3 flat tires in a row??

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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

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

Dude, buy some tubes and a pump and learn how to fix your own (and others')
flats. 16 bucks a pop?!? Sheesh.

On Apr 15, 11:21 am, c <smalltalkingchic...@gmail.com> 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

You pay someone to fix a flat???? As mentioned, buy some tubes and fix
your own.

What they all said, plus: there are bound to be times and places where
fixing a flat is way easier than pushing the bike to a shop.

On Apr 15, 3:50 pm, "Leo Lichtman" <l.licht...@worldnet.att.net>
wrote:
> What they all said, plus: there are bound to be times and places where
> fixing a flat is way easier than pushing the bike to a shop.

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?

c wrote:
> On Apr 15, 3:50 pm, "Leo Lichtman" <l.licht...@worldnet.att.net>
> wrote:
>> What they all said, plus: there are bound to be times and places where
>> fixing a flat is way easier than pushing the bike to a shop.
>
> 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 had a rash of random flats the last rainy season before I changed out
my tires on both bikes. It was always little slivers of rock and glass,
in different locations. The only thing you don't know is what caused
the flats. I'd want to find that out for sure if I were you.
Otherwise, we are all just guessing. I learned the hard way that it is
not enough just to fix the flat by patching the tube, changing out the
tube, etc. I left a thin little metal wire in a tire once and promptly
got another flat. Hope you figure it out.

<smalltalkingchicken@gmail.com> 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

To each his own, but I concur with those who say you should get a patch
kit and a frame pump and do your own. Surely the time you spend getting
the bike to the shop, filling out paperwork, waiting for their employee to
fix it, returning to pick the bike up, and whatever incidentals I've
missed, all adds up to more than "20-ish minutes."
I had four flats in ten miles of riding last fall, way out in the
middle of nowhere (Elberta, Utah). Patched the first flat, and the tube
because it had a good-sized hole in it. Started to put the thing back
together, and had the stem blow. (This was a metal Presta stem. It tore
loose where it attached to the rubber.) Replaced the tube (another thing
you should do: carry a spare), rode about five miles, had another flat.
Checked to see if it was from the same cause as the first. Nope,
completely different position on the wheel. Patched again, headed for the
nearest town. Limped into town on a slow leak, and was supremely
fortunate that there was a very good bike shop just blocks away. [Well
deserved plug: it was Downhill Cyclery in Payson, Utah.] Got there only
to find that a new tire and tube cost more money than I had on me, but
fortunately I have the number of one of my credit cards memorized and the
guy in the shop hand-entered it. Put the new rubber on, and finished the
ride.
Moral: you may not have your next flat close to a bike shop. Carry a
patch kit and pump, MINIMUM. Consider using Kevlar tires, armor strips,
and/or Slimed tubes. (You'll get a lot of debate on their relative merits
on this NG.) If you're going far afield, carry spare tube, or two, and
consider a spare tire as well. Also carry money or plastic. Were you
ever a Boy Scout? Remember the motto?

Bill

__o | Be prepared, and be careful not to do
_`\(,_ | Your good deeds when there's no one watching you.
(_)/ (_) | --Tom Lehrer

D_Frumious_B@ndersnat.ch wrote:
>
> Also carry money or plastic.

Not a bad idea. I always carry my cell phone but not much else.

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:21:06 -0700 (PDT), c
<smalltalkingchicken@gmail.com> 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!!!!


__o | Every time I see an adult on a bicycle....
_`\(,_ | I no longer despair for the human race.
(_)/ (_) | ---H.G. Wells---

>> 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

It's not rocket science to know that if you flat on a ride and don't fix it
yourself, it's going to take a lot more than 20-ish minutes to let the bike
shop do it. Unless, of course, you're riding to the bike shop and getting a
flat once you get there. Then it might take less time to let them fix it.
Geez...

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

Define normal? When shit happens is that normal? Yes, it is normal for shit
to happen. And what about extra shit? Is it normal for extra shit to happen
sometimes? Er, yep. Sometimes shit heaps up upon shit.

>>
>> 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?

Harry Brogan wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:21:06 -0700 (PDT), c
> <smalltalkingchicken@gmail.com> 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.

"Bill Sornson" <askme@ask.me> wrote in message
news:48054a76$0$20189$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Harry Brogan wrote:
>> On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:21:06 -0700 (PDT), c
>> <smalltalkingchicken@gmail.com> 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.

"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. :-)

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:44:44 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
<rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> 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

catzz66 <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:
> D_Frumious_B@ndersnat.ch wrote:
> >
> > Also carry money or plastic.

> Not a bad idea. I always carry my cell phone but not much else.

Also a very good idea, which I adhere to. But here in the wild West
you can't always get coverage, so I still carry all that other stuff, plus
a bus token.
Besides, if I'd had to call for a bailout on that ride, the person most
likely to have been home and available for rescue duty at the time would
have been my mother, and you know how mothers are...


Bill

__o | Conservatism makes no poetry, breathes no prayer,
_`\(,_ | has no invention; it is all memory.
(_)/ (_) | --Ralph Waldo Emerson

- 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

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 piss 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

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.

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.

"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.