Good News, I Got a Flat!

I got a flat tire recently, and ended up being pretty happy about it. 

I guess this requires some explanation because getting a flat is most typically a negative experience.  Back in March of 2011 I purchased a new tire, the Pilot City model by MICHELIN.  I lived in a city at the time and still do so it seemed like an appropriate model.  When I lived in New York City I would say I averaged about one flat every couple of months.  The Pilot has been an exceptional tire - no flats in 19 months of daily city riding (NYC and now Boston).  I am happy to say that streak is still alive, even though I got a flat.

Wait? What?  How can the streak still be alive?  Well, that brings me to the "happy" part about getting this flat.  I pulled my tire off and looked for damage - none to be found.  I then proceeded to pump up the tube and discovered something interesting - the hole was facing straight down at the rim.  The flat had nothing to do with the tire being punctured, instead it had to do with the tube protruding through a spoke nipple hole.

A few months ago I had a new rear wheel built.  The wheels that came with my Globe were not the strongest and I ended up busting a spoke about every three months.  Finally I got tired of it and decided to have a new Mavic built.  As it turns out the rim tape was a little messy around one of the nipple holes and when I pumped up my tire with some extra PSI the tube punctured.  Thus the flat had nothing to do with the performance or the tire - streak still in tact!

Sometimes performing one maintenance task will assist with another, and if your whip has fenders, taking off the wheel provides the perfect opportunity to clean the inside of your fenders.

I took the old sock I have tied to my frame and used it to dust all of the dirt out of my fender.  And when I installed the tire this time my sterile matrix did not suffer any damage =)

Comments

[Champs]

As a fan of Michelin road tires, the Pilot City line seemed like a no brainer for my fixed gear burner bike. ANYTHING BUT. Just like the Pro3 line, it was flat city.