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Phwfffffssssst! Duh…

10.10.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

I think I’ve had a very fortunate summer and fall. My last flat tire was on May 31st, during the Real Ale Ride. Since then, I’ve ridden lots of miles over some pretty rough patches, but the tires have held up beautifully.

Tonight, I had just completed a Mopac loop, and turned into the Veloway to knock off a few quick laps before heading home for supper. I crossed the gravel and dirt parking lot, jumped on the asphalt track, and pedaled easily, taking time to grab a swig from my water bottle.

When I reached the first curve, I immediately sensed that something was wrong. The rear wheel wobbled. It lost stability. !@%&*#! A flat.

I pulled over to the side and took off the wheel. Couldn’t find the tire levers! It had been so long since I poked around in my seat bag, I forgot that I had tucked them into a nifty little wallet that I keep my patch kit in. I got the tire off, and another rider came along.

“Got everything?” he asked.

“Yep,” I said. He nodded, and kept going.

Once I got the tube out of the tire, I inspected the inside of the tire for the culprit. There it was — a tiny sliver of sharp metal, about a quarter-inch long. I had to pull it out of the tread with my teeth.

“You okay?” asked a female rider as she passed.

“Yep, I can change this myself,” I replied. “Good,” she said, and pedaled off.

I always carry a spare tube. I got it into the tire, mounted both onto the wheel, and dug around for my CO2 cartridges.

WTF? Why am I carrying around a CO2 cartridge that’s already been used, and has a puncture?

Oh, there’s another good one in here. Let’s just stick it into the inflator and screw the top down…

Pop! Phwffffsssst! Oh no! I punctured the cartridge! Quick! Get it on the presta valve before…

I screwed down the top of the inflator, and stopped the leaking — but not before a cold white residue covered the cartridge, my fingers, and my gloves.

“!@%&*#!,” I shouted. I got the rest of the CO2 into the tire. There was enough to give the tire some shape, but not enough to make it rideable. I wasn’t far from the parking lot, so I started walking the bike back.

At the beginning of the path, a biker was taking it easy next to the water fountain. I leaned my bike against the bench nearby, and asked if he had a tire pump.

“No, but I have one of these things,” he said, holding up a CO2 cartridge. “I don’t know much about them. Can you use it?”

“You betcha,” I said (I’m originally from the Midwest). “Hey, it’s the threaded kind. That’s better.”

I screwed it onto the inflator, and fitted the end over the presta valve. Pulled the trigger. Whoosh! In about one second, the tire was inflated. I tested it with my fingers. It was firm to the touch. Let’s see…if I give it one more shot, it’ll probably inflate to the pressure I like…

Bang!

“Aww,” said the guy.

I said something stronger.

I inspected the flat tire. Dummy! The tube had gotten caught between the tire and the rim. One of those things they teach you to check for when you first learn how to change a flat tire.

I got out my cell phone.

“Honey? I’m at the Veloway. Can you come pick me up?”

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Categories // Equipment, Rides Tags // bike maintenance, CO2, flat tire, pumps

The bike gets a tune up

10.09.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

Took a detour on the way home from work today. I stopped by the bike shop to pick up my bike. They had it overnight, and gave it a tune up today.

One of the perks of buying at this particular shop is that they give two free tune ups during your first year of ownership. I had it tuned up last spring, before the Armadillo Classic ride, and with a century staring me in the face, I wanted to make sure the bike went in again.

I’ve been concerned about its reluctance to shift from the small to the large chain ring, and it looked to my untrained eyes that the brake pads needed replacing, but otherwise, I expected the tune up would be routine.

It was. However, they did find that one of my brake cables had become corroded, so they replaced that. It turned out that the shifter cable to the large derailleur had lost some tension, so they tightened that up. They replaced the front brake pads, which were worn down even more than I had figured.

So, a few bucks for the cable and pads, a few more to install them, and I was out of there for less than 20 dollars. The mechanic who rang me up suggested I change my shifting routine. “Be sure you hold the shifter in until the chain completes its move to the large ring,” he said. “That’s a big jump it has to make, and it’s not just a simple click.”

Makes sense to me, although I thought I’d been doing that lately. No matter. I’ve got the bike back, and when I get home tomorrow, I’ll put it through its paces and see what kind of results the tune up actually delivered.

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Categories // Components, Equipment Tags // bike maintenance, tune up

Take care of your bike!

10.04.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

Headed out for a ride this morning, and ran into trouble almost from the start. I couldn’t shift from the small chain ring to the large one. Doggone my procrastinating!

I was supposed to get the bike in for a tuneup last week, one of the two free ones I get the first year after I bought the bike. I zoned out, though, and forgot the appointment. Now, I have to see if the bike shop will take it this coming week — which could be a problem, since everyone will want to get their bikes tuned before the Outlaw Trail ride (the century I’m shooting for) in two weeks.

I did 26 hilly miles this morning, and did get the thing to shift. In fact, it shifted easier with use. Still needs adjustment, though. And midway through the ride, I had some suspicions as to why the derailleur was acting up.

I checked it when I got home, and found that my suspicions were correct. I hadn’t done any cleaning of my rings or cogs for quite awhile. Can’t remember the last time I cleaned and oiled the chain. No wonder the poor bike is rebelling.

I decided to get thorough, and even took off the rear wheel to get at the cogs with my fancy-shmancy new bike brush. I bought the brush weeks ago, when I was stocking up on nonessentials at the local Performance shop — just tossed it in with all my other purchases on a lark — and then never used it.

This sad state of affairs is a far cry from six months ago, when I diligently cleaned the chain every two weeks, and gave the cogs and rings a bath from time to time.

Now, I know some of you will wonder why I just don’t get out my screwdriver and do the derailleur adjustment myself, too. Well, once bitten, twice shy. I did that very thing with my mountain bike several months ago (Bike Noob — you have a mountain bike? How come we never hear about that?). All I accomplished was to make it worse. Not gonna do that with my road bike.

But even a mechanical doofus can keep the gears clean. Those puppies will shine from here on out.

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Categories // Components Tags // bike maintenance, cogs

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