CuHead
Active Member
It's been a few years since my last flat tire, but had one yesterday. Glad the days are longer and I started my 25miler before 5pm. Which tire went flat? The one loaded with most of the weight, needing handling of chain and sprockets. I had two different passersby inquire if I needed assistance, but they didn't stay for the show, which ended with a smile because I was packing a pair of spairs. I bought the spair co2 and adapter about 30 years ago when I was doing triathlons, never needed it, but my mini hand pump was iffy, having been repaired itself with some adhesive holding the head to the tube, so I was packing both items below my seat. The hole dead center in the tire (and tube) was probably from glass on the road, which must've popped out of the tire. I used the hand pump to give the new tube shape, assembled everything, then adapter to valve, and screwed in a co2 cartridge. It took effort to puncture the co2 seal, but eventually it made small noise and got frosty, tire filled almost instantly. I then unscrewed the cartridge from the adapter, and I believe that screw/unscrew order keeps the high pressure in the tire from escaping. 16gr co2 cartridge filled my 700x25 tire so that I was confident to finish the last 18mi on the repair. I measured pressure this AM and hand held gauge read 80psi. I usually run 100psi. In the future, I'm going to pack a couple rubber gloves with my gear because even with a waxed chain, my hands got dirty.
