D
Don Whybrow
Guest
On the commute yesterday I thought that my tyres were getting a bit
flat, as they do. So after putting the princesses to bed, having tea and
watching Holby City I nipped out to the shed to put a bit more air in.
Shouldn't take to long I though. Wrong.
As we all know, the first thing you need to do is remove the dust caps.
Well, they weren't exactly dust caps. Last Christmas one of the family
gave me a pair of tyre flies to put on so I could look "cool & trendy"
(tm). They wouldn't fit on the bike I had at the time as it had Presta
valves (hooray). When I got my new bike, it came with Schrader valves
and it so they were fitted. 2 months later... the front one was a bit
stiff to come off, but it did. However the rear was not going to budge.
I suspect that the combination of 2 different metals (aluminium & brass)
in the presence of moisture might have had something to do with it. A
trip back to the house was called for to get the tool box. All
combinations of pliers, wrenches, adjustable spanners were tried along
with lashings on GT85. This was not helped by the bit of the valve that
was accessible being too small to get all but the adjustable spanner to.
Eventually the inevitable happened and there was the unmistakable sound
of air escaping. Yup, I had ripped the valve from the tube.
B*gg*r!
Last month I had a visit by the fairy and took the tyre manufacturer up
on their 1 year guarantee, expecting to only get a new tyre out of it.
The very nice people I contacted sent me not 1, but 2 new tyres and
inner tubes. These were in the shed waiting for a need. The need had
come. On closer examination of the tyres I spotted that although they
were the same make/model/size, they could take a higher pressure (up
from 65psi to 80psi) and the inners had Presta valves.
Phew!
Now, changing the rear tyre on a bike fitted with derailers is not too
hard, the wheel comes off nice and easy once you remember to let the
brakes open out. My lovely Nemesis has hub gears and roller brakes
though, meaning 2 cables going to the hub under tension with different
release techniques. This was my first attempt to get the rear wheel off.
I won't go into all the details here, but I now know that next time I
need to get the rear off it will be a bloody sight quicker and I won't
have to fiddle about getting the brake tension right when it all goes
back together.
It was not necessary to change the tyre & inner on the front wheel, but
since I had a nice new tyre and tube going that could take a higher
pressure, I thought I might as well. comparably this took hardly any
time at all, after all it was the second time I had taken the front off.
Lessons learned:
1. Never, ever fit a tyre fly made of aluminium to a brass valve.
2. Always use the plastic dust caps provided.
3. Always keep a spare inner tube around.
The offending bits can be seen here, still securely joined together.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98313423@N00/132529421/
--
Don Whybrow
Sequi Bonum Non Time
Freedom defined is freedom denied. (Illuminatus)
flat, as they do. So after putting the princesses to bed, having tea and
watching Holby City I nipped out to the shed to put a bit more air in.
Shouldn't take to long I though. Wrong.
As we all know, the first thing you need to do is remove the dust caps.
Well, they weren't exactly dust caps. Last Christmas one of the family
gave me a pair of tyre flies to put on so I could look "cool & trendy"
(tm). They wouldn't fit on the bike I had at the time as it had Presta
valves (hooray). When I got my new bike, it came with Schrader valves
and it so they were fitted. 2 months later... the front one was a bit
stiff to come off, but it did. However the rear was not going to budge.
I suspect that the combination of 2 different metals (aluminium & brass)
in the presence of moisture might have had something to do with it. A
trip back to the house was called for to get the tool box. All
combinations of pliers, wrenches, adjustable spanners were tried along
with lashings on GT85. This was not helped by the bit of the valve that
was accessible being too small to get all but the adjustable spanner to.
Eventually the inevitable happened and there was the unmistakable sound
of air escaping. Yup, I had ripped the valve from the tube.
B*gg*r!
Last month I had a visit by the fairy and took the tyre manufacturer up
on their 1 year guarantee, expecting to only get a new tyre out of it.
The very nice people I contacted sent me not 1, but 2 new tyres and
inner tubes. These were in the shed waiting for a need. The need had
come. On closer examination of the tyres I spotted that although they
were the same make/model/size, they could take a higher pressure (up
from 65psi to 80psi) and the inners had Presta valves.
Phew!
Now, changing the rear tyre on a bike fitted with derailers is not too
hard, the wheel comes off nice and easy once you remember to let the
brakes open out. My lovely Nemesis has hub gears and roller brakes
though, meaning 2 cables going to the hub under tension with different
release techniques. This was my first attempt to get the rear wheel off.
I won't go into all the details here, but I now know that next time I
need to get the rear off it will be a bloody sight quicker and I won't
have to fiddle about getting the brake tension right when it all goes
back together.
It was not necessary to change the tyre & inner on the front wheel, but
since I had a nice new tyre and tube going that could take a higher
pressure, I thought I might as well. comparably this took hardly any
time at all, after all it was the second time I had taken the front off.
Lessons learned:
1. Never, ever fit a tyre fly made of aluminium to a brass valve.
2. Always use the plastic dust caps provided.
3. Always keep a spare inner tube around.
The offending bits can be seen here, still securely joined together.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98313423@N00/132529421/
--
Don Whybrow
Sequi Bonum Non Time
Freedom defined is freedom denied. (Illuminatus)
