Let the Laughing Begin

Yesterday I went on a long enough ride and the weather report turned out to be incorrect enough that I was close to heat prostration near the end.

I hit a stone in the road that was invisible and it gave me a flat. As I was trying to figure out how to make the particular CO2 filler in that seat pack to work I punctured the canister and lost one of my two CO2 tubes.

Opening the front tire to remove the inner tube and replace it with the new tube a black guy who looked nearly homeless came by and said that he had a patch kit if I needed it. I thanked him but without a pump I couldn't find any leaks to patch.

When the front tube came out it was a Performance butyl tube. They were available in a 30, a 40 and a 60 mm stem length. I have bought the latex tubes because they were available in 51 mm stems. The back (which was losing air about the same as the front) is latex.

So my tires not losing air plainly isn't because of the material of the tubes.

My suspicion is the pump meter. I bought a new Silca professional pump from Andrew and it has a new (and probably much better) pressure gauge on it. This allows me to fill the tire up properly and to test the pressure more accurately than most pumps.

So it probably is pump and not inner tube material related.

Now don't say I lacked the courage to publicly correct myself when I think I was wrong. How many of you can say the same thing - John and Frank?

On 2017-09-04 13:00, wrote:
Yesterday I went on a long enough ride and the weather report turned
out to be incorrect enough that I was close to heat prostration near
the end.


I went up the MTB trail towards Placerville. Gulped down the contents of
all three 28oz water bottles which kept me humming. However, the air was
so bad from nearby wildfires that if wasn't super fun. To relax we hung
out at a horse ranch.


I hit a stone in the road that was invisible and it gave me a flat.


Should have used thick thorn-resistant tubes.


As I was trying to figure out how to make the particular CO2 filler
in that seat pack to work I punctured the canister and lost one of my
two CO2 tubes.

Opening the front tire to remove the inner tube and replace it with
the new tube a black guy who looked nearly homeless came by and said
that he had a patch kit if I needed it. I thanked him but without a
pump I couldn't find any leaks to patch.

When the front tube came out it was a Performance butyl tube. They
were available in a 30, a 40 and a 60 mm stem length. I have bought
the latex tubes because they were available in 51 mm stems. The back
(which was losing air about the same as the front) is latex.

So my tires not losing air plainly isn't because of the material of
the tubes.

My suspicion is the pump meter. I bought a new Silca professional
pump from Andrew and it has a new (and probably much better) pressure
gauge on it. This allows me to fill the tire up properly and to test
the pressure more accurately than most pumps.

So it probably is pump and not inner tube material related.


How can a "professional" pump be so wrong? I bought a $20 Zefal floor
pump for $20 at Walmart and its gauge tracked a commercial grade
pressure gauge in my lab very well.


Now don't say I lacked the courage to publicly correct myself when I
think I was wrong. How many of you can say the same thing - John and
Frank?


My wife would do that for me if I didn't :-)

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Monday, September 4, 2017 at 1:17:23 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-09-04 13:00, wrote:
Yesterday I went on a long enough ride and the weather report turned
out to be incorrect enough that I was close to heat prostration near
the end.


I went up the MTB trail towards Placerville. Gulped down the contents of
all three 28oz water bottles which kept me humming. However, the air was
so bad from nearby wildfires that if wasn't super fun. To relax we hung
out at a horse ranch.


I hit a stone in the road that was invisible and it gave me a flat.


Should have used thick thorn-resistant tubes.

Wouldn't have helped. There was a rock shard driven threw the gatorskin at it's toughest spot.

How can a "professional" pump be so wrong? I bought a $20 Zefal floor
pump for $20 at Walmart and its gauge tracked a commercial grade
pressure gauge in my lab very well.

The professional is the one that's accurate and the cheaper one that was both showing the wrong pressure and probably letting pressure bleed off through the cheaper filler nozzle.

Now don't say I lacked the courage to publicly correct myself when I
think I was wrong. How many of you can say the same thing - John and
Frank?

My wife would do that for me if I didn't :-)

Tell me about it.

On 2017-09-04 14:01, wrote:
On Monday, September 4, 2017 at 1:17:23 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-09-04 13:00, wrote:
Yesterday I went on a long enough ride and the weather report
turned out to be incorrect enough that I was close to heat
prostration near the end.


I went up the MTB trail towards Placerville. Gulped down the
contents of all three 28oz water bottles which kept me humming.
However, the air was so bad from nearby wildfires that if wasn't
super fun. To relax we hung out at a horse ranch.


I hit a stone in the road that was invisible and it gave me a
flat.


Should have used thick thorn-resistant tubes.

Wouldn't have helped. There was a rock shard driven threw the
gatorskin at it's toughest spot.


Through the running surface of a Gatorskin? That must have been a rock
from hell.

Sidewall, different thing. Gatorskins are totally flimsy there which is
one reason why I abandoned them.


