So this was weird...

[bikerchick68]

I was out riding with friends last night when pffffffff... flat tire on my friends rear wheel. He gets off the bike, replaces the tube and the tire will not set correctly... He is still fairly new at all of this... so I am standing by watching... I finally take a look at it and decide something is wonky with his tube, so we deflate it and put in another... SAME problem! The tube was actually poking itself out the tire when filled!

I have never seen anything this bizarre... and then it dawns on me... wrong size tubes! The bike shop had actually sold him the wrong size tubes Unbelievable... so I get one of my tubes and we do the third, and final, change and then we're rolling...

I have never heard of a bike shop selling someone the wrong size tubes before tho... very weird... that being said, it's a mistake that won't happen again... from now on we'll ALL be double checking what size tubes we're getting!

[SadieKate]

Was the wheel actually in front of the LBS when your friend bought the tube? If not, I'd say who knows where the fault lies. I see it happen all the time. Ask any poor LBS employee. Schraeder vs Presta? Long valve or short valve? 20, 23, 25, 28, 35? 650 or 700? It's enough to make 'em all go gray.

And I've seen tube mislabeled. It happens.

[bikerchick68]

hmmm... it may have been mislabeled... yeah, I think he had the bike with him... these were marked 19X26c... ??? good thing he flatted on while we were in a group tho... or he'd have been a'walking home! but it was weird... cause the bike shops here are pretty squared away... haven't ever heard of this before... so yep, maybe that's what happened...

AND, he is more proficient at changing flats now too LOL... there's always a bright side!