
Rowan
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Default Too many flats... here's one solution.


jtrops;1169312 wrote:
The Big Apple is supposed to have a kevlar belt in it to prevent flats.
My thought is that if it is working at all I must be riding on the worst
section of road ever.


I think a major part of the problem is the broken glass issue which we
face in many places in the world. We have the worst section of road ever
here too- and it's everywhere. When I used to ride my 28" to Bell Block
every day, some weeks I had up to 5 punctures. We need effective systems
at stopping people from breaking glass on the roads, or to find an
alternative to glass! If anyone has any creative ideas about glass
management please share them. Many good ideas are being ignored by our
regional council and local government when we suggest things like a
refund on bottles (most people won't smash a bottle that cost them $2
extra). But I don't think tying glass to money would fix it either
because the most evil people have the most money, and would not care
about small change.

Changing to a 36" reduced my punctures from heaps to almost zero. Most
of my tire problems have been caused by faulty manufacturing on the 36"
innertubes, with two of them splitting at the seams untouched by glass.
I've still got a slow leak caused by this defect. At 5 times the cost of
a regular innertube there is really no excuse for such a consistently
faulty product (two out of three tubes had the same fault).


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