How can a "professional" pump be so wrong? I bought a $20 Zefal
floor pump for $20 at Walmart and its gauge tracked a commercial
grade pressure gauge in my lab very well.

The professional is the one that's accurate and the cheaper one that
was both showing the wrong pressure and probably letting pressure
bleed off through the cheaper filler nozzle.


I'd have returned it to the store. A pump is supposed to show steady
pressure when you stop pumping and not leak.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Mon, 4 Sep 2017 14:01:39 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

The professional is the one that's accurate and the cheaper one that was both showing the wrong pressure and probably letting pressure bleed off through the cheaper filler nozzle.

Here's my bicycle pump tester:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/bicycles/misc/slides/Bicycle%20pump%20pressure%20gauge.html
I scribbled a little about how it's used in a previous postings:
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.bicycles.tech/YsqvNggfDDM/CoySfXtGAQAJ
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.bicycles.tech/YsqvNggfDDM/XeXJLe5kAQAJ

For a leakdown test, I attach a small pressure vessel to one port, and
pump up the pressure with a bicycle pump attached to the other port.
Then, I watch the pump gauge to see if it remains stable. If the test
gauge leaks, I paint the plumbing with bubble mix looking for the
source of the air leaks. If the gauge itself is suspect, I take it
apart and check the mechanism for leaks.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Monday, September 4, 2017 at 9:25:51 PM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 4 Sep 2017 14:01:39 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

The professional is the one that's accurate and the cheaper one that was both showing the wrong pressure and probably letting pressure bleed off through the cheaper filler nozzle.

Here's my bicycle pump tester:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/bicycles/misc/slides/Bicycle%20pump%20pressure%20gauge.html
I scribbled a little about how it's used in a previous postings:
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.bicycles.tech/YsqvNggfDDM/CoySfXtGAQAJ
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.bicycles.tech/YsqvNggfDDM/XeXJLe5kAQAJ

For a leakdown test, I attach a small pressure vessel to one port, and
pump up the pressure with a bicycle pump attached to the other port.
Then, I watch the pump gauge to see if it remains stable. If the test
gauge leaks, I paint the plumbing with bubble mix looking for the
source of the air leaks. If the gauge itself is suspect, I take it
apart and check the mechanism for leaks.

Well, that certainly seems a better method than getting a good pump to begin with.

On Tue, 5 Sep 2017 07:04:03 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Monday, September 4, 2017 at 9:25:51 PM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 4 Sep 2017 14:01:39 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

The professional is the one that's accurate and the cheaper one that was both showing the wrong pressure and probably letting pressure bleed off through the cheaper filler nozzle.

Here's my bicycle pump tester:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/bicycles/misc/slides/Bicycle%20pump%20pressure%20gauge.html
I scribbled a little about how it's used in a previous postings:
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.bicycles.tech/YsqvNggfDDM/CoySfXtGAQAJ
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.bicycles.tech/YsqvNggfDDM/XeXJLe5kAQAJ

For a leakdown test, I attach a small pressure vessel to one port, and
pump up the pressure with a bicycle pump attached to the other port.
Then, I watch the pump gauge to see if it remains stable. If the test
gauge leaks, I paint the plumbing with bubble mix looking for the
source of the air leaks. If the gauge itself is suspect, I take it
apart and check the mechanism for leaks.

Well, that certainly seems a better method than getting a good pump to begin with.

Quantity is my substitute for quality. When I tested my collection of
floor and frame pumps, I found a few defective pumps and a few
inaccurate gauges. I don't recall the numbers, but one gauge read 8
lbs low for a 60 lb tire pressure. Cleaning the crud out of the
mechanism most fixed that. I don't think I own anything that might
resemble a "good pump".

This was from 3 years ago:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/bicycles/misc/slides/bicycle-pumps.html
I now have about twice as many frame pumps. I also have 4 working
floor pumps, 2 sick floor pumps, 1 worthless foot pump, and maybe a
dozen assorted pencil, analog, and digital gauges. The various cheap
automotive type digital gauges seem to be the most consistent and
accurate, but also have mechanical problem, such as fitting only
Schrader valves or a leaky fit. Maybe, some day I'll buy a "good
pump" and recycle all the junk pumps. A proper dead weight pressure
gauge tester/calibrator is not in my budget (although I could probably
build one).

Incidentally, when I go for rides these daze, I generally throw the
bicycle into my Subaru and drive to where I want to ride. Before
leaving, I usually top off my leaky tires with some air from a cheap
12V automotive air tire pump. The one I have has an automatic shutoff
when it reaches a set pressure. I just set the dial, start the air
compressor, and I'm ready to ride when it's done. The problem is that
it's horribly inaccurate. The dial settings and built in pressure
gauge don't agree and are rather inaccurate. However, they are fairly
consistent, so I just calibrated the readings and scribbled a
calibration chart. After that, frame and floor pumps seem so
uncivilized.

