I was strapping on my helmet when the bike tire blew. It sounded like a gunshot.
Truly, I am cursed with respect to all aspects of transportation.
At least I wasn't, you know, on it at the time, going 20mph around a curve. I broke my collarbone that way one time. But this is the third innertube this bike has destroyed, each time forcing me to drive home from the trailhead without exercise. I'm not a superstitious man, but after the embarrassment of bringing Alice the first two times, I thought if I snuck up on the occasion instead of planning it, Fate would be caught by surprise and not thwart me.
That didn't work, but you'd forgive me for imagining that Mercury or some other classical deity has got it in for me. Do you know anyone who, in twenty years of driving:
* has been in four collisions in 36 months, none of which were his fault,
* has suffered seven tire blowouts while moving,
* has required three suspension repairs on two cars in 24 months,
* has suffered repeated warped brake rotors on one car and repeated siezed calipers on another, and
* Once had a car's exhaust system fall off while he was in it, having a conversation about trading it in?
If you do know such a person, please comment. I'd love to feel like someone's got it worse.
Something is definitely wrong here. That's not bad luck, it's a defect. I've had slow leaks, but I've never had an actual blowout in thousands of miles of riding. Well, there was the sewup tire that rolled off the rim in a corner causing me to flip over at speed, but that was my fault for not using enough adhesive.
ReplyDeleteThere must be an abrasive point either in the tire (glass particle through the carcass) or the rim (burr, chip, rough spoke head) that's holing the tube. They just don't fail that way without help unless you got a batch of bad tubes.
Dang, that was quick. Yeah, I remembered your earlier comment when I realized that all three blowouts were on the front rim. I've taken the tire off and looked at it. There is a strip of rubber covering the spoke heads, though the metal on the inside of the bead is pretty rough. It blew out in the vicinity of the valve, so I know where to look.
ReplyDeleteOf the three tubes that have blown, one was on the bike when I bought it, and two were new replacements.