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three flat tires in no time

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 2013.04.26

On the way home from a PMI event last night one of my bike tires ran flat. I was only a few blocks from home, mercifully. But screwing around with it at 22:30 was a little more than I wanted. It turned out to have both a puncture and a tear. Both holes were tiny, but I expect the puncture happened first and the tear happened as I glided to a halt on the flattening tire.

And then I found the patched tire flat again this morning. So I pulled out a spare (never used) and tossed the old tube in the garbage.

When I was just about half way to work, something punctured the tire & tube again. And this time, the tire slid off the rim before I could bring the bike to a halt. My confidence in the tire in tatters, I walked the bike the five or six kilometers to work (I was already on my spare) and later bought both a new tire and two new tubes.

The bike is a KHS, and I have to say that I'm not impressed with their choices in parts. The first problem was the seat post that wouldn't stay put; it kept sliding into the seat tube. My attempts to fix this led me to over-tighten the bolt in the clamp that held the post in place; that bolt then snapped while I was riding the bike. Then, after all of three months of normal daily commuting, the front brake pads had to be replaced. I'd never seen anything like it. I rotated the worn out pads to the rear (where they'll rarely be used) and put the rear ones on the front. Then I decided that the seat wasn't as comfortable as the cheap third party seat that had come with the 23-year-old bike I was using previously, so I switched that out. And then the handle grips, which I replaced with $15 straight tube-style grips.

Three good things that happened today:

  1. Had a nice walk to work; at least it was sunny and cool.
  2. I have a nice new rear tire.
  3. I found some self-adhesive tube patches, like I used in Japan with great success. I have no idea how anyone can make a go of glue-on patches, they just don't work for me at all. 

rand()m quote

For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.

—Alice Kahn