At one time, I proposed a portable bicycle tire inflator consisting of
something like the automotive automatic shutoff compressor that I'm
using, with an added LiIon rechargeable battery. Or maybe powered
instead by a model airplane gasoline engine. I think I can make it
small enough to be fairly flat and pocket size. A little marketing
research indicated that nobody I asked would pay money for such a
thing but might consider building one from a kit. Very strange but I
decided that it was too risky and let the idea die a natural death.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Mon, 4 Sep 2017 13:00:34 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Yesterday I went on a long enough ride and the weather report turned out to be incorrect enough that I was close to heat prostration near the end.

I hit a stone in the road that was invisible and it gave me a flat. As I was trying to figure out how to make the particular CO2 filler in that seat pack to work I punctured the canister and lost one of my two CO2 tubes.

Opening the front tire to remove the inner tube and replace it with the new tube a black guy who looked nearly homeless came by and said that he had a patch kit if I needed it. I thanked him but without a pump I couldn't find any leaks to patch.

When the front tube came out it was a Performance butyl tube. They were available in a 30, a 40 and a 60 mm stem length. I have bought the latex tubes because they were available in 51 mm stems. The back (which was losing air about the same as the front) is latex.

So my tires not losing air plainly isn't because of the material of the tubes.

My suspicion is the pump meter. I bought a new Silca professional pump from Andrew and it has a new (and probably much better) pressure gauge on it. This allows me to fill the tire up properly and to test the pressure more accurately than most pumps.

So it probably is pump and not inner tube material related.

Now don't say I lacked the courage to publicly correct myself when I think I was wrong. How many of you can say the same thing - John and Frank?


Actually I don't remember ever saying that you failed to correct
yourself. If memory serves what I've said was that "you are wrong".
--
Cheers,

John B.

On Monday, September 4, 2017 at 7:32:25 PM UTC-7, John B. wrote:
On Mon, 4 Sep 2017 13:00:34 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Yesterday I went on a long enough ride and the weather report turned out to be incorrect enough that I was close to heat prostration near the end.

I hit a stone in the road that was invisible and it gave me a flat. As I was trying to figure out how to make the particular CO2 filler in that seat pack to work I punctured the canister and lost one of my two CO2 tubes.

Opening the front tire to remove the inner tube and replace it with the new tube a black guy who looked nearly homeless came by and said that he had a patch kit if I needed it. I thanked him but without a pump I couldn't find any leaks to patch.

When the front tube came out it was a Performance butyl tube. They were available in a 30, a 40 and a 60 mm stem length. I have bought the latex tubes because they were available in 51 mm stems. The back (which was losing air about the same as the front) is latex.

So my tires not losing air plainly isn't because of the material of the tubes.

My suspicion is the pump meter. I bought a new Silca professional pump from Andrew and it has a new (and probably much better) pressure gauge on it.. This allows me to fill the tire up properly and to test the pressure more accurately than most pumps.

So it probably is pump and not inner tube material related.

Now don't say I lacked the courage to publicly correct myself when I think I was wrong. How many of you can say the same thing - John and Frank?


Actually I don't remember ever saying that you failed to correct
yourself. If memory serves what I've said was that "you are wrong".

And as usual you didn't know what you were talking about.

On Tue, 5 Sep 2017 07:04:41 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Monday, September 4, 2017 at 7:32:25 PM UTC-7, John B. wrote:
On Mon, 4 Sep 2017 13:00:34 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Yesterday I went on a long enough ride and the weather report turned out to be incorrect enough that I was close to heat prostration near the end.

I hit a stone in the road that was invisible and it gave me a flat. As I was trying to figure out how to make the particular CO2 filler in that seat pack to work I punctured the canister and lost one of my two CO2 tubes.

Opening the front tire to remove the inner tube and replace it with the new tube a black guy who looked nearly homeless came by and said that he had a patch kit if I needed it. I thanked him but without a pump I couldn't find any leaks to patch.

When the front tube came out it was a Performance butyl tube. They were available in a 30, a 40 and a 60 mm stem length. I have bought the latex tubes because they were available in 51 mm stems. The back (which was losing air about the same as the front) is latex.

So my tires not losing air plainly isn't because of the material of the tubes.

My suspicion is the pump meter. I bought a new Silca professional pump from Andrew and it has a new (and probably much better) pressure gauge on it. This allows me to fill the tire up properly and to test the pressure more accurately than most pumps.

So it probably is pump and not inner tube material related.

Now don't say I lacked the courage to publicly correct myself when I think I was wrong. How many of you can say the same thing - John and Frank?


Actually I don't remember ever saying that you failed to correct
yourself. If memory serves what I've said was that "you are wrong".

And as usual you didn't know what you were talking about.

As someone wrote, "Reality is anything you want it to be. Just close
your eyes and let your imagination run wild."
--
Cheers,

John B.