Professional Noob
Yes, plural.
Friday night on the way home from work, I ran over a nail. Pop --- fssssssss! Flat on the rear tire.
After bungling the change and walking home pushing the bike, I got it fixed and got some new tubes and CO2 cartridges. Next time I went to bike in to work, I discovered my FRONT tire had a flat. Must've been a slow leak, I figured, probably from that same nail.
So I drove in to work instead, and fixed the flat this morning.
I was careful to run my fingers along the inside of the tire just in case, even though I was pretty sure it'd been that same nail that got both tires. I found nothing, so I changed the tube and went out for a ride close to home.
Within 45 minutes, my front tire was flat again. I pumped it up with my CO2 cartridge and tried to make it home. Somewhere in that last 15 minutes, it got flat AGAIN.
The only thing I can think of right now is that when I changed the front, the valve was leaking when the little twisty-cap was open. I could hear it, but it stopped when I closed the valve. Faulty valve, perhaps?
Additionally, all of a sudden my rear derailleur isn't working right - it doesn't always shift when I tell it to. No, it doesn't shift when I tell it to, and then it'll shift later, like when I hit a bump. Perhaps I moved something I didn't mean to when I was changing the rear flat that first time?
I'm kind of thinking it's time to bring the bike back to the shop and get some more help...
Roads were made for journeys...
Basic Bike maintenance is a must.
Your rear derailleur could be slightly bent or your wheel isn't seated in the stays properly. Or it just needs to be tuned. Very easy to do....not so easy to explain in a forum. If you take it to the LBS have the mechanic show you how to tune the rear derailleur.
As far as the multiple flats......I carry cotton balls in my bike seat bag.....If I have a very small sliver of glass or metal that has made it's way into the tire you can find it with the cotton ball. Take a peice of the cotton ball and pull it apart so it's good and fluffly. Then pull it around the inside of the tire.....it will almost always snag on the sliver.
If you think it's the valve....spit on it and look for bubbles.
Another reason for multiple flats is either no rim tape or your rim tape needs to be replaced.
Basic Bike maintenance is a must. Your rear derailleur could be slightly bent or your wheel isn't seated in the stays properly. Or it just needs to be tuned. Very easy to do....not so easy to explain in a forum. If you take it to the LBS have the mechanic show you how to tune the rear derailleur. As far as the multiple flats......I carry cotton balls in my bike seat bag.....If I have a very small sliver of glass or metal that has made it's way into the tire you can find it with the cotton ball. Take a peice of the cotton ball and pull it apart so it's good and fluffly. Then pull it around the inside of the tire.....it will almost always snag on the sliver. If you think it's the valve....spit on it and look for bubbles. Another reason for multiple flats is either no rim tape or your rim tape needs to be replaced.
Guess who is going to start carrying a cotton ball in their bike seat bag? Thats awesome
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
2014 Goals:
Stay healthy
Enjoy life
Team HTFU NCTR Driver
As for this cotton ball wussery, I prefer the swear-then-bleed method of finding sharp things in your tire. I find that it underscores the transcendental nature of the situation.
Shifting - first thing, open your rear quick-release, then put some weight on the bike to make sure the rear wheel is seated completely while you re-tighten the QR. Assuming that doesn't work, you may have bumped something, though in my experience rear deraileurs are pretty resistant to casual bumps. Cable stretch is most likely, and it can appear to be a sort of sudden change - given how your bike will resist shifting until you hit a bump or something, I'd say cable stretch is pretty likely.
How old is your bike (or, for that matter, your cables - I have 500ish miles on my latest batch of cables, and they're shitting as much as shifting, if I don't pay attention to what I'm doing)?
Another possibilimity is that your rear deraileur is, again as slo said, kinda twiqued. According to my mechanic (Brother Berger), the major manufacturers aren't checking the RD hanger alignment very well these days, and so he's been checking every frame they get. The nice folks at Park Tool make a doohickey for measuring such alignment; your shop damn well better have one.
Happy pedalin' -
did
rectumdamnnearkilledem
Cable stretch is most likely, and it can appear to be a sort of sudden change - given how your bike will resist shifting until you hit a bump or something, I'd say cable stretch is pretty likely. How old is your bike (or, for that matter, your cables - I have 500ish miles on my latest batch of cables, and they're shitting as much as shifting, if I don't pay attention to what I'm doing)?
