Flats due to overheating?

Today we rode up Ascutney mt... about 2150 feet of rise in 3.8 miles.
halfway down I got a flat in the rear.. .we were not going fast ..
20mph at the most because there were cars going up and down and the
road is narrow and curvey... so lots of brakes.

I put another tube in and continued ... turned around at the bottom
and started back up and found the tire flat again.

My partner never showed up in the parking lot, so i drove up to find
him walking down with a flat front tire..

I'm hard pressed to believe the rims got hot enough to cause these
failures... but 3 flats on the way down seems more than co-incidence.

anyone have experience with this kind of problem?
thanks
charlieb in ct.

Charles Beristain wrote:

Today we rode up Ascutney mt... about 2150 feet of rise in 3.8 miles.
halfway down I got a flat in the rear.. .we were not going fast ..
20mph at the most because there were cars going up and down and the
road is narrow and curvey... so lots of brakes.

I put another tube in and continued ... turned around at the bottom
and started back up and found the tire flat again.

My partner never showed up in the parking lot, so i drove up to find
him walking down with a flat front tire..

I'm hard pressed to believe the rims got hot enough to cause these
failures... but 3 flats on the way down seems more than co-incidence.

If the tire didn't go "BOOM!", the flats weren't caused by
overheating. Check the tubes for punctures. If they are small,
that's further evidence that the flats were not caused by
overheating.

When a tire gets too hot, it jumps off the rim, the tube goes
"BOOM", and the puncture is large and ragged.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Charles Beristain wrote:

Today we rode up Ascutney mt... about 2150 feet of rise in 3.8 miles.
halfway down I got a flat in the rear.. .we were not going fast ..
20mph at the most because there were cars going up and down and the
road is narrow and curvey... so lots of brakes.

I put another tube in and continued ... turned around at the bottom
and started back up and found the tire flat again.

My partner never showed up in the parking lot, so i drove up to find
him walking down with a flat front tire..

I'm hard pressed to believe the rims got hot enough to cause these
failures... but 3 flats on the way down seems more than co-incidence.

If the tire didn't go "BOOM!", the flats weren't caused by
overheating. Check the tubes for punctures. If they are small,
that's further evidence that the flats were not caused by
overheating.

When a tire gets too hot, it jumps off the rim, the tube goes
"BOOM", and the puncture is large and ragged.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Charles Beristain writes:

Today we rode up Ascutney mt... about 2150 feet of rise in 3.8
miles. halfway down I got a flat in the rear.. .we were not going
fast .. 20mph at the most because there were cars going up and down
and the road is narrow and curvy... so lots of brakes.

I'm not clear on what happened. Did you have a blowout (loud bang) or
a puncture that goesssssssss flat?

I put another tube in and continued ... turned around at the bottom
and started back up and found the tire flat again.

Describe this one as well. It could be that the thorn or other sharp
object was still in the tire and took a while to penetrate. Pleas
explain.

My partner never showed up in the parking lot, so i drove up to find
him walking down with a flat front tire...

I'm hard pressed to believe the rims got hot enough to cause these
failures... but 3 flats on the way down seems more than coincidence.

Puncture vine thorns are sometimes barely long enough to penetrate and
take a while for the tip to reach pressurized air. However, riding
down a steep grade will cause blow-offs, especially when going slow
enough to not generate much wind drag. Your speed was probably ideal.

Anyone have experience with this kind of problem?

If it was a tube tearing blowout, you must have heard it and if you
did, you are lucky that you didn't crash. Please explain the nature
of these flats.

Jobst Brandt

Charles Beristain writes:

Today we rode up Ascutney mt... about 2150 feet of rise in 3.8
miles. halfway down I got a flat in the rear.. .we were not going
fast .. 20mph at the most because there were cars going up and down
and the road is narrow and curvy... so lots of brakes.

I'm not clear on what happened. Did you have a blowout (loud bang) or
a puncture that goesssssssss flat?

I put another tube in and continued ... turned around at the bottom
and started back up and found the tire flat again.

Describe this one as well. It could be that the thorn or other sharp
object was still in the tire and took a while to penetrate. Pleas
explain.

My partner never showed up in the parking lot, so i drove up to find
him walking down with a flat front tire...

I'm hard pressed to believe the rims got hot enough to cause these
failures... but 3 flats on the way down seems more than coincidence.

