Damn Puncture

Mark (MSA) said:

Bought a pair of Continental Gator skins (puncture resistant
apparently), fitted one to the rear last weekend, complete with a
tyre liner. This morning I got a puncture.

I have a theory that there are two varieties of Gatorskin: amour-plated
and Dairylea. Unfortunately there appears to be no way of telling which
one you've got until you start riding on it.

--
Dave...

Quoted message said:

Mark (MSA) said:

Bought a pair of Continental Gator skins (puncture resistant
apparently), fitted one to the rear last weekend, complete with a
tyre liner. This morning I got a puncture.

I have a theory that there are two varieties of Gatorskin: amour-plated
and Dairylea. Unfortunately there appears to be no way of telling which
one you've got until you start riding on it.

It appears I had the cheesy variety, fingers crossed they will morph
into armour-plated from now on!

--
Mark
_______________________________________
Nerves of Steel, Heart of Gold, Knob of Butter

"Mark (MSA)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Commute bike. Gommitalia (4.99) on rear. 3000 miles, 2 punctures
during tyres life (pretty good in my book). Noticed last week it was
looking shabby, cuts, abrasions, lumps missing. I don't usually let it
go that far, but under a mudguard it's not as simple to check...well it
is, but you know what I mean.

Bought a pair of Continental Gator skins (puncture resistant
apparently), fitted one to the rear last weekend, complete with a tyre
liner. This morning I got a puncture.

To make it worse, it was 6.10am, pitch black on a country lane.
Luckily there was a farmhouse about 200 metres away with a light
outside so I walked teh biek to there before changing it.
Life is not fair sometimes!
Mark

Had three punctures in my front tyre last Thursday morning on the way to
work (11 miles SE London roads, bit wet although rain had stopped);
Gatorskin, not very old.
Each time, I turned the tyre inside out and checked inside and outside for
the offending object and removed it.
Similar object each time, one tiny flake of glass and two bits of stone. All
very similar in size. Smaller than a match head and no thicker than the tip
of a small penknife blade.
There are tiny cuts in the tyre which are only visible when the deflated
tyre is squeezed, I wonder if the cuts are making it easy for the shards to
get in?
Of course, the bits that made the first cuts didn't have a hole to get in
through.

Paul.

Paulmouk said:

Had three punctures in my front tyre last Thursday morning on the way to
work (11 miles SE London roads, bit wet although rain had stopped);
Gatorskin, not very old.
Each time, I turned the tyre inside out and checked inside and outside for
the offending object and removed it.
Similar object each time, one tiny flake of glass and two bits of stone. All
very similar in size. Smaller than a match head and no thicker than the tip
of a small penknife blade.
There are tiny cuts in the tyre which are only visible when the deflated
tyre is squeezed, I wonder if the cuts are making it easy for the shards to
get in?
Of course, the bits that made the first cuts didn't have a hole to get in
through.

It may be with such small flints[1] that they embed themselves int eh
tyre and gradually work through. It can be worthwhile checking the
tyres and removing the several of small flints you find there before
they get through to the causing a puncture stage. I used to do this
fairly regularly when I was a SW London cyclist and would end up with a
small pile of debris that needed removing. You can then make temporary
repairs with superglue to the larger cuts that have not pierced the
casing.

...d

[1] read glass/stone/metal/sharp thingy for flint.

And guess what I got this morning..

Grr.. At least it only takes a few minutes extra to walk in, so I'll
pop down to the LBS later and get a new tube.

...d

David Martin said:

And guess what I got this morning..

Grr.. At least it only takes a few minutes extra to walk in, so I'll
pop down to the LBS later and get a new tube.

Relax in the knowledge that it's the Height Of Fashion: Roos got one
last night (at least only a few meters from home when returning there).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/