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3 flat tires in a row??



 
 
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  #11  
Old April 16th 08, 01:46 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Roger Zoul
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Posts: 1,118
Default 3 flat tires in a row??


"Bill Sornson" wrote in message
...
Harry Brogan wrote:
On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:21:06 -0700 (PDT), c
wrote:

i just bought a new bike - a trek 7200 (hybrid) - and i've been
riding it through NYC

got a flat one day, paid $16 to get it fixed (new tube)

rode around that day, got another flat, paid $16 to get it fixed
(there was a spike sticking out of it ... so ... bad luck?)

that was 1 week ago ... rode around every day since, got another flat
tire



always the back tire


what gives?

coincidence?

bike shop doing a bad job? maybe missing the fact that a spoke is
protruding and stabbing my tube or something?

am i a fat, fat man?

does jumping a curb kill a tube? i never had this happen on my old
7200's (i rode 2 before this one, i love the 7200)

are there more hazards on the roads in april? broken bottles leftover
from st patty's or something?

the bike shop is metro bicycles on 14th st and 1st ave - generally
good guys



if this is just coincidence it's really enough to drive me nuts



16 bucks?!?!?!?! Are you NUTZ?!?!?!?! Around here we have these
nasty little thorns we call "goatheads" They are three-prong devils
that sometimes stand like a tripod ready to pop a tube.

Everyone who rides for ANY length of time knows that they are there.
And....anyone with any common sense KNOWS how to fix a flat.

You mentioned that you "didn't have the 20 minutes" to fix it
yourself. How long did it take to walk it to the bike shop, fill out
the papers for a repair job, and then come back to get it? Or did you
wait. In either case it might have been quicker to fix it yourself
and it CERTAINLY would have been cheaper!!!!


I think we've been trolled.


Must be so because no person can be that stupid and manage to survive a bike
ride.


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  #12  
Old April 16th 08, 01:48 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Leo Lichtman
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Posts: 767
Default 3 flat tires in a row??


"c" wrote: i pay because i have the $20 more easily than i have the 20-ish
minutes fixing a flat - i've fixed flats before, it's not rocket
science



the point was - ever get 3 flats in a row? what's with that? is that
normal?

think the shop is screwing up and missing something that could be
causing the flats (always the back tire) - like a spoke sticking
through the wheel or something?


doesn't it seem a little odd?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have plenty of money too, so I don't fix flats. I just have my support
crew hand me another bike.

Of course it's not rocket science. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to
figure out what caused the flats, which you probably would have done by now
if you fixed them yourself.

All of this is offered in the spirit of good-natured joshing around. :-)


  #13  
Old April 16th 08, 03:33 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Zoot Katz
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Posts: 941
Default 3 flat tires in a row??

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:44:44 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
wrote, in part:
/

think the shop is screwing up and missing something that could be
causing the flats (always the back tire) - like a spoke sticking
through the wheel or something?


Well, if you think they are screwing up, remove them from the equation and
screw up yourself. Or, perhaps you'll be more motivated than they are to
make sure YOU don't flat out.


doesn't it seem a little odd?



Yes, that you're willing to pay $20 for flat after flat after flat?


After three flats in three months at the end of about a year, I buy
new tires.

Three flats in one ride occurred once riding tubular tires. I had two
spares.

Now I ride clinchers and know how to stop a puncture or snake-bite
leak without a patch after I've used my two spare tubes.

The inability to fix a flat at the road side defies logic.

Not learning the source of the leak defines stupidity.
--
zk
  #14  
Old April 16th 08, 07:14 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
TBerk
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Posts: 111
Default 3 flat tires in a row??


- I like throrn resistant tubes, for two reasons:

a. They are thicker and, er Resist Thorns. also

b. They are thicker and can accept a higher pressure than the thinner
kind.

- I rode across a dirt divider and picked up ten thorns in the back
tire alone. (Conventional tube, used, worn, non-knobby tire). I ended
up catching the train until I could replace it with a thicker tube.
The front wheel is a thicker tube as well as a used but much better
built tire. No flat even though I pulled a suitable amount or thorns
out of it.

Until two days latter I found the front tire to be down to 20lbs.
Seems some broken off thorn points had migrated through the tougher
front tire and got at the thicker tube and caused a slow leak.

While I had been at the bike shop buying a thicker back tube I had
picked up a small bottle of that green Slime stuff (I had seen it for
many years but didn't ever use it myself.) I put half of the 4oz in
the front tire after puling the tire off, running my fingers around
the inside and pulling the three thorn points I could find out with
some needle nose pliers.

Man, this is getting long...

Anywho, half the recommended dose, along with a tough tire and a thick
tube and some new air and I'm back on the road. (I'm likely going to
add the second half to the rear tube as a preventative measure.)

The most I ever had was two in one day an that was because of my own
faulty patching the 1st time (hard to patch over a seam.)


