(no subject)

[chhotii]

A bicycle is fun, until it gets a flat tire, and then it's not so fun any more.

Man, it seems like I'm getting a flat tire every 10 miles. Maybe 20. It's hard to track because I'll go out biking, get a flat tire, then my bike will sit in the garage for a couple of months at least before Rich fixes it, so my biking miles are really pretty sparse.

This is unsustainable. Maybe I should get a new bicycle. Surely there must be something wrong with the bicycle to cause this. I was biking on some pretty sketchy trails today, but it's a hybrid, it's supposed to do a little trail riding, right?

Comments

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

could be you have particularly thin tyres, and they let any and all metal, broken glass, locust thorns (we have a lot of these), and such pop your ride.

so. you get could more aggressive tyres, and/or no flat strips, and/or no-flat or run-flat tubes.

also also, changing or patchin a tube takes 15-20 minutes, and is easy peasy (free demos) even on the trail. get some spares.

i've seen someone in a racing situation change their tube in less than 5 minutes flat (ooh pun).

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[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

Check the *rim* itself, and see if there any spokes poking up through the rim tape.

[ceo]

Is it always the same tire? If so, check the inside of the tires. You might have a piece of glass or metal embedded in there that's eventually puncturing the tube. Another possibility is that one of the spokes is sticking up through the rim.

Also, is he patching the tube or replacing it? I've always replaced tubes rather than patching them, but that may be unreasonable prejudice left over from being stranded miles from home by an unsuccessful patch when I was a kid.

Best plan, of course, is to have him teach you how to fix flats; it's really pretty easy, and if you carry a spare tube, tire irons and a pump you won't get stranded. Or I'd be happy to teach you next time I'm up there. (Another possibility is that he's doing it wrong and getting the tube caught between the rim and the tire. The way to avoid that is to inflate the tube slightly before putting the tire back on the rim.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/cgull_/]

Nope, you shouldn't get a flat every ten miles. I get one every 1000 or so. I'll allow that some of that is experience, but still...

Pretty much anything that can cause excess flat tires on a bike is easy to fix, you don't need a new one. (Unless you *want* a new one, in which case, I'm not going to stop you :)

The "sketchiness" of a trail shouldn't matter, unless there's glass on it, or rocks big enough to knock you around and give you pinch flats, but you'd know about that already.

One thought, in addition to the others already posted: make sure that the tires are properly inflated before you go out. If they're low on air to begin with, they're much more susceptible to going flat. If you don't ride at least once or twice a week, it's best to pump the tires up every time you go out.

[frotz.livejournal.com]

I was just going to write pretty much the same thing as this; if you're getting flats every 10-20 miles something is very wrong (but easily fixable), and "check inflation before you go" is at the top of my list.