Re:[CR] My first flat in years!

(Example: History:Ted Ernst)

From: <gpvb1@comcast.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re:[CR] My first flat in years!
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 04:20:43 +0000


Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 21:35:56 -0500 From: John Thompson <JohnThompson@new.rr.com> To: classic list <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Subject: [CR]My first flat in years!

I was out riding tonight and got my first flat in several years! I was riding cheap sew-ups (Hutchinson Tempo 2) and the tire went flat just as I was pulling away from a stop sign. The pavement was clear, and a quick sweep of the tire didn't show anything significant, despite the fact that the tire emptied in only a second or so. I was expecting a blow out through a cut or something. No matter, I'd check more closely when I got home. I had some worries since I had used Tufo "Extreme" gluing tape to glue the tire, and I'd heard some horror stories about it being so tough to remove that it could pull the base tape off (non-Tufo) tires. I started working at it and was able to loosen a bit from the rim, slide a thin wrench (MAFAC) between the base tape and the rim and used that to separate the tire from the rim. It came off fine, and there was even sufficient gooiness left on the rim to hold the spare for the ride home. I'm not going to worry about the Tufo tape anymore, I guess! It certainly makes it much easier to mount the tire.

When I got home, I looked at the flat tire more closely. It appears that the valve separated from the tube, so it looks like the tire is a goner. But I don't know why it happened. The tire was firmly attached to the rim, so I don't think it was an issue of it creeping and pulling the stem crooked -- it was straight when I pumped the tire just prior to the ride anyway. At $15 a pop I'm not going to worry about it much, and at least I got a couple hundred miles out of it before it died.

-- John (john@os2.dhs.org) Appleton WI USA ------------------------------

Funny things, those cheap tubulars..... ;-) Greg "like, totally tubular" Parker Ann Arbor, Meechigan