TBerk
  #15  
Old April 16th 08, 07:45 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
c
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Posts: 8
Default 3 flat tires in a row??


a good amount of you (about 1/3) are cynical sons of bitches ... too
much time on your hands? wtf...

the rest, thanks - sincerely - thank you; i posted here asking if it
was normal, and you told me your experiences and i don't feel like the
bike shop was being lazy in fixing my bike - i really did just have a
streak of bad luck, which in the nature of things, is perfectly normal

i appreciate your attention and care

i do happen to live in a different world, apparently - there are
thousand bike shops everywhere, three of which are on the route
between work, school, and home, and they know me by name and know my
bikes and when i walk in they take care of me instantly and i'm back
on the road in about 10 minutes

so yes, the $20 beats the living **** out of having to wash the grease
off my hands for 10 minutes, etc -- why is the minority of this group
so obtusely judgemental and doubtful? did you fail reading
comprehension? what is so impossible about anything i've asked?

those who told me it's stupid to not know the source of the flat are
right on ... i don't mind being insulted because you're being helpful
on balance


the recommendation about kevlar tires is pretty great, i'll be looking
into that next time i have a free hour

new wheels - bike's new, so not likely, but i will get them trued

i do carry a spare tube but it's for emergencies, such as when i'm in
a neighborhood i don't know or if i take a 5+ hr ride ... patch kit
too, multitool, universal-head double-action pump (no gauge on it
though, oh well), etc



side topic -- i've been borrowing a roadbike and it's a different
ballgame entirely, but i'm really digging it more and more ... sooo
efficient, but less "fun" than my hybrid ... i may become a "real"
bicyclist after all

thanks,

c
  #16  
Old April 16th 08, 09:10 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
catzz66[_2_]
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Posts: 110
Default 3 flat tires in a row??

c wrote:



the recommendation about kevlar tires is pretty great, i'll be looking
into that next time i have a free hour

new wheels - bike's new, so not likely, but i will get them trued

i do carry a spare tube but it's for emergencies, such as when i'm in
a neighborhood i don't know or if i take a 5+ hr ride ... patch kit
too, multitool, universal-head double-action pump (no gauge on it
though, oh well), etc



side topic -- i've been borrowing a roadbike and it's a different
ballgame entirely, but i'm really digging it more and more ... sooo
efficient, but less "fun" than my hybrid ... i may become a "real"
bicyclist after all



I was one of the ones to recommend kevlar. They are a *lot* harder for
me to mount, and I did it on two bikes, but I want to say I have 1,100
miles on my main bike and 600 on my second bike since the last rainy
season and have had one flat. (Knocks on wood.) It was a presta tube
failure where the stem broke off of the tube from the daily flexing
airing it up.

Both my bikes are road bikes and I mostly ride in a big city and
occasionally ride in a very rural area a couple hundred miles away when
visiting relatives. I plan to stick with kevlar.
  #17  
Old April 16th 08, 09:10 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
catzz66[_2_]
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Posts: 110
Default 3 flat tires in a row??

c wrote:



the recommendation about kevlar tires is pretty great, i'll be looking
into that next time i have a free hour

new wheels - bike's new, so not likely, but i will get them trued

i do carry a spare tube but it's for emergencies, such as when i'm in
a neighborhood i don't know or if i take a 5+ hr ride ... patch kit
too, multitool, universal-head double-action pump (no gauge on it
though, oh well), etc



side topic -- i've been borrowing a roadbike and it's a different
ballgame entirely, but i'm really digging it more and more ... sooo
efficient, but less "fun" than my hybrid ... i may become a "real"
bicyclist after all



I was one of the ones to recommend kevlar. They are a *lot* harder for
me to mount, and I did it on two bikes, but I want to say I have 1,100
miles on my main bike and 600 on my second bike since the last rainy
season and have had one flat. (Knocks on wood.) It was a presta tube
failure where the stem broke off of the tube from the daily flexing
airing it up.

Both my bikes are road bikes and I mostly ride in a big city and
occasionally ride in a very rural area a couple hundred miles away when
visiting relatives. I plan to stick with kevlar.
  #18  
Old April 16th 08, 09:42 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Leo Lichtman
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Posts: 767
Default 3 flat tires in a row??


"TBerk" (clip) The most I ever had was two in one day (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I think two friends of mine may have set the world's record in that regard.
One of the rode on the shoulder and went through a patch of puncture vines,
betting possibly 50 or more leaks in each tire, all at once. The other
fellow said, "where did you do that?" and went over to check it out. A
minute later he had 50 or 60 thorns in each of his tires. The job fell to
me to ride back and get the car. It kind of ruined our day.


  #19  
Old April 16th 08, 09:51 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Bill Davis
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Posts: 2
Default 3 flat tires in a row??

TBerk wrote:
While I had been at the bike shop buying a thicker back tube I had
picked up a small bottle of that green Slime stuff ...


Slimed tube, rode a good 5 to 7 miles home following a puncture (you can
hear the air start to escape before the Slime seals). Pulled the tube
once home & discovered a actual 1/4 inch cut in the tube.

Good stuff ) ...

Bill Davis
  #20  
Old April 17th 08, 01:23 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
DennisTheBald
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Posts: 341
Default 3 flat tires in a row??

Change the rim tape (of course it kinda depends on where the tubes are
opening up - which you will only figure out by dismantling them
yourself) Take the tire off, run your fingers around on the inside of
it and see if something bites you. If you don't draw blood do the same
with the rim. Maybe it's worth $50 bucks not to get a little tiny
piece of wire poked into the tip of your finger.

You sound like you might be the guy they make those air impregnated
foam tires for, google greentyre. I don't mean this to sound like a
dis... just an idea about practicality of your circumstance. These
things sacrifice a little bit of performance for a lot of reduced
maintenance. If you're riding knobby tires on pavement and hard
packed surfaces performance probably isn't one of your primary
concerns anyway.
 




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