Cable stretch is most likely, and it can appear to be a sort of sudden change - given how your bike will resist shifting until you hit a bump or something, I'd say cable stretch is pretty likely.
Yep...I had some of this after I'd been riding for a few months, if you recall. Mostly not a problem, now.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
And just who fixed it? Eh? Who fixed it?
Oh, yeah, that's right, I did. And I'll do it again, too.
Well, I took it in to the shop tonight. Turns out I had a thorn in my front tire. D'oh! No wonder the tube didn't want to hold air, lol!
As for the shifting, the first thing the mechanic did was release the quick-release on the bike, turn it a little bit, and re-clamp it. He said it wasn't in properly. Good guess, guys! It had been my first time changing a flat, and I didn't know I *could* put it back on wrong! It's dark now, but I'll be taking a ride tomorrow morning.
And... I bought shoes and pedals! Guess my ride tomorrow morning better include a bunch of grass, ha ha ha!!!
Wish me luck! And thanks, everyone!
And yes... fine idea with the cotton balls. I'd rubbed my fingers around the inside of the rim, but had missed the thorn.
So now I debate whether I should stick with SPDs, which I am 100% comfy with. Or do I try an entirely new type of pedal, and dedicated road shoes...and risk not liking a different pedal.
ROFL! I should have known better than to bring up shoes around you...
They're Shimano R086L's. I wear a 42. I tried on every road shoe the store had in my size, and these were the only ones that felt comfortable, so that's what I went with. The pedals are Ascent ATB clipless pedals. The guy at the shop said that that style was easier to walk with than the other. That was a big factor for me because I have to climb concrete stairs in and out of my apartment...
I'm off to go fall in the grass!!!
ROFL! I should have known better than to bring up shoes around you... They're Shimano R086L's. I wear a 42. I tried on every road shoe the store had in my size, and these were the only ones that felt comfortable, so that's what I went with. The pedals are Ascent ATB clipless pedals. The guy at the shop said that that style was easier to walk with than the other. That was a big factor for me because I have to climb concrete stairs in and out of my apartment... I'm off to go fall in the grass!!!
Yeah...I hate my feet. At least once I find cycling shoes to fit I will be set for a few years, unlike with running shoes. I used to live in NB, now I can't wear them at all since they changed the last in almost their entire running line. I have heard that Shimano shoes run wide, so that is one brand I am looking at. The problem I run into is that men's/unisex shoes may be wide enough, but too loose in the heels. So I pretty much need to find women's shoes that are wide in the forefoot.
Sounds like you are in an SPD pedal. I really like mine. Almost without fail I can get clipped-in and moving much faster than did, even though he has far more experience on a bike.
Ok, so I had my first ride in the shoes this morning. I spent some time at home grabbing the counter and practicing: In, Out, In, Out, In, Out. I have a lot harder time getting clipped in. Out seems to be pretty easy. The bike shop guy said he was loosening the clips with a little screw a bit and when I got better at it I'd want to tighten it up. But, since I have such a hard time getting clipped in right now, I think I'll wait on that.
So... I didn't fall down (this time) BUT....
I got another flat.
Another thorn.
That's 4 flats in 3 rides.
I'm getting kind of tired of this. Yes, I'm getting better and faster at changing tires. But I really didn't want the practice!
It makes me scared to ride very far from home...
Where the heck are you riding that you have so many thorns on the road? Egads?
Same places I'd been riding the last 2 months... with no flats previous.
My sister asked if there was a seasonal shedding-of-thorns going on. I'm starting to wonder myself...
Same places I'd been riding the last 2 months... with no flats previous. My sister asked if there was a seasonal shedding-of-thorns going on. I'm starting to wonder myself...
Yeah, I'm guessing your sister is on to something. That stinks, though. I'd take care with any barefoot running, too. Owie!
Oh Mighty Wing
glad to hear you haven't fallen...
the flat thing - that BLOWS... that's all i got for that...I hope it's seasonal... can you take your bike somewhere and start your ride there?? instead of starting from home... maybe the thorns are only in a small radius... and scary to think about a thorn that pokes through rubber... yikes!