Puncture vine thorns are sometimes barely long enough to penetrate and
take a while for the tip to reach pressurized air. However, riding
down a steep grade will cause blow-offs, especially when going slow
enough to not generate much wind drag. Your speed was probably ideal.

Anyone have experience with this kind of problem?

If it was a tube tearing blowout, you must have heard it and if you
did, you are lucky that you didn't crash. Please explain the nature
of these flats.

Jobst Brandt

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 01:05:33 GMT,
wrote:

I'm not clear on what happened. Did you have a blowout (loud bang) or
a puncture that goesssssssss flat?

I should have explained it better.... it was a loud bang... but not as
loud as one that blows the tire off the rim... the tire remained on
the rim (clincher). I just looked at the tube... it was an ultralight
and it had a very large hole/tear right on a seam.

The second tube had a very large pin hole.. so it was a fast "slow
leak". Couldn't find anything in the tire that would have caused the
pin hole.. but it doesn't appear to be heat related .

thanks

charlieb in ct

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 01:05:33 GMT,
wrote:

I'm not clear on what happened. Did you have a blowout (loud bang) or
a puncture that goesssssssss flat?

I should have explained it better.... it was a loud bang... but not as
loud as one that blows the tire off the rim... the tire remained on
the rim (clincher). I just looked at the tube... it was an ultralight
and it had a very large hole/tear right on a seam.

The second tube had a very large pin hole.. so it was a fast "slow
leak". Couldn't find anything in the tire that would have caused the
pin hole.. but it doesn't appear to be heat related .

thanks

charlieb in ct

Charles Beristain wrote:
Today we rode up Ascutney mt... about 2150 feet of rise in 3.8 miles.
halfway down I got a flat in the rear.. .we were not going fast ..
20mph at the most because there were cars going up and down and the
road is narrow and curvey... so lots of brakes.

I put another tube in and continued ... turned around at the bottom
and started back up and found the tire flat again.

My partner never showed up in the parking lot, so i drove up to find
him walking down with a flat front tire..

I'm hard pressed to believe the rims got hot enough to cause these
failures... but 3 flats on the way down seems more than co-incidence.

I've had mysterious (non-blowout/blowoff) flats on descents that require
significant braking. What I found common to these occurrences was that
the tube in question had been patched on the inside next to the rim. I
believe the heat from braking softened the patch glue because the tube in
question always seemed to hold air when I inspected it outside the tire.

--
Bill Bushnell

Charles Beristain wrote:
Today we rode up Ascutney mt... about 2150 feet of rise in 3.8 miles.
halfway down I got a flat in the rear.. .we were not going fast ..
20mph at the most because there were cars going up and down and the
road is narrow and curvey... so lots of brakes.

I put another tube in and continued ... turned around at the bottom
and started back up and found the tire flat again.

My partner never showed up in the parking lot, so i drove up to find
him walking down with a flat front tire..

I'm hard pressed to believe the rims got hot enough to cause these
failures... but 3 flats on the way down seems more than co-incidence.

I've had mysterious (non-blowout/blowoff) flats on descents that require
significant braking. What I found common to these occurrences was that
the tube in question had been patched on the inside next to the rim. I
believe the heat from braking softened the patch glue because the tube in
question always seemed to hold air when I inspected it outside the tire.

--
Bill Bushnell

Charles Beristain writes:

I'm not clear on what happened. Did you have a blowout (loud bang)
or a puncture that goesssssssss flat?

I should have explained it better.... it was a loud bang... but not
as loud as one that blows the tire off the rim... the tire remained
on the rim (clincher). I just looked at the tube... it was an
ultralight and it had a very large hole/tear right on a seam.

If you heard the bang, the tire was off the rim. That is known as a
heating blow-off. The tire usually falls back in place and as was
mentioned, the tube has a long slash in it, something you don't patch.

The second tube had a very large pin hole.. so it was a fast "slow
leak". Couldn't find anything in the tire that would have caused the
pin hole.. but it doesn't appear to be heat related .

Hold it. There are no "very large pin holes", pin holes are by
definition, a prick of a pin, otherwise they are star burst holes,
glass cuts or thorn pricks (pin holes), but none of these make any
noise. Your estimate of the situation is getting curioser and
curioser. I almost get the notion you are putting us on with large
pin holes and fast slow leaks.

Jobst Brandt