A disappearing cut (in my tire)
I know that flats are a part of every cyclists life, but two in a row on the same tire make me mad. And of course it was a rear tire...
I suspect that the problem that caused the first flat also caused the second. I checked the tire - really I did - but I didn't find anything suspicious after the first flat. And there was a span of weeks between the two flats. The second time, I pulled the tire off of the rim and checked for problems. Again, I didn't find any - so I remounted the tire with a new tube. I pumped up the tire, and then looked at the tire again.
Hey - what's that flap sticking up? Ah, there's the source of the problem. The tire was sliced, but when I looked before the sliced piece was stuck to the rest of the tire and was totally invisible. Once I saw the problem I pulled the tire off again and re-inspected the inside of the tire. While the slice on the outside was fairly long (at least an inch), the hole on the inside of the tire was very small, almost invisible. Ah - time for a new tire. Of course the flat was on one of my little-wheeled bikes, and most of the local shops don't stock the tires I like. I usually keep a spare around, but for some reason I didn't have one this time. I ordered two new tires even though I only needed one, so now my bike has a new tire and I have a spare (that hopefully I won't need!).
My bike is much happier now, and I'm happy that this happened now and not next month - since the bike with the problem is going to be my transportation next month as I wander in Nova Scotia. (And hopefully I didn't just jinx myself by saying that!)
The lesson from my experience - one that I know but somehow ignored after the first flat - is to always make sure you find the source of the flat. Lesson learned once more...
--- Denise