Essthreetee

So I was out on my Torpado today. Rode to the top of my favorite local hill...doing sprints up it.
On my way home (3 miles out), sitting up riding and getting a drink...CLUNK, PSSS, PSSS, PSSS, PSSS...rear tire goes flat. I hit something, don't know what...I looked around and didn't see anything.

Luckily my personal savior (my wife) came and got me...so I could fix tire at home.

Just thought I'd share...

jimmuller 

Bummer about the flat.

Your problem is, your bike and the tires aren't C&V enough. Proper gumwalls wouldn't have had this problem.

You could have hit a chunk of metal, glass, or lots of other things. It really doesn't matter, does it? Check for a cut in the casing though.

etherhuffer 

Seems to me you were hit by a torpado. ahem.
Whilst cycling over well travelled bike paths in Seattle, glass and debris strewn, it seems to me the Cascade bicycle club should buy a 4 foot wide mini street sweeper. People could donate to get it and run it. One sweep in the Spring and Fall would go a long way to reduce flats.

I am going out on saturday on my Pasela PT's 32mm to see how they do in gravel. Taking a tube and patch kit and Park tire boot.

eschlwc

i don't mind a flat. it's one of the few times i talk to other cyclists. they always slow and ask if i've got it.

solidarity.

VarVintg

In West Texas where I think the "goat head " is the state flower, we use liners. Best $10.00 I've ever spent!

jimmuller 

A month or so ago I started a thread about a string of flats I went through. I think it was defective tubes. Oh, and a tire tread that had become shall we say too thin. But the tubes developed a few leaks while the bike was just sitting in the basement.

3speedslow

Sorry to hear about your Ridus Interruptus.

I had a huge pile of used inner tubes I have held on to in a big ol' Coca Cola crate. While loading the car of my many tubes during this fast move to the coast, I was grabbing only the ones that seem to still have air in them. Thought that would indicate good- to- go. Looking at one of these for a size though, when I pinched the side flat I noticed a crack in the crease. Went back and did the same to many of them and found most were ready to disintergrate. Would have been short rides on them !

wound up leaving most of them there. I have lived and learned.

rhm

I had a wickedly bad stretch of flats a few years ago. I was getting punctures, pinch flats, rim strip issues, defective valves, you name it. I don't even want to talk about it for fear of angering the flat tire gods again. But it appears that I served my penance and my luck has improved. I don't think I've had more than a dozen flats this year. Knock on wood.

We've been married 21 years and I have yet to call my wife to come pick me up from a ride. I'm sure she wouldn't mind, but I'd rather get home a little late with dirty hands than to call the sag wagon. Again, knock on wood.

eschlwc

that sounds like either a helluva lot of riding or really terrible luck.

or maybe you bike through gaza?

Lascauxcaveman 

I'm getting better at carrying spare tubes AND a patch kit these days. Just a few 4- and 5-mile walks home will learn ya' real good on that.

Essthreetee

I just hit 18 years last month. I think that calling her makes her feel comfortable with me riding.

I now always have a tube, patch kit, and some sort of inflation (co2 or pump), I just find it easier to change in my garage...given the choice.

rhm

Well, I haven't kept track of all my flats this year, a dozen is a maximum estimate. For about 2400 miles of riding so far. I think that's pretty good.

Flat tires are a part of riding a bicycle. Get used to it, get good at fixing them, and forget about it. I'm sure I hate them as much as the next guy, but I rarely let a flat tire ruin a ride.

ofgit

My 'universal' seat bag has both 26" and 700c powdered tubes in plastic bags, a patch kit, 2 tire tools, allen wrenches, small crescent, a Ritchey combo tool w/chain breaker and a shop towel with a Blackburn Air Stik slung under it. Easily swapped to the other bikes.

gaucho777 

Be glad you didn't flat an expensive Challenge Parigi-Roubaix tubular like I did last night. I plan to bust out the needle & thread tonight while watching a baseball game. It was my first flat in about 2,500 miles, so I can't complain. Although repairing tubulars can be a hassle, I find I get fewer flats than on clinchers--no pinch flats, no basetape issues, no tube installation snafus.

Giacomo 1 

I know purists might frown, but does the sealant like the one in the link below work, at least for a quick getaway?

Hutchinson Fast'air Inflator/Sealer *ORMD* Fast Air [3248382044763] - $12.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

caci

Out here in goat head land, they mowed the bike trails a few weeks ago and I got stung 4 times in 4 days. The City has since "swept" the path and I've been good so far.
LBS recommended FlatAttack tire sealant. I got the messy, PITA, bottle and finessed it into my Presta tubes, but you can buy pre-loaded tubes in popular sizes.
Yeah, it/they add weight, but the weight is becoming less of a concern vs. flat-fixin'.
Thats the very reason I ditched the cute little, lightweight mini-pump in favor of a full size frame pump. 200 strokes to get to 80psi in a 700 x 23? Really?

Bledfor Days

At the start of the Vancouver Bike Rave, a pretty young girl on a decorated cruiser got a flat. Someone in my group pointed her in my direction because I was showing off my new Lezyne pump earlier. Turned out it was an led light that screws onto a Schrader valve stem that was depressing the core. A quick air up and a free glo-stick and she was on her way. I received a peck on the cheek and a hug for my troubles.

texastwister

Not meaning to sound rude , but first thing to do is to get rid of those Michelin Dynamics , read the reviews on them ,Heres my answer ,VITTORIA RUBINO with Bell tubes from WalMart , yes I said Bell tubes from WalMart !

gaucho777 

Don't take this personally, but "Bike Rave" sounds like a bad idea.

rccardr 

Rented a bike yesterday from Epic Sports in Bismarck ND, a pretty nice Specialized Roubaix. Not overly fond of Sora, but generally speaking not a bad road bike. Did 40-ish miles up to Milepost 100 on the Lewis & Clark 1804, spent some time at Double Ditch (look it up, pretty cool place), then back down to Mandan. Five miles out from the store got a rear flat, luckily I had my own saddle bag with me and was able to replace the tube in a jiffy. Was some small piece of very fine wire/metal that had worked its way thru the casing and into the tube. Where does that crap come from? Anyhow, the shop was the recipient of a new tube on their rental bike and I had an excellent day. Good thing, too, as Mrs. Doc was in meetings all day and wouldn't have been able to come get me...

Essthreetee

Yeah. The michelins were simply a cheap quick fix from a store that I had a credit at. I figured I would run me till I couldn't. Whatever I hit sliced the tar outta the rear, so I guess the time has come.

On my LeMond I use Continental Grand Prix Four Seasons and have been real happy with them. Time to get a new set....

Bledfor Days

It was an amazing event. Over two thousand people on every sort of bicycle riding the seawall around the city to the beat of music. It started at dusk and carried on till you felt like. A good portion of the bikes were decked out in neon. I had patio lanterns on my Miele Beta. Biggest peleton. Ever.

twolegs

trust me, your wife is more pissed off about it than you

Ed.

That does it. I have to drag my Torpado out, blow off the cobwebs and pose her in front of the garage door for a photo, even if she is sans chain...

holden west

Please do. That's the first Torpado I've seen since I saw it reviewed way back in the '86 Bicycle Guide magazine. I still have that copy.

Out this neck of the woods, if there is excessive debris on the highway a phone call to highway maintenance will send a sweeper truck to make it bicycle friendly again. Yeah, those microscopic pieces of wire, I hate them.

My Gatorskins seem to be a tight fit on my Campagnolo rims, making flat changing a PITA. From what I'm reading on this forum the Vittorio's might be an easier fit.